Keyword cannibalisation: when your own pages compete and both lose

Cannibalisation happens when two or more of your pages target the same query. Google has to pick one, keeps changing its mind, and neither page builds the signals it needs. The symptom is a query whose ranking URL flips between pages while the position drifts sideways.

Find it in Search Console

1. 1Performance report, filter by the query you suspect.
2. 2Switch to the Pages tab with the filter still applied.
3. 3Two or more URLs with meaningful impressions for the same query is a candidate.
4. 4Check whether the URL that ranks changed over the last six months — flip-flopping confirms it.

It is not always a problem

A blog post and a product page appearing for the same query can be fine when intents genuinely differ, or when you occupy two slots on page one. Only act when both pages are mediocre, or when the wrong page ranks for a commercial term.

Four ways to fix it

1. 1Merge — combine the two pages into the stronger URL and 301 redirect the weaker one. Best when the content overlaps heavily.
2. 2Differentiate — rewrite one page to target a genuinely different question. Best when both pages deserve to exist.
3. 3Canonicalise — point the weaker page's canonical tag at the stronger one. Best for near-duplicates you must keep, like variants.
4. 4Re-link — change internal anchor text so it consistently points at the page you want to rank. The gentlest fix, and often enough.

Prevent it

• Keep a simple list mapping each target query to exactly one URL.
• Before publishing, search your own site for the target query and see what already exists.
• Use consistent internal anchor text — inconsistency is how cannibalisation starts.

Expect four to eight weeks for rankings to consolidate after a merge, and keep the redirect in place permanently.