SmartScout Keyword Detective: Find the Search Terms Your Rivals Share and You Miss
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SmartScout’s Keyword Detective compares a set of products and shows which search terms they share and which ones your listing is missing. SmartScout’s pricing table lists it as “Shared Search Terms”, on the Business plan: $239 a month billed yearly or $299 monthly (checked 10 October 2026). A Subcategory Keyword Detective does the same for whole subcategories. Essentials doesn’t include either.
Keyword Detective is on the Business plan · 7-day money-back guarantee Affiliate link
This page covers what Keyword Detective does, how to run a keyword gap check with it, and what to use on a cheaper plan. Whether SmartScout as a whole is worth paying for is covered in our SmartScout review.
What SmartScout says Keyword Detective does
SmartScout describes it in three places, all checked on 10 October 2026:
- The pricing table’s tooltip for the Shared Search Terms row: “Keyword Detective is our tool for understanding which search terms a given set of products share, or don’t share!”
- The Subcategory Keyword Detective tooltip: “Understand which search terms are shared by any given subcategories.”
- The Keyword Detective page: it helps sellers “uncover unique and high-impact search terms used by competitors but missing from their own listings”, and shows “competitors’ top search terms along with rank tracking, product relevancy, and search intent data”. The setup, in SmartScout’s words: “Enter your product or brand and we will show your product and your top competitors.”
On our complimentary Business account it is a tab in each product’s view, next to Rank Maker; you can see the tab bar in the screenshot on our Rank Maker review, captured 2 August 2026.
How to run a keyword gap check with it
- Open your product or brand. Per SmartScout, Keyword Detective shows it beside its top competitors.
- Find the terms the competitors share and you lack. Those are the gaps SmartScout’s page is pitching.
- Check relevance before you act. A term every rival ranks for can still be wrong for your product. The Relevancy Quadrant, also on Business, plots a product’s terms by search volume against relevance.
- Write the survivors into the listing. SmartScout’s page points at titles, bullets and backend keywords.
- Track them in Rank Maker to see whether the change moved your rank.
Steps 1, 2 and 4 follow SmartScout’s own description; steps 3 and 5 are our additions.
Which plan you need
| Feature | What it compares | Cheapest plan |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword Detective (pricing row: Shared Search Terms) | Search terms across a set of products | Business |
| Subcategory Keyword Detective | Search terms across subcategories | Business |
| Rank Maker | Every term one product ranks for | Essentials |
| Search Terms Database | The wider list of Amazon search terms | Basic |
Business costs $239 a month billed yearly or $299 monthly; Essentials $99 or $119 (checked 10 October 2026). Our SmartScout pricing page compares the plans in full.
On Essentials? The one-at-a-time alternative
Keyword Detective’s value is comparing several products in one view. On Essentials you can do a slower version with Rank Maker: run each competitor’s ASIN, note the terms each one ranks for, and compare the lists. It takes longer, but it saves you the difference between Essentials and Business if this is the only Business feature you would use.
Where it falls short
- Business-only. Neither Keyword Detective nor its subcategory version is on Basic or Essentials.
- You don’t know how the competitor set is picked. SmartScout says it shows “your top competitors” but doesn’t explain how it chooses them, so check the set against the rivals you actually face.
- Estimates. Search volumes and ranks are SmartScout’s estimates, not Amazon’s figures.
Where it fits among SmartScout’s keyword tools
Keyword Detective is one of several SmartScout tools for competitor keyword work. Rank Maker (Essentials) lists one product’s terms; Keyword Detective (Business) compares several; the Relevancy Quadrant (Business), covered on our Search Terms Database page, checks whether a term fits your product; and Ad Spy, a Business add-on included on Enterprise, shows the terms competitors bid on. Our SmartScout competitor keyword research guide maps each competitor question to the tool and plan that answers it.
For reverse-ASIN tools from other vendors, see our best Amazon reverse ASIN tools.
What this page is based on
SmartScout’s pricing page (comparison table and tooltips) and its Keyword Detective page, both checked on 10 October 2026, plus the product-view screenshot from our complimentary Business account (2 August 2026). Descriptions of how it works are SmartScout’s own. Our methods are on how we test.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does SmartScout Keyword Detective do?
It compares a set of products and shows which search terms they share and which ones your listing is missing. SmartScout's pricing table lists it as Shared Search Terms, and a Subcategory Keyword Detective does the same across subcategories.
Which SmartScout plan includes Keyword Detective?
Business and Enterprise (checked 10 October 2026). Business costs $239 a month billed yearly or $299 monthly. Basic and Essentials don't include it.
Is Keyword Detective the same as Rank Maker?
No. Rank Maker lists every search term one product ranks for and starts on Essentials. Keyword Detective compares several products' terms at once to find shared and missing keywords, and needs Business.
Can Keyword Detective show the keywords competitors bid on?
For paid keywords, use Ad Spy, which SmartScout says shows a brand's paid search terms and placement win rates. Ad Spy is a sales add-on on Business and included on Enterprise.