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Map Queries To Pages From Real Data

Mapping is usually done in a spreadsheet before the site exists, then never checked against reality. The result is a plan that says page A targets a term while Google actually serves page B. Fixing this from the plan rather than from data means arguing with a search engine that has already made a decision.

CATEGORY
Keyword research
FORMAT
query-to-page-mapping.md
STEPS
6
PRICE
Free - no account
WHEN TO REACH FOR THIS

Use when several pages compete for the same terms or you cannot say which page owns which query.

The skill file

query-to-page-mapping.md 
---
name: query-to-page-mapping
description: Use when several pages compete for the same terms or you cannot say which page owns which query.
---

# Map Queries To Pages From Real Data

Mapping is usually done in a spreadsheet before the site exists, then never checked against reality. The result is a plan that says page A targets a term while Google actually serves page B. Fixing this from the plan rather than from data means arguing with a search engine that has already made a decision.

## What you need first

- Search Console query and page data for at least 90 days
- a full URL inventory of indexable pages
- clarity on which pages are commercially important

## Method

1. Pull the query-plus-page report so each row is a query and the URL that received impressions for it, not aggregated by either alone.
2. Group by query and flag any query where two or more URLs took at least 10 percent of impressions each. That is real cannibalisation; a 95/5 split is not.
3. For each flagged query, decide the winner by conversion value, not by current ranking - the better ranking page is often a blog post stealing a commercial term.
4. Change internal anchor text pointing at the loser so it no longer uses the target phrase, and point the loser at the winner with an exact-match internal link. This resolves most conflicts without deleting anything.
5. Where two pages genuinely serve the same intent, merge and redirect rather than differentiating, because differentiation attempts usually produce two mediocre pages.
6. Rebuild the map from the corrected data and keep it as the source of truth, with each URL owning one primary query and a named cluster of secondaries.

## What this produces

A one-to-one map of primary query to URL, backed by impression data, with conflicts resolved by merge or internal linking.

## Where this goes wrong

- Treating every multi-URL query as cannibalisation when Google is simply testing, which is normal in the first few weeks after publishing.
- Redirecting the older page to the newer one, discarding the accumulated links that made it rank.
- Rewriting the losing page to target a different term without changing internal anchors, so the old signals persist.

---

From the QuQi skill library - https://www.quqi.io/skills/query-to-page-mapping
Free to download · no account, no email

What you need first

  • Search Console query and page data for at least 90 days
  • a full URL inventory of indexable pages
  • clarity on which pages are commercially important

Method

  1. 01 Pull the query-plus-page report so each row is a query and the URL that received impressions for it, not aggregated by either alone.
  2. 02 Group by query and flag any query where two or more URLs took at least 10 percent of impressions each. That is real cannibalisation; a 95/5 split is not.
  3. 03 For each flagged query, decide the winner by conversion value, not by current ranking - the better ranking page is often a blog post stealing a commercial term.
  4. 04 Change internal anchor text pointing at the loser so it no longer uses the target phrase, and point the loser at the winner with an exact-match internal link. This resolves most conflicts without deleting anything.
  5. 05 Where two pages genuinely serve the same intent, merge and redirect rather than differentiating, because differentiation attempts usually produce two mediocre pages.
  6. 06 Rebuild the map from the corrected data and keep it as the source of truth, with each URL owning one primary query and a named cluster of secondaries.

What this produces

A one-to-one map of primary query to URL, backed by impression data, with conflicts resolved by merge or internal linking.

Where this goes wrong

  • Treating every multi-URL query as cannibalisation when Google is simply testing, which is normal in the first few weeks after publishing.
  • Redirecting the older page to the newer one, discarding the accumulated links that made it rank.
  • Rewriting the losing page to target a different term without changing internal anchors, so the old signals persist.

Use this skill in your own AI

The download is a plain markdown file with the name and trigger in its frontmatter. Where an assistant supports skills it can load itself, that frontmatter is what it reads to decide this one applies.

Claude Code Save it as ~/.claude/skills/query-to-page-mapping/SKILL.md and Claude loads it on its own when what you are doing matches the trigger line. Put it in .claude/skills inside a project instead if the whole team should have it.
Claude Upload the file in the skills section of your settings. Once it is there it applies itself in any conversation where the trigger fits, so you do not have to remember it exists.
ChatGPT There is no skills format to install into, so paste the file contents into a Project instruction or a Custom GPT instead. It then applies to every chat in that project rather than only the one you paste it into.
Anything else Paste the markdown into the chat before your question. It works in any assistant, it just has to be pasted again each time.

Questions about this skill

When should I rebuild the map from data rather than work from the mapping spreadsheet?

When the site already has impressions. A spreadsheet map records what you intended; this records the decision Google actually made, and arguing with that from a plan gets you nowhere. The planning version is only appropriate for pages that do not exist yet, and you should expect to rebuild it from real query and page data within a quarter of publishing.

What do I need in hand before starting?

At least ninety days of the query-plus-page report, an inventory of indexable URLs, and a view on which pages carry commercial value. Query and URL have to sit on the same row; aggregated by either alone the report cannot show a split at all. Without the commercial view you resolve conflicts by current ranking, which usually hands a buying term to a blog post.

What do I end up with, and which part gets used?

A one-to-one map of primary query to URL, backed by impressions, with each conflict resolved by a merge or by internal link changes. The flagged list is the part that gets used: queries where two or more URLs each took at least ten percent of impressions. A ninety-five to five split is not cannibalisation and should be left alone.

What is the mistake that ruins this, and what does it cost?

Redirecting the older page into the newer one because the newer one reads better. The old URL usually holds the links and the history that made it rank, and you trade that for a formatting preference you cannot get back. The second cost is rewriting the losing page while internal anchors still point at it with the target phrase, so the conflict survives the rewrite intact.

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