If every shared keyword is treated as cannibalization, start by preserving one representative example. It gives the investigation a concrete reference and makes the eventual correction easier to judge.
Find the likely cause
Related vocabulary is confused with identical intent.
Treat this as an explanation to verify against the actual work. Look at the input, the relevant decision, and the final result together. If the evidence does not support this diagnosis, investigate the mismatch before applying a convenient but unrelated fix.
Make the targeted correction
Compare the actual reader tasks and page roles.
Overlapping pages deserve attention when they compete to satisfy the same task without offering meaningful differences.
Check that the repair worked
Keep distinct pages when their purposes and value are genuinely different.
Repeat the check on the final version that the reader or customer will encounter. An approved draft, a preview, and a published result can differ; the acceptance decision should concern the version people actually use.
Prevent the next related failure
A separate issue to watch for is this: two articles answer the same question with minor wording differences. Choose a primary page and consolidate unique useful material where appropriate.
Monitor the useful outcome
Track the clarity of page ownership and relevant query performance after changes settle.
Keep a short record of the original symptom, the evidence behind the diagnosis, and the result of the acceptance check. That record makes the solution reusable when the same condition appears again, without assuming that every superficially similar problem has the same cause.