Measure and improve · 6 min read
Tracking Competitors in AI Answers
Your competitors in AI answers are whoever the tools name for your customers' questions. That list is worth studying closely, because it is often not the one in your head.
The short answer
Found in AI records which competitors each AI answer names and in what position, and builds a leaderboard showing the share of your tracked answers that name each business. Use it to find out who the tools reach for in your trade, then study what those businesses publish and where they are mentioned. Learn from them; do not copy them or try to undermine them.
Your AI competitors may not be your usual ones
Ask a business owner who their competitors are and they will name the firms they bid against or see at trade shows. The businesses named in AI answers can be quite different: a regional chain, a directory that the tool treats as an answer in its own right, a newer firm with a well-organised website, or a business from a neighbouring city.
The leaderboard in your report shows the share of your tracked answers that name each business. Treat it as a discovery tool first. Who is on it that you did not expect?
Look at patterns, not single answers
One answer naming a competitor tells you little. A competitor named across most of your questions, by several tools, is telling you something. So is a competitor that appears only for one type of question, such as emergency calls or a particular neighbourhood.
- Which competitors appear across many questions, and which only for a few
- Which tools name each competitor, and whether that differs by tool
- Where competitors sit in the answers compared with you
- Which competitors are named and linked, versus named only
Study what the frequently named businesses do
Take the two or three businesses that appear most often and look at them the way a tool might. Read their service pages: how directly do they answer common questions? Look at their Google Business Profile: categories, reviews, how recent and specific those reviews are. Search for them on the directories and publications that recur in your trade.
You are looking for differences you can act on honestly: a service they describe clearly that you only mention in passing, a directory they are on that you are not, a steady stream of reviews against your sporadic one.
What not to do with competitor data
Do not copy a competitor's pages. Beyond the ethical problem, duplicated content describes their business, not yours, and gives a reader no reason to choose you. Do not post negative reviews about competitors or create misleading comparison pages. Both are against platform policies and can create legal problems.
Comparison content is fine when it is fair and accurate, such as explaining honestly how your approach differs. Keep it factual and avoid claims about a competitor you cannot support.
Watch movement over time
The leaderboard is most useful as a trend. A competitor climbing steadily over several scans may be publishing, collecting reviews or gaining press. A competitor dropping may have let something lapse. Your 'since your last scan' view also flags questions where a competitor took your place, which is often the first sign of a rival's new push.
Pair that with your gap list. Gaps tell you which questions a competitor wins and you do not; the leaderboard tells you which competitors are winning most broadly. Together they show where to focus.
Your checklist
- List the top five businesses on your leaderboard and mark any you did not expect
- Note which questions and which tools each frequent competitor appears in
- Read the main service page of your top two AI competitors
- Compare your Google Business Profile reviews with theirs for volume and recency
- Find directories or publications that list them and not you
- Check 'since your last scan' for questions a competitor newly took
- Choose one honest improvement based on what you found
Common questions
Can I choose which competitors are tracked?
The report shows the competitors the answers actually name, the way the answers name them. That is the point: it shows who the tools reach for, not only who you expect.
A directory keeps appearing on my leaderboard. Is that a competitor?
In the sense that it is being named instead of you, yes. Often the most useful response is to make sure your own listing on that directory is complete and accurate.
Should I worry about a competitor named once?
Not much. Look for competitors named repeatedly across questions and tools. Single appearances are common and often change between scans.
Read next
Choosing Which Questions to Track
Tracking the wrong questions gives you a precise measurement of something that does not matter. Spend real time on the list.
Read the guide →How to Read Your AI Visibility Report
A report has a lot of numbers on it. Here is what each one means, which ones to look at first, and which to stop worrying about.
Read the guide →Turning Visibility Gaps Into Content
The gap list is the most practical part of your report: a set of specific questions, the businesses named instead of you, and a suggestion for each. Here is how to work through it.
Read the guide →See where you stand today.
Found in AI asks five AI tools the questions your customers ask and shows where you are named, where you are linked and where a competitor is named instead.