Who AI recommends instead of you, and why

AI models rarely answer with a single provider. They list three, five or seven options and explain why. When you are not among them, someone else is. The competitor view in Manager shows who is taking your place, in which questions, and in which models.

The short version: Open the Competitors tab in the AI Monitor module and see who is mentioned most often in your area. Check that the most important competitors are added, so the shares come out right. Then find the questions where a competitor is mentioned and you are not. That is where you have the most to gain.

Your competitors in AI search may surprise you

Many people are surprised by who the AI models recommend. It is often a mix of the known competitors, smaller players with good content, comparison sites and international brands. The reason is that the models build their answers on the sources they find, and there, market size matters less than you might think. That is why the competitor picture in AI search is worth looking at with fresh eyes.

How competitors get into Manager

Competitors come in two ways:

• Automatically: in the setup wizard, Manager finds your main competitors based on your business profile. The AI Monitor module also picks up the brands the models actually mention in their answers.
• Manually: in the Competitors tab in the AI Monitor module, you add competitors with Add Competitor. Fill in the name, website, any other brand names and any additional domains the competitor uses.

It is worth five minutes to check that the list is right. Your shares, such as Share of Visibility, are calculated against the competitors you track. If an important competitor is missing, you look better than you are.

What the competitor overview shows

• Competitor Landscape: a map of how often each player is cited and how high they rank. Here you quickly see who dominates.
• Competitor Trends: the development over time. Useful for spotting a competitor that is starting to take positions.
• Top Performing Competitors: the ones doing best in your measurement right now.
• Your Position: where you stand compared with them.

In the Mentions tab you see every brand mentioned in the answers, including ones you have not added. It is a good way to discover new competitors.

Three analyses that give the most

1. The questions where the competitor wins and you lose

Find the prompts where a competitor is mentioned and you are not. Read the answers in full. What does the model say about the competitor? Which qualities does it highlight? That tells you what the model is looking for, and what your content is missing.

2. The sources the competitor is cited from

Often it is comparison sites, industry articles, directories and reviews that decide, more than the competitor's own website. If you are not present in the same sources, you have a concrete list of where you should become visible. We go into this in more detail in The sources AI cites, and how to use them.

3. The difference between models

A competitor can dominate in ChatGPT and be almost invisible in Gemini. That is because the models use different sources. The difference shows you where it is easiest to take positions first.

Tips

• Find the three sources cited most often in your area. If you are not present there, you know where to start.
• Add the competitor's alternative brand names and domains, so that all mentions are captured.
• Look at the competitor picture per business area as well as overall. The competitors are often different from one area to the next.

Next guide

The sources AI cites, and how to use them

If you want to outsource the AEO work itself, you can read about how a specialized AEO agency works.