Why Your Competitors Appear In ChatGPT and You Don’t
It might be time to try a simple experiment…
Partnerships Manager and SEO Executive
Ask ChatGPT to recommend companies that provide the service your business offers, then look at the names it gives you.
If your competitors appear and you don’t, it can feel frustrating, but it can also be useful! AI recommendations provide another way to assess how clearly and authoritatively your brand exists online.
AI Search doesn’t work like a traditional ranking
An AI Search recommendation is not the same as ranking number one on Google, answers can vary depending on the wording of the prompt, the available information and other contextual factors.
So don’t test one question and panic. Instead, test a group of realistic customer questions and look for patterns. If the same competitors appear repeatedly, that tells you something.
Your competitors might simply be easier to understand
Clear content matters! Compare “We create transformative solutions for ambitious organisations” with “We are a Surrey-based accountancy firm specialising in tax and financial advice for growing technology companies.”
The second gives far more useful information. Your website should make it easy to understand what you do, who you help, where you operate and what you specialise in.
They may have stronger authority
A competitor may also appear more often because there is more evidence of their expertise online. They might have stronger content, more media coverage, better industry mentions, useful case studies or a clearer presence across respected websites.
Your website saying you are excellent is one thing. Other trusted sources discussing your expertise is another.
They may answer better questions
Many websites still focus on short keyword phrases, but AI users often ask much more detailed questions. Instead of “commercial solicitor Surrey”, someone might ask: “Can you recommend a commercial solicitor in Surrey who works with start-ups and shareholder agreements?”
Brands with specific, detailed content are better placed to match those kinds of requests.
How to find out where you’re losing
Create 20-30 realistic customer questions and test them across three different LLM’s. Record which brands appear, how often they appear, how they are described and which sources are cited, then compare your strongest competitors with your own brand.
That gives you a much more useful starting point than searching your company name once.
Don’t chase hacks
The goal shouldn’t be to trick an AI Search platform into recommending you. The goal should be to make your business easier to understand, trust and discover online. That means better content, stronger authority and a clearer digital presence.
