Competitor Detection · across 5 AI engines

See who AI cites instead of you.

Every time ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, or Google AI Overviews answer a category question, SemlyPro tracks which competitors get mentioned. Then publishes the content that overtakes them.

AI competitor share-of-voice · “AI search visibility tools”5 engines · 50 prompts
Conductor38%
Profound27%
Otterly19%
AthenaHQ14%
YourBrand (you)12%

AI Overview answer block

What is AI competitor detection?

AI competitor detection is the process of identifying which brands AI search engines actually cite when buyers ask category-defining questions. Unlike traditional competitor research (which guesses based on Google rankings), AI competitor detection reads the real AI answer and lists the named brands inside it.

This often reveals competitors the company didn’t know they had — and surfaces niche players AI recommends that don’t rank on Google at all.

Mention rate

% of category prompts where each competitor is named.

Position

Where each competitor sits inside the AI answer.

Share of voice

Your % of named brands across all category prompts.

Trusted by content teams winning AI search

ACMENorthwindCatalystLumenBridgewaterTrailheadCosmic

Why now

The competitors AI cites aren’t the ones on your Google radar.

Niche players, AI-native startups, and engagement-heavy Reddit threads get cited by AI but never rank on Google. Most teams miss them entirely.

40%
of AI-cited competitors

don’t rank in the top 10 on Google. They’re invisible to traditional SEO tools.

5 engines
compared

See competitor share across all engines, not just the loudest one.

Daily
refresh

Catch new competitors the moment AI starts citing them.

The closed-loop difference

Others list competitors. SemlyPro outranks them.

Read-only competitor trackers tell you who’s being cited. SemlyPro tells you who, then drafts the content that overtakes them, then publishes it.

Capability

Read-only competitor trackers

SemlyPro

Competitor mention rate per prompt
Competitor position within AI answers
Daily refresh + trend tracking
Discover non-obvious AI competitors
AI-drafted content tuned to overtake them
One-click publish + re-track lift

How it works

From category query to overtake plan.

1

01

Define category

Enter your domain or category. We auto-generate 50 buyer-intent prompts your category gets asked.

2

02

Query all engines

Each prompt runs daily across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Google AI Overviews. We log every brand mentioned.

3

03

Map competitors

Surface the top 10 competitors by AI share-of-voice. Spot niche players you didn’t know about.

SemlyPro only
4

04

Overtake

For each competitor lead, SemlyPro drafts the content that beats them and publishes it to your CMS.

What’s inside

Six pillars of AI competitor mapping.

Detect

Auto-discover AI competitors

Surface every brand AI cites in your category — including niche players invisible to Google.

Rank

Share-of-voice ranking

Competitors ranked by % of category prompts where they’re named. Track movement weekly.

Position

Position within answers

First mention vs fifth mention matters more than count. We track both.

Source

Competitor source attribution

See which of their pages AI is citing. Know what content of theirs is winning.

Trend

New competitor alerts

Slack + email alert when a new brand starts getting cited in your category. Catch them early.

OvertakeClosed-loop

Auto-overtake workflow

For each competitor lead, SemlyPro drafts the content to overtake them and publishes it.

Who it’s for

Built for teams competing in AI search.

CMOs

See your competitive position in AI search at a glance. Defensible board metric.

Share-of-voice tracked

SEO leads

Find the competitors Ahrefs can’t see — the ones AI cites without ranking on Google.

40% hidden competitors surfaced

Product marketing

Get a real-time view of who AI compares you to. Use it to sharpen positioning.

Positioning data on tap

Agencies

Run AI competitive analysis across 50+ clients. Defensible monthly insight.

50 clients tracked

Customer proof

Real competitors found. Real takedowns.

Placeholder

Hero case study

How [Customer] discovered 7 hidden AI competitors

SemlyPro surfaced 7 competitors AI was citing that didn’t rank on Google — three of them tiny startups, one a Reddit thread treated as authoritative. [Customer] published overtake content to 4 of them; share-of-voice climbed from 12% to 38% in 60 days.

7
Hidden competitors found
12 → 38%
Share-of-voice lift
4
Overtake articles shipped
Placeholder

We had no idea half of these companies were even competing with us in AI answers. Eye-opening.

[Customer Name]
CMO · [Company]
Placeholder

The new-competitor alert caught a YC company before they got loud. We out-published them before they took off.

[Customer Name]
SEO Lead · [Company]

Pricing

AI competitor detection, from $149/mo.

Every plan includes the full closed loop — research, generation, and publishing to 12 CMSes.

Pro

Solo marketers & small teams

$149/mo
Start free trial

Full plan includes the closed loop

Most Popular

Business Pro

Growing teams & agencies

$249/mo
Start free trial

Full plan includes the closed loop

Enterprise

Mid-market & large organizations

Custom
Talk to sales

Full plan includes the closed loop

FAQ

AI competitor detection, questions answered.

The process of identifying which brands AI search engines cite when buyers ask category-defining questions. Reads the actual AI answer and lists named brands inside, often revealing niche competitors that don’t rank on Google.

Ahrefs and Semrush guess competitors based on Google ranking overlap. SemlyPro reads the real AI answer and lists who’s actually being cited — including niche players and Reddit threads invisible to traditional tools.

Top 5 on the Pro plan, unlimited on Business Pro and Enterprise. Auto-discovery includes new competitors as AI starts citing them.

By share-of-voice across category prompts: what % of buyer-intent prompts in your category mention each competitor. Position weighting included (first mention scores higher than fifth).

Yes — that’s the wedge. ~40% of AI-cited competitors don’t rank in the top 10 on Google. They’re invisible to traditional SEO tools but present in AI answers.

Yes. Slack + email alert when a new brand starts getting cited in your category. Catch challengers before they get loud.

Yes. Reddit, YouTube transcripts, and forum mentions are tracked as AI source signals. On the Business Pro plan and above.

Yes. For every competitor citation, we log the source URL the AI referenced. Know exactly what content of theirs is winning.

For any prompt where a competitor is cited and you aren’t, SemlyPro can auto-generate and publish content tuned to overtake them — including matching the cited format, length, and entity coverage.

Yes. Your AI Visibility Score includes a share-of-voice component computed from competitor detection. They’re two views of the same underlying data.

Find the competitors. Overtake them.

14-day free trial · Daily competitor mapping · Auto-overtake workflow