6 Steps to Get AI to Recommend Your Brand

You know that feeling when you see a brand new competitor swooping in and snatching leads away from you?
It can make you start questioning your whole approach.
But instead of panicking, it’s far more useful to break down what they’re doing.
That way, you can cherry-pick their best ideas. And spot the gaps they’ve missed.
This post will show you exactly how to do that.

To get the upper hand, you’ll need to understand how they’re driving traffic and converting customers, answering questions like:

• Which channels bring the most visits and sales?
• How much of their traffic is organic vs. paid?
• Which pages, platforms, and campaigns are working best?

In this guide, you’ll learn how to run a competitor analysis to find the answers to these questions and more — regardless of your brand, industry, and experience.

Before you start, this guide assumes you’ve already covered the basics.
You know your ideal customer. You’ve nailed your positioning. You’re clear on the category or niche you’re competing in.

If not, start here: The Complete Guide to Market Research

It’ll make everything in this guide way more useful.

Let’s start by identifying your real competition.

Step 1: Spot the Competitors Grabbing Your Traffic

You need to build a live list of 5–10 competitors.
Begin Googling broad, high-intent terms like:

• “best dog food”
• “pet store near me” (or “pet store in [city]”)
• “cat toys online”

Make a note of:

• Who ranks organically
• Who’s running paid ads
• Who’s in the local pack (map section that shows nearby businesses) or shopping results

Next, check out popular Reddit threads and pet owner forums. This is where you’ll often find smaller, more niche brand mentions. But they might still be your competitors depending on your location and/or stage of growth.

Now go to Google and look for “best of” listicles from publishers and bloggers.

Find these by searching for modifiers like “best” and “cheapest” followed by:

• [product] in [industry]
• [product] in [city]
• [product] for [specific need]
• [product] under $[amount]
• [product] in [year]
• [industry] brands

Want a more straightforward way to find your rivals?
You can use an SEO platform like Semrush to instantly find your main competitors.

Just pop your domain into the Organic Research tool.

You’ll also see more information below about each competitor. Like common keywords, paid keywords, and more.

AI tools like ChatGPT can help uncover competitors that traffic tools might miss. Here are a few prompts you can try:

Reminder: Add these competitors to your copy of our competitor analysis worksheet.

Step 2: Find Your Edge by Comparing Products and Positioning

Once you’ve got your competitor list, go through them one by one, and start by looking at the basics:

• What products do your competitors sell?
• How do those products compare to yours?

Then, look at how they talk about themselves.
What value propositions are they leaning on: quality, price, convenience, or something else?

You can use AI to gather a lot of this info even faster (although I still recommend actually visiting their website too).

Note: We’ve included a section at the end of the downloadable worksheet to go a step further and analyze your rivals’ customer experience and checkout flows.

Step 3: Analyze Their Traffic Channels

Looking at your competitor’s website traffic can tell you where they’re investing. And how fast they’re growing.

Start with the Top-Level Traffic Numbers
Here’s what to check:

• Total Traffic: Look for their estimated monthly visits.
• Paid vs. Organic: Comparing paid traffic to organic traffic reveals how your rivals are acquiring customers.
• Traffic Share: Use traffic share metrics to compare competitor website traffic and understand where you fit in the picture.
• Branded vs. Non-Branded: Are people searching for their brand name or just looking for what they sell?

Step 4: Look at Their Paid Media Performance

Next, check how your competitors are using paid media to drive traffic and sales.
Start with Google Ads.
Search for their brand name to find branded search ads.

Next, visit the Meta Ad Library and type in their brand name.

You can do the same on TikTok’s Ad Library.

As you review their ads, pay attention to:

• What products they’re promoting
• What offers they’re using
• Which platforms they’re investing in

Step 5: Deep Dive Into Their Content and Messaging

Take a closer look at how your competitors are talking to their audience.
Start with their homepage copy.
Is it clear who they’re targeting and what makes them different?

Also analyze their:

• Product descriptions: Are they just listing features?
• Blog/educational content: Is their content deep?
• Tone, style, and trust signals: Do they prominently feature social proof?

Note: Competitor analysis isn’t about copying. It’s about learning.

Step 6: Explore Their Social Media Presence

Next, see which social media platforms your competitor uses. As you review their ads, pay attention to:

• Recent posts content formats a
  Finally, assess their brand personality and values.

Step 7: Check Their LLM Visibility

Research from Semrush suggests that LLM traffic will overtake Google search by 2027.

Here’s how to analyze your competitors’ LLM visibility to make sure you’re not falling behind:

• Look for mentions of your competitor’s brand name and links to their site in AI responses.
• Note the sentiment.

Step 8: Review Their Local SEO (If Applicable)

If your competitor has a physical presence, search for their brand name + city (e.g., “Hollywood Feed Austin TX”) in Google Search and Google Maps.

Step 9: Turn Competitive Insights Into Action

Now it’s time to bring all your research together so you can act on it.
If you’ve been following along with our competitor analysis worksheet, you’ll have a lot of info already.

Here’s where you’ll turn data into actionable strategies that you’ll use to beat your rivals.

Don’t Just Copy Your Competitors — Outsmart Them

Use this process to sharpen your edge, not mirror theirs.
Begin by picking one competitor and analyzing their online presence using the steps in this guide.