Our competitors keep getting recommended by AI instead of us. How do we fix this?
Work out which questions your competitors win, then open the sources the engines cite when they name them. Usually a competitor has a clear page that answers that exact question and you do not. Close the gaps one question at a time, and re-check the same questions to confirm.
Why are competitors named instead of us?
The engines name businesses that their sources clearly support for the question asked. A competitor may have a page that answers the exact question in its first sentences, more independent sources that mention it, or simply no crawler blocks. In Sightline's terms, this is the "Displaced" finding: an engine recommended someone else in your place.
It is rarely about size. A small business with one clear page on "emergency roof repair in [city]" can be named ahead of a larger company with only a general services page.
How do I find out exactly where I lose?
List the questions your buyers ask. For each, record who is named and which sources are shown, across several runs and several engines. Rank your competitors by how often they are named. That shows who beats you, on which questions, in which engine.
What do I do about each loss?
Open the sources the engines cited for the competitor. Ask four things of each page:
- Does it answer the question in its first two sentences?
- Does it state facts plainly (price, area, credentials)?
- Is there a visible author or business name and an updated date?
- Is it on a site the engine trusts, such as a directory or review site?
If the answer is a page on your own site, write a clearer one. If it is a third-party source, make sure your listing there is complete and correct.
Do not copy a competitor's text, and do not make claims you cannot support. Google's guidance asks for original, people-first content and warns that deception makes a page untrustworthy (Google).
What if the engines cannot read my site?
Check this first, because it makes everything else moot. Look at robots.txt for OAI-SearchBot (OpenAI), PerplexityBot (Perplexity) and Claude-SearchBot (Anthropic).
How do I prioritize which losses to fix?
Not every lost question is worth chasing. Sort them by how close the buyer is to deciding, and by how often a single competitor wins. A question like "who can fix a burst pipe tonight?" is closer to a sale than "how do pipes burst?". If one competitor wins most of your important questions, study that business's pages and listings closely, because the same few sources probably feed all of those answers. If many different competitors win, the problem is more likely your own absence, such as a blocked crawler or no page for the question, than any single rival.
Frequently asked questions
Is it about who has the bigger budget?
Not by itself. Clarity and support for a specific question matter more than size.
Should I write about my competitors?
A fair comparison page can answer comparison questions, but it must be accurate and fair. Do not make claims you cannot back.
How many questions can I realistically win?
Start with the five where you lose most and the buyer is closest to deciding.
How long until we are named?
It varies; compare over several weeks of repeated checks.