Competitor Intelligence

Competitors shows who you are up against in Google search and in AI answers, and exactly where they beat you. Six views share one measured picture of you and up to 8 competitors. The section is open on every plan; measuring uses credits.

The six views

Where the numbers come from

• Search and link figures (visits, keywords, positions, traffic value, authority, linking sites, shared keywords) are estimates from a search-data provider, for your project's country and language.
• Your Search Console data is merged in when Google is connected: your keyword count and your positions use it where it knows more.
• AI answers come from the AI checks you already run in AI Visibility.
• Profiles and publishing pace read each site's own public files: home page, robots.txt, llms.txt and sitemap.

Choose your competitors

You add and hide competitors in the "Your competitors" dialog.

1. 1

   Click "Manage competitors"

   The button sits at the top right of every Competitors view.

2. 2

   Type a website and click "Add competitor"

   Enter a domain such as competitor.com. The dialog answers "Enter a website, like competitor.com.", "That's your own site." or "Already tracked." when it can't add it.

3. 3

   Or track a suggestion

   Under "Also competing with you in search", click "Track" next to a site. These are sites that rank for many of the same searches as you. Directories, marketplaces and social networks are left out.

4. 4

   Click "Done"

   Each change is saved as you make it, and the Overview measures again with the new list.

"Tracked · N" lists your competitors. "Hide" takes one out of the comparison; it stays in the project and nothing is deleted. Only the first 8 are measured, starting with the ones you share the most keywords with; any others show "Not measured". It is the same list as AI Visibility, and it already holds the competitors entered or found when you created the project.

Measuring, and "Measure again"

The first time you open a view, Rankfender measures it: "Measuring for the first time — about 20 seconds", with each step shown. The result is saved. Every later visit shows the saved figures with "Measured …" (for example "Measured 3 days ago") and spends nothing. Saved figures stay until you measure again.

• "Measure again" fetches fresh figures for the view you are on. It works once a day per view; before that the button is off and says "Measured less than a day ago — you can measure again tomorrow".
• Overview and Link gap measure all your competitors at once. Keyword gap, Top pages and Profiles measure the competitor you pick, the first time you pick it.
• Adding or hiding a competitor re-measures the Overview right away.
• A view that found nothing is tried again after a week.
• AI answers never measures: it reads your AI checks. Home shows the saved competitor figures and never measures.

What it costs

Measuring uses the monthly credits of the project's owner. A competitor comparison with 12-month curves costs about 120 credits; this is the typical cost the app lists. Later Overview measurements cost less, because the curves are kept and only the latest months are added. A per-competitor view costs less than a full comparison. Reading saved figures is free. The exact amount follows the data fetched. When no credits are left, the measurement is refused before anything is spent. See Monthly credits.

Who can do what

See Roles and permissions.

When a view can't be measured

The view shows "This view couldn't be measured." with the reason and a "Try again" button.