Win back a topic from a competitor

Use this when a topic’s status is Not found, and losing or Found, but losing to rivals, and one competitor keeps getting named instead of you.

TL;DR

1. Pick one revenue-relevant topic a single rival leads.
2. Read the answers and find out why AI picks them.
3. Decide whether you have a discovery problem or a comparison problem.
4. Get onto the sources that cite them, and publish a plain comparison.
5. Measure after a few weeks to a month.

Why it works

Engines recommend the brand their sources present as the default for a question. Your rival is winning because specific pages name them, and name them first. Once you know which pages, the work is concrete: get onto those pages, and give engines a better page to cite.

1. Pick one topic. In Topics, choose a topic that matters to revenue, where a single rival leads. One topic at a time beats spreading effort thin.

2. Read the answers. Open the topic’s Prompts tab and read what ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini say. Note which rival is named first and the reasons the answer gives.

3. Find out why AI picks them. Open Competitors → View details for that rival. Read Why AI picks them, Prompts they win that you lose and Pages AI cites for them.

4. See what the sources want. Open the topic’s Content tab. It lists the facts AI compares for the topic and what the cited pages have in common. That is your checklist for what a page must say.

5. Diagnose which fight you’re in. Look at the topic’s status:

   • Hidden strength: you win comparisons but AI rarely brings you up. Work on discovery: get onto the sources AI cites (step 6).
   • Found, but losing to rivals: AI knows you but prefers them. Work on comparison: make your advantages explicit (step 7).
   • Not found, and losing: do both, starting with your own pages.

6. Get onto the sources. In the topic’s Sources tab and your Off-Page tasks, find the lists, reviews and articles that cite the rival but not you. Work those tasks.

7. Win the comparison. Create or improve a page that compares you with the rival plainly, fact by fact, using the checklist from step 4. Your On-Page tasks for the topic include this.

8. Measure. Note the topic’s Found and win rate today, then check again after a few weeks to a month of new answers.

Tip

Ask your coding agent: “Open the pricing topic with get_topic, compare our pricing page with the facts AI compares, and update the page to cover what’s missing.” See Ship fixes with your coding agent.