Benchmark and competitor analysis
Learn from your competitors and grow faster than they do
Where does your brand stand in Google, Maps and AI answers compared with your competitors? A benchmark makes it measurable, for one website, many locations or several countries.
The result is a prioritized list of levers with the best ratio of effort to impact.
Benchmarking shows the gaps, competitor analysis shows the way
- Visibility: rankings, visibility index and search demand side by side
- AI presence: mentions, position and sources in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews
- Local presence: business profiles, reviews and the local pack per location
- Earned signals: links, mentions and citations of the strongest competitors
Every KPI is measured against the competitors that stand where you want to be.
Building blocks of the benchmark
SEO benchmark
Visibility, keywords by search intent, site structure and tech compared. Shows which topics and page types bring your competitors reach.
GEO benchmark (AI visibility)
A fixed prompt set per market measures how often and in which position AI systems name your brand. The cited sources show where presence is built.
Local benchmark
Reviews, profile quality and local rankings per location against the strongest local competitors, for ten or a thousand locations.
Content and off-site benchmark
Topics, formats and link sources of the market leaders. The result is a list of content and sources with the biggest gap.
SEA and social benchmark
Ad presence, messages and budget focus of your competitors. Shows where paid reach complements organic reach.
KPI dashboard: the metrics a digital marketing benchmark compares
A benchmark brings the data of all channels together in one dashboard. Only the cross-channel comparison shows where competitors grow faster and why.
| Area | Source and view | KPIs | What the comparison shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| Organic visibility | SISTRIX: domain, compare | Visibility index and trend, keywords in top 10 and top 100, ranking distribution, keyword overlap, SERP features | Who covers demand and where the gaps are |
| AI visibility | SISTRIX AI Check and AI Tracker, Rankscale | Prompts with a mention, mentions, citations, position, share of AI voice, sentiment, cited sources, per LLM and over time | Who ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and AI Overviews recommend |
| Links and authority | Majestic: Compare, Clique Hunter, Topics | Trust Flow, Citation Flow, referring domains, Topical Trust Flow, link sources shared by several competitors | Which sources carry the strongest players |
| Traffic and engagement | Similarweb: engagement, channels, channel details | Visits, bounce rate, pages per visit, visit duration, channel mix, top referrers, paid keywords | How competitors buy or earn reach |
| Market and size | Market share, revenue, employees, locations | Visibility and traffic relative to company size (share of search vs. market share) | Who plays above or below their weight |
| Local visibility | Local Falcon | Share of Local Voice (SoLV), average position (ARP, ATRP), grid heatmaps per location and keyword, reviews | Which locations win or lose against the local leader |
| Reach, PR and social | Media monitoring, social analytics | Media mentions, share of voice, followers, engagement rate, posting frequency, video reach | Where awareness is built and who benefits |
Grow faster than your competitors: how benchmark data turns into action
- Gaps with demand first: keywords and prompts where competitors lead and buying intent is high.
- Adopt sources instead of guessing: media, platforms and link sources that support several competitors.
- Weight channels by efficiency: where competitors pay a premium for reach, attack organically.
- Prioritize locations by gap: start where the distance to the local leader is small.
Patterns for sustainable growth: what becomes standard in your own strategy
- Monitoring instead of a one-off analysis: a fixed competitor set and a fixed prompt set, updated monthly.
- A measuring point for every action: a hypothesis from the benchmark, its impact in the next comparison.
- Citable facts as standard: data, studies and clear statements that media and AI systems pick up.
- One loop for all channels: research, design, build, learn, every round with fresh comparison data.
Four steps to your benchmark
- Set goals and competitors: markets, products, locations and the comparison set.
- Collect data: SISTRIX, Majestic, our own crawls and AI queries, with trends over time.
- Analyze and prioritize: rank gaps by expected impact and effort.
- Hand over results: a workshop with a roadmap, optionally the basis for an audit and implementation.
Recursive loop
Specialists steer
AI speeds up every round
Layers
Every layer runs through every round.
What you get from the benchmark
- Your position against the most important competitors, per channel and market
- A prioritized list of levers with effort and expected impact
- Quick wins for the first 90 days
- A data foundation that continues as ongoing monitoring
Request a benchmark for your brand
In a free initial call, we clarify goals, markets and the comparison set.
Industry benchmarks as examples
Published studies show the method, for example the SEO benchmark of the top 10 insurers in Germany (in German).
More industry benchmarks, such as automotive, will follow.
Who benefits from a benchmark
- B2B companies that want to know why competitors win more leads
- Brands with many locations comparing local strengths and weaknesses
- Companies facing a relaunch, market entry or budget decision
- Marketing leaders who back budgets with numbers
FAQ: benchmark and competitor analysis
Answers to common questions about benchmarking.
What is the difference between benchmarking and competitor analysis?
Benchmarking measures your own position against fixed reference values. Competitor analysis explains why the strongest players lead and derives actions from it.
Which competitors are compared?
The competitors that lead for your most important searches and in AI answers. These are often not just the well-known rivals, but also portals and comparison sites.
Which data and tools are used?
SISTRIX for visibility and keywords, Majestic for links, our own crawls for tech and a fixed prompt set for ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews.
How long does a benchmark take?
It depends on markets, locations and channels. Scope and timeline are set in the initial call.
Can the benchmark be updated continuously?
Yes. The data foundation continues as monitoring, so your progress against competitors is visible at any time.
What happens after the benchmark?
The prioritized levers feed into audit, strategy and implementation. Your team can also implement them itself.