The competitor set is the analysis. A poor set produces a confident-looking gap that does not match how customers decide.
Start from the buying moment, not from a national brand list or from whoever happens to occupy the next storefront.
This is also a CLIXERA Resource. For the canonical evergreen version, read the full guide →
Start from who customers compare you with
Your real online competitors are the businesses a customer would also search, ask an AI system about, or call for the same job in the same area.
Useful competitors usually offer overlapping services, serve the same geography or a realistic overlapping market, and sit in a similar consideration set.
For multi-location businesses, the set can change by location. A suburban competitor list should not be copied blindly onto a downtown location.
Where to look
- Search the terms your customers actually use and note who appears
- Check maps results for the same area and service
- Ask a recommendation-style question in an AI assistant and see which names come up — as a snapshot, not a ranking
- Look at who customers mention when they compare options
- Review who you already lose work to, then confirm they are visible digitally
Avoid vanity and softness
Vanity competitors make you look behind forever. Soft competitors make you look ahead without teaching you anything. Both waste time.
If you are unsure, pick a small set you would defend in a meeting. You can revise later. Keep the set stable when you re-test so progress is readable.
What to do after you choose
Once the set is chosen, compare search, local visibility, reviews, website and AI Search together. Name the competitive gap. Prioritize. Act. Re-test.
CLIXERA compares you with the competitors you choose. That is a feature. Your job is to pick a fair market.
Questions people ask
How many competitors should I pick?
A small, honest set is better than a long list. Enough to represent the real consideration set, few enough that you can remember why each one is there.
Should I include national brands?
Only if customers actually choose them instead of you. Otherwise they inflate every gap and hide the local race you can influence.
Related guides
- The Complete Guide to Digital Competitor Analysis for Small Businesses
- How to See Where Competitors Are Beating You Online
- What Is a Competitive Gap Analysis?
- How to Choose Competitors for Digital Benchmarking
Read the complete Resource: How to Find Your Real Online Competitors.
About the author
Warren Butland
Founder, CLIXERA
Warren Butland is the founder of CLIXERA, a Canadian digital competitor intelligence platform for growing businesses. He works with businesses that need a clearer view of how they compare with competitors across search, local visibility, reviews, websites and AI-assisted discovery.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
More from Warren Butland →About CLIXERA
CLIXERA is a Canadian digital competitor intelligence platform for growing businesses. It compares a business with selected competitors across search, local visibility, reviews, website performance and AI-assisted discovery, then turns those findings into prioritized actions.
See how your business compares.
Choose the competitors that matter to you and see where you’re ahead, where you’re behind and what deserves attention next.