Competitors and how they're chosen
How Peach decides who you compete with, how to correct the list, and what the citation rate beside each name means.
Updated
In short. Peach works out what you sell and who buys it, then builds a competitor list from two sources: what the model already knows, and a web search framed the way a buyer would search. You can correct the list, and your correction is kept.
How the list is built
1. Classify what you sell. From your site, Peach decides what you are (software, an agency or service, a marketplace, a physical product, or media), the specific category, who buys it, where you compete and roughly how big you are.
2. Find candidates from two sources.
- Model knowledge. The model is asked which companies a buyer would shortlist. This works well for established industries.
- Buyer-steered web search. A live search, phrased as a buyer comparing options. This is what finds young companies that are too new for a model to know.
3. Remove what does not belong. Peach drops your own brand, companies in a neighbouring category with a different buyer, and candidates whose website no longer works.
The test throughout is a buyer's one: if someone were evaluating you this week, which other vendors would they also be talking to? Your customers are not your competitors, even when they are famous.
The number beside each name
Each competitor shows a citation rate: the share of sampled answers that named it. It is calculated exactly like your own. See How the score works.
Correcting the list
A wrong list makes every comparison wrong, so check it first.
For this report only. In the Competitors tab, choose Edit list, change the names, and apply. The report is re-scored against the answers it already has. No new check is run.
For good. Open Brand Hub, go to the Competitors step, and add or remove names there. You can add a competitor by company name or by domain. This list is saved to your account.
If the category is wrong. When the competitors are from the wrong industry altogether, the cause is the classification, not the list. In Brand Hub's Business step, correct what you are and who buys it, then use Re-detect competitors. A classification you have set yourself is never overwritten by a later check.
What to expect
- The list can differ between checks. The two sources do not return identical names every time. The companies at the centre of your category tend to stay. The edges move.
- A real competitor can be dropped. The check that removes dead companies tests the website address Peach was given. If that address is wrong for a company that is alive, the company is dropped. Add it back in Brand Hub.
- A competitor with 0% is still tracked. It was not named in this sample. It stays on the list.