Just discovered my competitor is showing up 3x more in ChatGPT - here's how I'm fixing it

Did exactly this for a client last quarter. The 3x gap is totally closable.

What moved the needle fastest:

1. FAQ expansion - We went from 25 to 150 questions in 3 weeks. Key was mining customer support tickets for real questions people ask. These are gold because they match what users ask AI.

2. Schema markup - Added FAQPage schema to all Q&A content. Saw citations increase within 2 weeks. AI seems to trust structured data.

3. Reddit strategy - But be careful here. Don’t just promote. We spent 2 months just being helpful before ever mentioning our client. Now when we do mention them, it’s natural and doesn’t get downvoted.

Results: Went from 15% to 38% mention rate in 4 months. Passed the competitor.

The FAQ insight is spot on. But there’s a nuance most people miss.

It’s not just about having FAQs - it’s about having the RIGHT FAQs.

AI prioritizes questions that people actually ask. Here’s how to find them:

1. Check “People Also Ask” in Google for your industry terms
2. Mine your support tickets and chat logs
3. Look at what questions are asked in relevant subreddits
4. Check Quora and Stack Exchange for your domain
5. Use tools like AnswerThePublic

Then structure each answer as:

• Direct answer in first sentence
• Supporting details
• Examples if relevant

AI loves this format because it matches how humans naturally explain things.

Great analysis! One thing to add about the competitor gap:

AI has “memory” from training data

If your competitor has been around longer or has more web presence, they’re baked into the model’s knowledge. This is actually good news for you - it means the gap is partly about historical data, not current quality.

What this means for your strategy:

• Focus on platforms AI regularly crawls (Reddit, major publications)
• Update content frequently (Perplexity and Bing AI use real-time data)
• Get mentioned in recent articles and discussions

The models are always learning from new data. You can catch up faster than you think.

Pro tip: Track which AI platform mentions you most. Optimize for that first, then expand.

We went through this exact process. Something that surprised us:

The “about us” and positioning pages matter a lot

Our competitor had a clear, one-sentence description of what they do. Ours was marketing fluff.

AI kept describing our competitor accurately but got confused about us. Simple fix: rewrote our homepage hero and about page with clear, factual descriptions.

“We are a payment processing platform that helps SMBs accept credit cards online” > “We’re reimagining the future of financial transactions for the modern business landscape”

AI prefers the first one.

These responses are incredible. Updating my plan:

Revised 30-day plan:

Week 1:

• Audit homepage and about page for clarity (Kate’s point is huge)
• Mine support tickets for real questions
• Set up FAQPage schema template

Week 2:

• Publish first 50 new FAQs
• Start Reddit participation (just being helpful, no mentions)
• Reach out to 3 industry publications

Week 3:

• Add 50 more FAQs based on “People Also Ask”
• Continue Reddit engagement
• A/B test homepage copy for clarity

Week 4:

• Measure progress in Am I Cited dashboard
• Analyze which changes had most impact
• Document and share results here

I’ll post an update thread at the end of the month. Thanks everyone!