Sample report

One example of everything you get

A complete report for a made-up software company: who the competition really is, a plan to beat them, how AI assistants see the market, and how the website and links compare. Read it end to end.

Sample with fictional companies and figures. Your report names real competitors, researched live from the web.

Competitors analyzed

Ranked by how closely they match you

AI recommended you

1 of 8

Answers from Claude and ChatGPT

Website checks

1 good, 5 to fix

9 checks run on the site

Sites linking to you

312

Top rival has 6,950

What we noticed first

Your traffic is not the problem. Three rivals have built a comparison-page moat that captures freelancers at the exact moment they pick a tool, and one of them ranks for searches that should be sending trials to you.

Executive summary for Tallyfox

Tallyfox sells invoicing software to freelancers, but flat trial signups against rising traffic point to a conversion and positioning problem rather than a demand problem. The deals you lose to unnamed rivals most likely go to Ledgerlark, Billbright, and Fernbook, which win on getting paid faster rather than on generic invoicing features.

Part 1

Competitor analysis

The companies you are most likely losing customers to, how big they are, how they sell, where they advertise, and why they are winning.

Competitor No. 0194% Match

Ledgerlark

ledgerlark.example

A long-running invoicing and accounting platform built for solo professionals. It is the tool most freelancers shortlist first because it covers invoices, expenses, and tax prep in one place.

Estimated scale

$30M-$60M ARR (estimated)

Advertising channels

SEO comparison and alternatives pages · Google Search ads on competitor terms · Software review sites · Freelancer community sponsorships

Sales strategy

Self-serve free trial with a paid upgrade for tax features, backed by a large library of comparison and alternatives pages that intercept buyers late in their search.

Strengths

Covers invoicing, expenses, and tax prep in a single product
Dominates search results for comparison queries
Large base of public customer reviews that build trust

Why they’re succeeding

Publishes head-to-head pages that rank for rival brand names
Turns a commodity tool into a cash-flow tool in every headline

Competitor No. 0288% Match

Billbright

billbright.example

A fast-growing challenger focused on getting freelancers paid quickly. It is often chosen by people who are leaving spreadsheets or a clunkier legacy tool.

Estimated scale

$8M-$15M ARR (estimated)

Advertising channels

Founder-led LinkedIn content · SEO guides for freelancers · Referral rewards between users

Sales strategy

Product-led growth with a generous free plan and automated payment reminders, supported by founder-led content on LinkedIn.

Strengths

Automatic reminders that visibly speed up payment
Simple pricing that is clear before signup
A strong personal brand behind the product

Why they’re succeeding

Leads with faster payment instead of invoice templates
Lets users feel the benefit inside the first session

Competitor No. 0379% Match

Fernbook

fernbook.example

A niche specialist serving creative freelancers such as designers and photographers. It wins by speaking the language of one community instead of everyone.

Estimated scale

$3M-$6M ARR (estimated)

Advertising channels

Creator newsletter sponsorships · Partnerships with design communities · Pinterest and Instagram content

Sales strategy

Community-driven marketing with templates and contracts tailored to creatives, sold through partnerships with design schools and creator newsletters.

Strengths

Templates and contracts built for creative work
Deep trust inside a tight-knit community
Low customer acquisition cost through partners

Why they’re succeeding

Owns one segment completely rather than competing on breadth
Gets recommended by people its customers already follow

Side by side

You versus your rivalsFrom research and audit

	Tallyfox	Ledgerlark	Billbright	Fernbook
Match to your business	You	94%	88%	79%
Estimated scale	$1M-$2M ARR	$30M-$60M	$8M-$15M	$3M-$6M
Pricing shown before signup	No	No	Yes	Yes
Comparison and alternatives pages	None	140+	12	6
Free plan	14 day trial	14 day trial	Free forever plan	Free forever plan
Automatic payment reminders	Basic	Yes	Yes, headline feature	Yes
Recommended by AI (of 8 answers)	1	7	7	3
Domain rank (0 to 100)	31	71	58	44
Sites linking to them	312	6,950	2,180	640
Main advertising	Search ads	Search, review sites, sponsorships	LinkedIn, referrals	Newsletters, social

What they all have in common

They win the comparison search

3 competitors

All three rivals publish dense comparison and alternatives pages that appear at the moment a freelancer is choosing a tool. Your content is likely capturing early research traffic while they capture the shortlist.

Getting paid faster is the pitch

3 competitors

Each competitor leads with faster payments, automatic reminders, and one-click pay links rather than invoice templates. That reframes a commodity tool as a cash-flow tool, which justifies a higher price.

Transparent entry pricing

2 competitors

Billbright and Fernbook show their prices before signup, so a curious freelancer can qualify themselves in seconds. Hidden pricing is a common reason high traffic fails to turn into trials.

Part 2

Your roadmap to outperform them

Three prioritized actions, each rated by impact and effort so you know what to do first. Paid plans add a progress checklist and re-checks that show whether your changes are working.

Publish honest comparison pages

high impactmedium effort

Create head-to-head pages against Ledgerlark, Billbright, and Fernbook, plus an alternatives hub. Add a question to your signup asking what tool people used before, so you finally learn who you are losing to.

Reposition around getting paid faster

high impactmedium effort

Rewrite your homepage and trial pages around payment speed and cash flow instead of invoice features. Put a before-and-after payment timeline in the first screen of the trial.

Show pricing before signup

medium impactlow effort

Put a clear per-month price and a no-credit-card trial above the fold. Track whether flat signups come from intent mismatch or from form drop-off before spending more on traffic.

Part 3

AI visibility audit

We asked AI assistants the questions your customers ask, recorded who they recommended, and traced the websites behind each answer. This is the live audit layout, filled with fictional results.

You were recommended

1 of 8

AI answers that named your company

Average position

4.0

Best position: 4

Platforms checked

Claude, ChatGPT

8 answers read

Question4 answers

“Best invoicing software for freelancers”

Your company was recommended in 1 of 4 answers, best position 4.

Rank	Company	Recommended in	Avg. position
1	LedgerlarkYour competitor	4 of 4	1.3
2	BillbrightYour competitor	3 of 4	2.0
3	FernbookYour competitor	2 of 4	3.5
4	TallyfoxYou	1 of 4	4.0

Question4 answers

“Invoicing app that sends payment reminders automatically”

Your company was not recommended for this question.

Rank	Company	Recommended in	Avg. position
1	BillbrightYour competitor	4 of 4	1.0
2	LedgerlarkYour competitor	3 of 4	2.7
3	FernbookYour competitor	1 of 4	4.0

Why they rankApproximate

What kinds of websites back the top 5

Share of the sources AI used when recommending the leading companies.

Articles and blogs30%
Reviews and ratings27%
Company website18%
Social and forums14%
News and press7%
Directories and listings4%

The websites cited most

softwarereviews.exampleReviews and ratings3 companies
freelancetools.exampleArticles and blogs2 companies
getpaidfaster.exampleArticles and blogs1 company
forumcorner.exampleSocial and forums2 companies
creatornews.exampleArticles and blogs1 company

Sources behind each leading company3 companies

Ledgerlark4 sources
- The 12 best invoicing tools for freelancersfreelancetools.example · Articles and blogs
- Ledgerlark reviews and ratingssoftwarereviews.example · Reviews and ratings
- Ledgerlark vs Billbright vs Tallyfoxledgerlark.example · Company website
- What freelancers should look for in tax-ready softwaretaxtimes.example · News and press
Billbright4 sources
- Billbright reviews and ratingssoftwarereviews.example · Reviews and ratings
- How to get paid faster as a freelancergetpaidfaster.example · Articles and blogs
- Best way to chase late invoices? (community thread)forumcorner.example · Social and forums
- Pricing and free planbillbright.example · Company website
Fernbook3 sources
- Tools every creative freelancer usescreatornews.example · Articles and blogs
- Fernbook reviews and ratingssoftwarereviews.example · Reviews and ratings
- Templates and contracts for creativesfernbook.example · Company website

What to do

Tallyfox was recommended in 1 of 8 AI answers, at an average position of 4.0. The companies that were recommended are backed mostly by third-party articles, followed by review sites.
Get listed or featured on the websites AI leans on most for these questions: softwarereviews.example, freelancetools.example, getpaidfaster.example, forumcorner.example, creatornews.example.
Third-party "best of" articles and roundups drive many recommendations. Aim to be included in the ones that rank well.
Collect more customer reviews on the review sites that appear here, and respond to them.
Take part in the communities where these brands are discussed, such as forums and freelancer groups.
Billbright was named first for every payment reminder question. Publish a clear page about your reminder feature so AI has something to quote.

How to read this: each AI platform was asked each question 2 times through its developer interface with web search turned on. Answers can differ a little from what people see in the consumer apps, and they change from run to run, so this shows how often you appear rather than one fixed rank. Source types are estimated from each website's domain.

Part 4

Website and backlink comparison

A check of your own website against what search engines and AI look for, plus how many sites link to you compared with your competitors.

Website checks9 checks

Number of pages
About 84 pages, counted from the website's sitemap.
- Sitemap found at https://tallyfox.example/sitemap.xml
- Rivals in this category typically have 150 to 600 pages.
Website speed (main page, mobile)
Google speed score 62 out of 100 on a mobile connection.
- Largest content paint: 3.8s (under 2.5s is good)
- First content paint: 1.9s
- Total blocking time: 410ms
- Layout shift: 0.04 (under 0.1 is good)
Mobile friendly
The main page has the mobile viewport setting and should display well on phones.
- Viewport setting: width=device-width, initial-scale=1
Blog
A blog exists with about 9 posts (counted from the sitemap).
- Found at https://tallyfox.example/blog
- Most posts are product announcements. None target comparison or "how to get paid" searches.
City landing pages
Not applicable. This check applies to businesses that serve a specific city.
SEO-friendly pages
Checked 8 pages (the main page and pages linked from the menu). 3 of 8 have your service keywords in the title tag.
- https://tallyfox.example/ Title: "Tallyfox" (no keywords)
- https://tallyfox.example/features Title: "Features | Tallyfox" (no keywords)
- https://tallyfox.example/pricing Title: "Invoicing software pricing | Tallyfox" (keywords found)
- 2 pages are missing a meta description.
sameAs schema (social profiles)
No sameAs schema was found on the main page, so machines cannot tie your social profiles to your website.
- Add Organization schema with a sameAs list of your official LinkedIn, X, and other profiles.
FAQ sections and FAQ schema
FAQ sections were found on 2 pages, but none use FAQ schema code.
- https://tallyfox.example/pricing
- https://tallyfox.example/features
Website platform
Built on Webflow (detected from page code).

Checks 6 to 8 (backlinks and advertising) are shown in their own sections.

Backlinks and authority4 sites

Website	Domain rank	Backlinks	Referring domains
ledgerlark.example	71 / 100	186,400	6,950
billbright.example	58 / 100	52,300	2,180
fernbook.example	44 / 100	11,900	640
tallyfox.exampleYou	31 / 100	4,820	312

Domain rank is DataForSEO’s own 0 to 100 authority score. It is similar in spirit to Ahrefs DR or Moz DA, but the numbers are not directly comparable. More referring domains than your competitors usually means stronger authority.

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