> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.erlin.ai/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Competitors

> Add and manage the competitors Erlin tracks alongside your brand for AI visibility benchmarking and traffic comparison.

Erlin discovers competitors in your category automatically, then tracks their AI visibility and organic traffic alongside yours. Select 3 to 5 competitors to benchmark against.

## How Erlin discovers competitors

The first time you open **Brand > Competitors**, Erlin analyzes your domain and suggests relevant competitors. The discovery uses multiple sources to find brands competing for the same audience. Each suggestion includes a relevance score and a reason explaining why Erlin considers it a competitor.

The discovery runs in the background and typically completes in under a minute. A progress indicator shows while Erlin works.

## Selecting competitors

Once discovery completes, Erlin shows a list of suggested competitors. The top three are pre-selected based on relevance score. You can:

* Toggle any suggestion on or off
* Add a custom competitor by typing its domain (for rivals Erlin did not suggest)
* Select between 3 and 5 competitors total

Click **Continue** when your selection is ready. Erlin requires at least three and at most five competitors to generate meaningful comparisons.

## The traffic leaderboard

After you confirm your selection, Erlin runs a traffic analysis using SE Ranking data. This takes 30 to 60 seconds. Once complete, the leaderboard displays your brand and each competitor side by side:

| Column           | What it shows                           |
| ---------------- | --------------------------------------- |
| Domain           | The competitor's website                |
| Name             | Company name (derived from domain)      |
| Organic traffic  | Estimated monthly organic visits        |
| Organic keywords | Number of keywords the domain ranks for |

Your brand appears at the top of the table for easy comparison. The leaderboard data is cached: returning to this page later loads it instantly without re-running analysis.

## Editing your competitor set

Click **Edit competitors** on the leaderboard to return to the selection view. Change your picks (add, remove, or swap competitors), then click **Continue** again. Erlin re-runs the traffic analysis with the new set and updates the leaderboard.

## Where competitors appear in Erlin

The competitors you select here show up in two places:

**AI Visibility dashboard.** The Competitor Leaderboard on the dashboard shows how your competitors perform in AI responses: their Visibility Score, share of voice, and average position. This data comes from your visibility scans, not from traffic analysis.

**Brand > Competitors (this page).** The traffic leaderboard here shows organic search traffic from SE Ranking. This is traditional search data, not AI visibility data.

Both views use the same competitor set. Changing competitors here updates the AI Visibility dashboard leaderboard on the next scan.

## Related

<CardGroup cols={2}>
  <Card title="AI Visibility" icon="eye" href="/ai-visibility/overview">
    The dashboard where competitor AI visibility data appears.
  </Card>

  <Card title="Brand overview" icon="info" href="/your-brand/overview">
    Your company profile and product information.
  </Card>
</CardGroup>
