---
title: How to find out why competitors get cited in AI answers with Semrush
description: Start from the exact pages AI answers cite, then use Semrush to check whether each page ranks in Google for the same question, how many sites link to it, and what keywords it wins, which together explain why the engines chose it over yours.
slug: /how-to/find-out-why-competitors-get-cited-in-ai-answers-with-semrush
page_type: playbook
lead_prompt: How do I find out why competitors get cited in AI answers with Semrush?
entity: Kite
category: AI marketing agent
author: Devon Wells and Kite
date_published: '2026-10-16'
date_modified: '2026-10-16'
related_use_cases:
  - /use-cases/ai-answer-visibility.md
  - /use-cases/competitor-analysis.md
integrations:
  - name: Semrush
    page: /integrations/semrush.md
---

# Playbook

# How to find out why competitors get cited in AI answers with Semrush

[Add Kite to Slack](/signup) · [See how Kite works](/product-marketing)

---

## Key Takeaways

- AI answers cite pages, not companies, so the way to find out why a competitor gets cited is to study the specific pages the answers link to and compare each one with your closest page.
- Semrush's AI visibility reports show which brands and sources appear in AI answers. Its search and backlink reports hold the evidence for why: whether the cited page ranks in Google for the same question, how many sites link to it, and which keywords it wins that you don't.
- Most cited pages win for one of a few reasons. They rank for the question, they carry more links from respected sites, they answer the question more directly, or they belong to a third party, such as a roundup, that leaves you out.
- Kite asks your buyers' questions in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude, records every page the answers cite, and reads each page's rankings and backlinks through your Semrush account.
- You get a question-by-question diagnosis in Slack that names the cited page, the reason it wins, the evidence behind that reason, and the fix Kite recommends. Kite can then make that fix.

## How do I find out why competitors get cited in AI answers?

You find out by working from the cited pages backward. An AI answer that recommends a competitor usually links to a handful of sources, and those sources are the real competition. One might be the competitor's comparison page, another a "best tools" roundup on a review site, and another a community thread. Each of those pages was chosen for a reason, and you can usually see that reason in its search data.

Semrush gives you two halves of this job. Its AI visibility reports track how your brand and your competitors show up in answers from engines such as ChatGPT, Google's AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity. They give you a visibility score, the prompts where competitors are mentioned and you aren't, and the domains and pages those answers cite. Its classic search tools cover the other half. Organic Research shows the keywords and pages any domain ranks for, Backlink Analytics shows who links to a domain or a single URL, and Keyword Gap compares your domain with up to four others.

The AI reports tell you who gets cited and where. They stop short of telling you why. To get there, you take each cited page and look it up in the search tools one at a time. You check whether it ranks in Google for the searches that match the buyer's question, how many separate sites link to it, and how it reads next to your own page on the same subject. Then you decide which difference matters most. With five questions and four engines, that can mean looking up dozens of pages by hand.

A good result turns that research into a reason for each question. It might say that a competitor's comparison page ranks third in Google for the same question and has links from forty sites, while your page sits on page four. Or it might say that the engine keeps citing a review-site roundup that lists three of your competitors but not you. Each reason calls for different work, so a diagnosis that names the reason tells you what to do next.

Kite does this research for you. It measures the AI answers itself, reads each cited page, pulls that page's Semrush data, and explains why it wins.

## How to get started

Start by asking Kite in Slack which competitors or questions you want explained:

> "Find out why AI answers keep citing our competitors when buyers ask for tools like ours. Use our Semrush account."

You can also point Kite at one question you've already noticed:

> "Perplexity cites two competitors and never us when someone asks for the best scheduling software for clinics. Work out why."

Kite is an AI marketer in your Slack. It researches your business, builds a growth strategy, and ships the work that brings you new customers. From that research, it already knows your category, your competitors, and the questions your buyers ask, so it can propose the questions to check and the competitors to watch without a long brief. If your team already tracks a set of AI-answer questions, Kite uses them exactly as written. Confirm the list or adjust it, and Kite starts.

Connect Semrush by pasting an API key from your Semrush account, which needs a plan that includes API access. Kite only reads from Semrush, and Semrush counts each report against your API units, so Kite checks how many units your account has left before it runs a large batch. The AI-answer measurement is built into Kite, so that part of the job needs no extra account.

## How Kite finds out why competitors get cited

### Which pages do the AI answers cite?

Kite starts by asking the engines your buyers' questions and recording exactly what they cite. It runs each question through ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. For every answer, it notes whether your brand appears, which competitors appear, and which pages and domains the answer links to. Across all the questions, it measures your share of voice against the competing brands.

Kite writes the questions the way a buyer would type them and keeps your brand name out of them. A question that already names you will almost always get an answer that mentions you, which tells you nothing.

The cited pages become Kite's working list. Kite groups them by whose page each one is: a competitor's own page, a third-party page such as a review site or roundup, or a community discussion. It also notes which pages recur across engines and questions, because a page cited by three engines matters more than one cited once.

### Does the cited page rank in Google for the same question?

Kite checks whether each cited page ranks in Google for the searches that match the buyer's question, because many AI engines search the web before they answer and draw from what ranks. A buyer's question to ChatGPT is usually longer than what people type into Google, so Kite first finds the Google searches that mean the same thing. It reads the related keywords and question-style searches Semrush holds for the topic, then checks each one's monthly search volume and keyword difficulty.

For the searches that match best, Kite reads Semrush's list of the domains and URLs in Google's top 100 results. That shows where the cited page ranks, where your nearest page ranks, and whether you appear at all. When it helps to know whether the competitor's position is new, Kite reads the same results for an earlier month, which shows whether the page climbed recently or has held its spot for a long time.

Kite also reads the competitor's top organic pages in Semrush, which shows whether the cited page is one of the pages carrying that competitor's search traffic or a smaller page the engines found useful anyway.

### Who links to the cited page?

Kite reads the backlink profile of each cited page, because links from many separate, respected sites are one of the strongest signals that a page is worth trusting. Semrush can report on a single URL rather than the whole domain, so Kite looks at the exact page that was cited. It reads the page's Authority Score, its total backlinks, the number of separate domains linking to it, and how many of those links count toward the page's ranking rather than being marked nofollow, which tells search engines to ignore them.

Then Kite compares the cited page with your closest page side by side. It reads the referring domains behind each one and the anchor text those sites use, which shows whether other sites describe the competitor's page with the same words your buyers use. Sites that link to the competitor's page but not to yours are worth noting, because they already write about your subject.

### How does the cited page answer the question?

Kite reads the cited page itself, because ranking and links explain only part of why an engine quotes a page. An engine looking for an answer favors a page that states the answer plainly and early, with a title close to the question and facts it can lift directly. Kite compares the cited page with yours on those points. It checks whether the page answers the question in its opening, whether it lists and compares options by name, whether it shows prices or other specifics, and whether it looks current.

This step often finds the reason when the search data doesn't. Your page might rank higher and still lose the citation because it never says plainly what the competitor's page says in its first paragraph.

### Is the cited page someone else's list?

Kite treats a third-party page differently from a competitor's own page, because the fix is to get included rather than to outrank it. For each review site, roundup, or directory the engines cite, Kite checks whether your brand is already listed and how the page describes your competitors. It reads the site's Authority Score and the categories Semrush assigns to it, which helps Kite rank these sources by how much weight they likely carry in your market. A roundup that recurs across several engines and questions goes to the top of the list.

### Why does the competitor get cited instead of you?

Kite puts the evidence together for each question and names the most likely reason the engines chose someone else. Most questions come down to one of these:

- **The cited page outranks yours.** The competitor's page sits near the top of Google for the matching searches, while your page ranks far lower or not at all. The fix is a stronger page of your own on that question.
- **The cited page has more and better links.** Both pages rank, but the competitor's page has links from many more separate sites. The fix is a page worth linking to and outreach to the sites that already link to the competitor.
- **The cited page answers more directly.** Your page ranks and has links, but the competitor's page states the answer plainly where yours buries it. The fix is rewriting your page so it answers the question in its opening.
- **The engines rely on a third-party list.** The cited page belongs to neither of you, and it leaves you out. The fix is getting your brand included on that page.
- **You have no page for the question.** Semrush shows the matching searches as gaps your domain doesn't rank for at all. The competitor wins because it's the only one answering, so the fix is a new page.

Kite also flags questions where the engines cite you and leave your competitors out. Those show which of your pages carry real weight, so you know what to keep strong.

### What Kite reports back and does next

When the research is done, Kite posts a summary in the Slack thread where you asked. It gives your share of voice across the four engines and lists the competitors that appear in your place. For each question, it names the cited page, the reason it wins, and the Semrush evidence behind that reason, such as its Google position and its number of linking domains. The fixes come ordered by how much search demand each question carries. If the findings need more room than a Slack message, Kite publishes them as a report with charts and tables at a shared link.

From there, Kite can do the work it recommends. It writes the missing answer or comparison page, rewrites a page that ranks but doesn't get cited, and improves the page's structured data. For third-party sources, it researches each site and drafts a pitch to get your brand included, which it can send from your team's Kite email address once you approve. Kite asks before it publishes or sends anything. It publishes page changes on a site it hosts or through a supported CMS connection. Afterward, it runs the same questions again so you can see whether the citations moved. If you want this check every month, ask Kite to put it on a schedule, and each run posts in the same thread.

## What the finished work contains

When Kite finishes, you have a list of the pages AI answers cite instead of yours and a plain reason for each one.

- **The AI-answer picture.** For each question, which of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude mention you, which competitors they name, and which pages they cite, plus your overall share of voice.
- **The cited pages.** Each page the engines rely on, labeled as a competitor page, a third-party list, or a community discussion, with how many engines and questions cite it.
- **The search evidence.** For each cited page and your closest page, the Google position for the matching searches, the search volume and keyword difficulty, the Authority Score, and the number of linking domains, all from Semrush.
- **The reason for each question.** A plain statement of why the cited page wins, such as outranking you or appearing in a roundup that leaves you out, with the evidence beside it.
- **The recommendations.** A specific fix for each question, ordered by search demand, in the Slack thread or in a shared report your team can open without signing in.

## Common questions

### What's the difference between being mentioned and being cited in an AI answer?

A mention is when the answer names your brand in its text, and a citation is when the answer links to a page as its source. The two often come apart. An engine can recommend a competitor by name while citing a third-party roundup as its source, which is why Kite records both and studies the cited pages separately.

### Does ranking well in Google mean AI answers will cite you?

Ranking helps, but it doesn't settle it on its own. Engines that search the web before answering draw from pages that rank, and then they favor the ones that answer the question plainly and come from sites others trust. That's why Kite checks rankings, links, and the page itself for every citation.

### Do I need Semrush to find out why competitors get cited?

No. Kite comes with built-in search data through DataForSEO, which covers keyword volume, rankings, search competitors, and backlinks without a separate subscription. Connect Semrush when your team already plans around its numbers, such as its Authority Score and keyword difficulty, and you want the diagnosis to use the same data your team sees.

### Does Kite use Semrush's AI visibility reports?

No. Kite reads Semrush's keyword, ranking, and backlink reports through the API, and it measures AI answers itself by asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude your buyers' questions. That way, the questions Kite checks are the ones it built from its research on your business, and the citations it studies come straight from the answers.

## Related pages

- **Use case:** [Improve your visibility in AI answers](/use-cases/ai-answer-visibility.md)
- **Use case:** Find the sources AI answers cite in your category (coming soon)
- **Use case:** [Run an in-depth competitor analysis](/use-cases/competitor-analysis.md)
- **Use case:** Get listed on the sites and directories AI answers cite (coming soon)
- **Use case:** Track whether AI assistants recommend your brand (coming soon)
- **Use case:** Test what improves your AI visibility (coming soon)
- **Use case:** Audit a competitor's or prospect's marketing (coming soon)
- **Integration:** [Semrush + Kite](/integrations/semrush.md)