TL;DR — Co-occurrence mapping shows where AI treats you and a competitor as alternatives and where it chooses one over the other. Go to Overview > Compare > Overlap to see the three-way split: co-occurrence, exclusive wins, and displacement prompts. Check the displacement rate first, as those are the queries where AI actively recommends the competitor instead of you. Pro tip: in the GEO Matrix with the competitor overlay, look for cells where scores are within 10 points of each other — these are your closest competitive battlegrounds where a targeted content push can tip the result.
The Question
“Where do my brand and a specific competitor overlap in AI recommendations?”Co-occurrence — the share of AI responses that mention both your brand and a specific competitor in the same answer — is one of the most strategically meaningful signals in competitive GEO analysis. When AI mentions both brands together, it is treating you as alternatives in the same competitive set. When it consistently mentions only the competitor, you have a displacement problem. When it mentions only you, you have an opportunity to understand what you are doing right. Mapping this overlap precisely tells you where the real competition is happening in AI and where the most critical gaps exist. You might also be wondering:
- “On which specific prompts does AI mention both my brand and a competitor together?”
- “Which prompts does AI answer by recommending the competitor but not my brand?”
- “Is the overlap growing or shrinking over time — are we becoming more or less competitive on the same queries?”
Where to Go in Qwairy
Start here: Overview > Compare > Overlap
Navigate to Overview > Compare, then select the Overlap tab. Choose a single competitor to analyze. The view presents three categories: prompts where both brands appear (co-occurrence), prompts where only your brand appears (exclusive wins), and prompts where only the competitor appears (competitive displacement).
Focus on the displacement column — these are the prompts where AI is actively choosing the competitor over you. The size and content of this set defines your most urgent competitive gap.
Go deeper: Visibility > Prompts
Navigate to Visibility > Prompts and filter by the prompts identified in the Overlap displacement column. Enable the Competitors column to see exactly which brands appear alongside the competitor in those responses.
Reading the actual AI responses for these prompts gives you the qualitative context that the overlap metrics summarize quantitatively — you can see the framing, the language used, and the sources cited.
Go deeper: Overview > GEO Matrix
Open Overview > GEO Matrix with the competitor overlay enabled. The matrix lets you see overlap patterns across two dimensions simultaneously — which topic areas and which providers are generating the most co-occurrence vs. displacement. Cells where you score high and the competitor also scores high are your true competitive battlegrounds.
Complete the picture: Exports + Shared Views
Export the overlap data as CSV/XLSX via Workspace > Exports to bring it into a competitive analysis spreadsheet or slide deck. For recurring team review, create a Shared View locked to the Overlap tab with a specific competitor pre-selected — team members can access the live data without needing a Qwairy login.
What to Look For
Compare > Overlap Tab
The Overlap tab gives you the most direct answer to this question in a structured three-column layout.| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Co-occurrence rate | The percentage of monitored prompts where both brands appear in the same AI response — a high rate confirms you are in the same competitive set |
| Exclusive win rate | Prompts where only your brand appears — these are your strongest positions, where AI has differentiated you from this competitor |
| Displacement rate | Prompts where only the competitor appears — your primary competitive gap; high displacement on important prompts is the most actionable signal |
| Prompt list per category | The specific prompts in each category — essential for understanding what type of query drives each pattern |
Prompts View — Response-Level Detail
Reading the actual responses for displaced prompts reveals the mechanism behind the overlap pattern.| Element | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Cited sources in displacement prompts | Which domains AI cites when recommending the competitor on a prompt where you don’t appear — these are your citation targets |
| Language and framing | How AI describes the competitor in the response — do the attributes used match the competitor’s messaging, suggesting strong content-to-AI alignment? |
| Position in response | Where in the AI response the competitor appears — first position in a numbered list versus a passing mention are structurally different competitive situations |
GEO Matrix — Competitor Overlay
The matrix view adds topic and provider dimensions to the binary overlap/displacement picture.Pro Tip: In the GEO Matrix, look for cells where you and a competitor score within 10 points of each other — these are your closest competitive battlegrounds where a targeted content or citation effort could tip the result in your favor. Cells where the gap is 30+ points in either direction are either secure wins or structural disadvantages that require longer-term investment.
Filters That Help
| Filter | How to use it for this question |
|---|---|
| Period | Compare current overlap rate vs. 90 days ago — is the competitive set expanding (more co-occurrence) or contracting (more displacement on one side)? |
| Provider | Overlap patterns often differ by platform — you may have high co-occurrence on ChatGPT but high displacement on Gemini with the same competitor |
| Topic / Tag | Focus on the topic areas most important to your business — overall overlap rates can obscure significant variation by topic |
How to Interpret the Results
Good result
Your co-occurrence rate with the primary competitor is above 60% — meaning AI consistently presents you as alternatives in the same competitive set. Displacement is limited to a small number of prompts, most of which are adjacent to your core positioning rather than central to it. Your exclusive win rate is higher than your displacement rate, showing that AI differentiates you positively on more queries than it excludes you from.Needs attention
Displacement rate exceeds 40% of monitored prompts — meaning on almost half your queries, AI answers with the competitor but omits your brand. Co-occurrence is below 30%, indicating AI does not consistently group you in the same competitive set. The displaced prompts include your most strategically important query types (core product category, head terms, comparison queries). Exclusive win rate is below 15% — meaning there are very few prompts where AI has strongly differentiated in your favor. This picture suggests you are not yet firmly established as a recognized alternative to this competitor in AI’s knowledge base.Example
Scenario: You run a travel booking platform specializing in vacation packages. Booking.com is a dominant competitor. You want to understand whether AI treats you as a direct alternative to Booking.com or whether you are being systematically excluded from the same conversation.
- Navigate to Overview > Compare > Overlap, select Booking.com. The results show: co-occurrence on 19 of 52 monitored prompts (37%), exclusive wins on 8 prompts (15%), displacement on 25 prompts (48%).
- The displacement prompts list includes “best travel booking sites for Europe,” “Booking.com alternatives for families,” and “cheapest vacation packages all-inclusive.” These are high-value prompts where being absent is a significant commercial risk.
- Navigate to Visibility > Prompts and filter to the displacement prompts. Reading the “Booking.com alternatives for families” responses, you find that AI mentions Expedia, Tripadvisor, and Kayak — but not your brand. The sources cited include a Condé Nast Traveler comparison article and a Trustpilot reviews page for Booking.com. Your brand is not listed on either.
- Add the Condé Nast Traveler article and the Trustpilot alternatives page to your outreach list in Strategy > Backlink Opportunities. Getting featured in Condé Nast Traveler’s next travel platform roundup is a near-term, achievable action that directly addresses a confirmed displacement point.
- Create a Shared View of the Overlap tab locked to Booking.com and share it with your marketing team for monthly review.
Go Further
Export overlap analysis
Export the full brand-competitor overlap matrix as CSV or XLSX for strategic review
Track overlap programmatically
Use the competitors endpoint to monitor co-occurrence patterns between your brand and specific competitors
Share the overlap matrix with your strategy team
Create a shared view of the overlap analysis for your strategy or product team to review
Related Questions
Who are my biggest competitors in AI search results?
Start with the full competitive landscape before drilling into a specific overlap
What topics do my competitors own that I don't appear in?
Map topic-level gaps driven by the displacement patterns you find in the Overlap view
Sources cited for competitors but not me?
Find the specific domains driving competitor presence on the queries where you are displaced
How do competitors rank vs my brand at each funnel stage?
Add funnel context to understand whether displacement is most acute at awareness or decision stage