PPCChat | Staying on Top of Clients Market Position & Competition | 6th October 2026

This week’s PPCChat explored how PPCers assess competitive positioning, from Auction Insights and ad libraries to landing pages and AI. The discussion also highlighted how AI is changing competitor research and brand positioning.

Q1: Do you regularly examine the brand(s) you work with’s competitive position in the marketplace and in the PPC landscape? If so, how do you examine this? And if not, why not?

I absolutely do this! I always want to know what other options a searcher is seeing so I can craft strategy to be competitive with those choices. @NeptuneMoon

Yes, all the time. And the difference between the claimed competitors and the Google ads auction is sometimes quite wide! @JuliaVyse

Guilty of not doing it often enough @Pete_Bowen

The auction insights report is a great tool to figure out who else is in the auction/landscape. @revaminkoff

Some of the ways I do it is to do manual searches to see what comes up, looking at auction insights and then looking at those sites. Viewing landing pages is a big one too. Seeing what they look like, what they highlight, how fast they load, etc. @NeptuneMoon

Also always – we do this monthly. My clients are mostly home services so where they stand amoungst local competitors has a huge impact on performance. I evaluate auction insights at the keyword/adgroup level, outranking share, competitor promotions etc. @Nadinequinn

And check what AI is doing with your landing pages. You might not realize who you’re in a summary with. @JuliaVyse

I also look at what Google’s autocomplete suggests. And lately if AI overviews in in play for keywords. I will also look in libraries for ad platforms like Facebook  even if not advertising there to be able to see some more creatives. LinkedIn has an ad library too! @NeptuneMoon

I do it, yes, but admittedly more ad hoc than regularly scheduled. Probably should be more consistent with it. @robert_brady

I built myself a claude artifact to do some of this for me. pretty cool! @JuliaVyse

Use PMax to spy on your competitors! See if their landing pages result in useful creative/understanding. If not, odds are they’re getting pulled into bad auctions. You also can get a sense of potential positioning statements. Note: don’t actually put the campaigns live @navahhopkins

I think with AI more in the mix in all aspects of digital ads and search, doing even a small review more frequently is just smart. @NeptuneMoon

@navahhopkins I’m going to need more explanation of that. @robert_brady

yes, everything else is dependent on opportunity, knowing the size and competitors defines the opportunity . Google ad library https://adstransparency.google.com/?region=US have to do competitor research so I can build audiences off their engagement pages @Chriskostecki

It’s the same DSA trick I shared a while back (when I still shared Google advice): https://youtu.be/JKlRomDVikE?si=wbjKgDK84lMU4Fl1 TLDR: you can have unique domains per campaign so you can create a new campaign that never actually goes live. Add the domain in question and allow Copilot/Gemini to do the creative assist work. Then you can see how well your competitors do at being understood as well as which ideas get suggested. @navahhopkins

We do it maybe once a year but we try not to focus on it a ton because it just becomes a distraction for a lot of clients I find. Obsessing about competitors takes away from doing the work to make your business run. @duanebrown

Frequency depends on the client industry and the size of their market. Often times a review is indicated by change in performance or pricing. @ynotweb

I’m with Duane – I don’t report it. But I’m always tracking auction insights and I keep that data over time. @DanThies

I’m a bit more on top of it, I’ve been in industries where the competitors were vicious (bidding heavily on branded terms, ad copy directed towards us, etc.) to the point where legal had to get involved. I wrote about it about here: How competitors target your branded traffic with Google Ads So, I definitely do regularly report or at least analyze competitors (pricing, changes, products/services/rankings, etc.) @DiiPooler

Q2: Do you find that most brands have a clear idea of their competitive position in their respective markets?

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahaha…. NO @NeptuneMoon

They have a set of perceived competitors, usually driven by a combination of ego & who they know personally. And then there is the online competitors who show up in Auction Insights and rank for the same terms. The overlap is often much smaller than one would expect @robert_brady

Most do not have an accurate list of who their ONLINE competitors are. Many don’t have a clear idea who their actual customers are and WHY they buy. @NeptuneMoon

And they are often poorly positioned too. Like what they think is their main selling point, is not actually the main selling point. @NeptuneMoon

And that’s just direct competitors. Don’t even get me started on substitutes and nonconsumption. Often the biggest competitor is apathy/the status quo. “Nah, not right now” @robert_brady

No, I think its all too common- who they think are their competitors and who they are competing against is vastly different. They think their top competitor is Joe down the street but in reality is this other brand with PE backing @Nadinequinn

Ok, so I saw April Dunford at an event years and years ago and her presentation on positioning has really stuck with me. Her book on the topic is fantastic: Obviously Awesome: How to Nail Product Positioning so Customers Get it, Buy it, Love it @NeptuneMoon

Agreed on the book. I’ve also followed fletchppm.com thinking on positioning. @Pete_Bowen

I work with a few different service providers and they seem to know their markets well, i also work with a few that know who in their market qualifies their customers for them. @Chriskostecki

@robert_brady April talked about how a major competitor is “doing/buying nothing” and most businesses look at you like a confused squirrel if you bring that up @NeptuneMoon

Yeah, nobody thinks of doing nothing as a v, a valid response to a quote or offer. @Pete_Bowen

Sometimes. Most usually can name them but how deeply they follow them varies a lot. @duanebrown

I also sign up for competitor emails. Not in my main email account though! @NeptuneMoon

I learned the David and Goliath strategy working with a brand, where we looked at who was spending to bring attention to the market/category and then positioned ourselves against them – I have used this at scale often in my career @Chriskostecki

A lot of mine do because they’re big enough for it to be public. But I will say they’re often very surprised at who is in their auctions with them. AND for my Gov clients, the ‘competitors’ are often bad actors or weird niche groups. @JuliaVyse

By the time I’m brought in, companies already have a good idea of who their primary competitors are. However, I’m usually the one to point out any new competitors that has popped up since they’ve last checked. @DiiPooler

Q3: What role, if any, do you think AI is playing in brand competitiveness or the ability to determine competitive positions?

It feels like it’s homogenising things. @Pete_Bowen

In Google in particular, the application of “AI” to the inner workings of the platform has absolutely changed competitiveness on brand terms. Specifically, brands match to competitors now when in the past they rarely did. @NeptuneMoon

It is changing the nature of a brand campaign and muddying the waters. So many are running campaigns that are targeting competitors without realizing it. @NeptuneMoon

We’re all pulling the same lever, now with soft lighting and license-free music @JuliaVyse

AI overviews constantly morphing does not help either. The obsession with showing up in AI tools is another headache. Where the effort is not worth what clients seem to think it is?@NeptuneMoon

the brand stuff is annoying, i have been usinf the brand inclusion/exclusions- only match to non-brand terms or only match to my brand with AI max lately and its marginally better @Nadinequinn

Seeing more “our competitor is mentioned by AI, but we are not” @duanebrown

I’m with @Pete_Bowen on this one. AI pushes everyone to the middle/average, and that’s only positive if you were below average prior @robert_brady

@NeptuneMoon not to mention google reps/xwf reps pushing it 100x a day @Nadinequinn

@Nadinequinn I want brand exclusions without having to AI max search campaigns. @Pete_Bowen

It feels like an overreach by the engines. Yes, the person has intent, but when they’re specifically searching a competitor term, that intent is not super helpful to me @robert_brady

I also think the platforms are overestimating their ability to get to correct intent since they have injected so much AI into the process. There is NOTHING more direct to determine intent than a query and platforms have demoted keywords in the last few years. @NeptuneMoon

@Pete_Bowen same. I feel like that’s a pipe dream at this point @Nadinequinn

It’s a distraction and has not proved its value to me yet, I am keeping my ear to the ground and trusting more proven signals @Chriskostecki

Q4: What do you wish the brand(s) you work with understood about competitive positioning?

HAVE. A. BETTER. PRODUCT. you are not betamax. you are not that one thing from that one time. @JuliaVyse

It’s much more fluid than they think. And it varies a lot from person to person. @robert_brady

Brand loyalty for most brands is a mirage. @NeptuneMoon

Every customer has their own constraints and incentives. If they don’t buy your specific product this year, it’s not because they hate you personally and everyone you care about. just saying. @JuliaVyse

So many brands are stuck in their own heads too and very inflexible when it comes to shifting language or testing offers or what you bring to the front as your primary reason to buy. I have been doing this work for 25+ years and it should not surprise me at this point, but it does that brands often don’t even share the language customers use when talking about their product or service. Like completely disconnected. It is wild. @NeptuneMoon

@NeptuneMoon you know who does? the Pharmas! they are SO in tune with improper use-cases they deliberately use clunky, formal language most of the time because they can’t encourage improper use. for example: my former client pfizer has a pill that solves an intimate problem. The pill is NOT recreational, but it is often used that way. @JuliaVyse

Brand loyalty only gets you so far in this market, how does being loyal to you benefit the customer? what are you doing for them that sets you apart? that’s what brands have a hard time conveying. Price is important but it’s not always the most important. @Nadinequinn

Please ask what your end of the bargain is when launching a loyalty program. Do I need to reveal all my personal data for the sake of a discount on a burger? what for??? @JuliaVyse

How about brands that get a ton of data and do NOTHING with it too? Like make my experience as a customer easier and better. @NeptuneMoon

Low price is not the same competitive advantage it was 10 years ago. Yes, we have Costco, Walmart and Amazon but those are the exception @duanebrown

Competitive positioning only matters when it impacts your business, you can either dive into the fray and be ready to convert off the demand created or you can focus solely on service delivery/your clients and ignore your competitors, to a point. And no matter what you choose, others in your market are making different choices. Focus on defining and building off your ideals, values, and priorities, and the questions answer themselves. @Chriskostecki

Q5: Are there any tools you use to examine your brand/brands’ competitive position?

As I mentioned in an early answer, ad platform ad libraries. Google trends used to be a good one too, but with AI I am less sure on using that. Tools like Semrush or SpyFu can give you a proportional idea of competitors spending on ads @NeptuneMoon

Sometimes Spyfu if there’s enough data. But a lot of times there isn’t much, so lately I’ve been using SerpAPI or SearchAPI to get me location specific competitive positioning. My go-to on this is sort of influx the part year. I’ve been testing a few different options. @timmhalloran

I have historically liked Answer The Public to get ideas, but it has been owned by Neil Patel for a bit, so…@NeptuneMoon

ChatGPT – nothing ground breaking but easy to identify competition, competitor coupons, etc. @Nadinequinn

Is anyone using AI for this purpose? And if so how/which platform(s)? @NeptuneMoon

All the tools above, but slice for Canada and you get WEIRD results. luckily, my clients do a lot of focus groups and we can get category insights from research partners. @JuliaVyse

PPCChat Participants

• Julia Vyse @JuliaVyse
• Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
• Tim Halloran @timmhalloran
• Duane Brown @duanebrown
• Peter Bowen @Pete_Bowen
• Reva Minkoff @revaminkoff
• Nadine Quinn @Nadinequinn
• Robert Brady @robert_brady
• Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
• Chris Kostecki @Chriskostecki
• Kammy Caruss @ynotweb
• Dan Thies @DanThies
• Dii Pooler @DiiPooler

Related Links

• Google Ads Account Audit Checklist (2026): What to Check and Why
• AI Max for Search: What It Is, How It Works, and When to Use It?
• PPCChat | Let’s Have Some Real Talk About AI & PPC | 22nd September 2026