URL: /capabilities/size-up-competitors · Id: `page:/capabilities/size-up-competitors`

# Size up competitors

> Who shares your search results, what they rank for and pay for, the ads they keep running and the links you lack.

Who am I up against, and what works for them? Name your site: your agent finds who shares your search results, the terms they rank for and buy, and the ads they keep running.

```text title="Size up competitors · Ask"
Who am I up against for rent tracking?
Show me what they rank for, what they pay for and the ads they keep running, then watch their pricing pages.
```

```ts title="Size up competitors · SDK"
import { $ } from 'startup-builder'

const field = await $.Domain.benchmark({ hostname: 'leaseline.app' })   // finds the sites that share your search results
const rivals = await $.Domain.benchmark({ hostname: 'leaseline.app', competitors: field.competitors, fields: ['paid', 'ads', 'gap'] })   // their terms, paid terms, ads and the gap
await $.Monitor.create({ kind: 'outside', target: 'rentroll.example/pricing', every: '1d' })   // a Page watch on each pricing page, daily
return rivals
```

```json title="Size up competitors · Response · sample"
{
  "$type": "Domain",
  "hostname": "leaseline.app",
  "observedAt": "2026-10-25",
  "readings": [
    {
      "hostname": "rentroll.example",
      "sharedTerms": 212,
      "searchVisits": 18400,
      "paidTerms": 64,
      "adBudget": "about $6,200 a month",
      "ads": {
        "google": 38,
        "facebook": 12,
        "linkedin": 0
      },
      "longestRunningAd": {
        "venue": "google-search",
        "headline": "Rent tracking without the spreadsheet",
        "firstSeen": "2026-03-04",
        "lastSeen": "2026-10-24"
      },
      "gap": {
        "terms": 140,
        "sample": [
          "rent ledger template",
          "late rent notice"
        ]
      }
    },
    {
      "hostname": "ledgernest.example",
      "sharedTerms": 97,
      "searchVisits": 6100,
      "paidTerms": 0,
      "adBudget": null,
      "ads": {
        "google": 0,
        "facebook": 4,
        "linkedin": 2
      },
      "longestRunningAd": {
        "venue": "facebook",
        "headline": "Stop chasing rent checks",
        "firstSeen": "2026-06-18",
        "lastSeen": "2026-10-25"
      },
      "gap": {
        "terms": 58,
        "sample": [
          "rent ledger for small landlords"
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "cost": {
    "usd": 0.058,
    "most": 0.1
  }
}
```

| First run | Status | Runs by | Connect once |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 3 competitors’ paid terms and ads: about $0.06 | Coming | API | nothing |

## What you get
| Field | What it says |
| --- | --- |
| Competitor | A site that shares your search results, or one you name, with how much of your ground it holds. |
| Search visits | Estimated monthly visits from search, and what the same clicks would cost as ads. |
| Ranked terms | Each term they rank for, with position, searches a month and the cost of a click. |
| Paid terms | The terms they bid on and their estimated monthly ad budget. A blank reads unknown, never zero. |
| Ads | Each ad they run on Google, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok, with first and last seen. The longest-running ad is the one that works for them. |
| Gap | The terms and links they hold and you do not, which feed Research demand and Earn first links. |
| Pricing | Their plans and prices as their own pages state them, dated. |
| Changes | A change on their pricing or product page, with before and after, the day it happens. |
| Cost | The most the read can cost, shown before it runs, and what it cost after. |

## How it runs
| When | What happens | Runs by | Your part | Takes |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Minute 1 | Find the sites that share your search results, or start from the rivals you name ([Competitors](#competitors)) | API | your site, and any rival you already know | the same minute |
| Minute 2 | Read each rival’s search visits, ranked terms and best pages ([Their ranked terms](#ranked-terms)) | API | nothing | the same minute |
| Minute 3 | Read the terms they pay for and every ad they run, with first and last seen ([Their paid terms and ads](#paid-terms-and-ads)) | API | nothing | the same minute |
| Minute 4 | Mark the terms and links they hold and you do not, and pass them to Research demand and Earn first links ([Keyword gap](#keyword-gap)) | API | nothing | the same minute |
| Day 1 | Read each rival’s pricing page, then watch it and their product page every day ([Page watch](#page-watch)) | API | nothing | a change shows the day it happens |
| Weekly | Read their ads again, so a new ad or a stopped one shows the same week ([Their paid terms and ads](#paid-terms-and-ads)) | API | nothing | the same day |

## Jobs inside it
| Job | What it returns | Price | Status | Runs by |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| <a id="competitors"></a>Competitors | The sites that share your search results, with how much of your ground each one holds | $0.0005 a row | Coming | API |
| <a id="traffic-estimate"></a>Traffic estimate | Each rival’s monthly visits from search, and what the same clicks would cost as ads | $0.001 a domain | Coming | API |
| <a id="ranked-terms"></a>Their ranked terms | The terms each competitor ranks for, with position and traffic | $0.005 a row | Coming | API |
| <a id="keyword-gap"></a>Keyword gap | The terms a rival ranks for and you do not, with their position and the searches behind each | $0.005 a row | Coming | API |
| <a id="top-pages"></a>Their best pages | The rival pages that earn the most links and search visits | $0.0005 a row | Coming | API |
| <a id="paid-terms-and-ads"></a>Their paid terms and ads | What they bid on and the ads they keep running, first and last seen | about $0.02 a competitor | Coming | API |
| <a id="their-links"></a>Their links | The domains that link to each rival, ranked by authority, handed to Earn first links | $0.000179 a row | Coming | API |
| <a id="their-pages"></a>Their pricing and pages | Each rival’s plans, prices and headline, read from their own site | $0.001 a page | Coming | API |
| <a id="page-watch"></a>Page watch | A change on a competitor’s pricing or product page, with before and after, the day it happens | a fraction of a cent a check | Coming | API |

## Where and how it runs
| Where it works | How it runs | Connect once |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Google Search, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok | API | nothing |

Your agent acts as you on every Venue you authorize. Where a Venue has no API, a browser agent signs in as you and does the steps.

## Plays that use it
| Play | Strategy that runs it |
| --- | --- |
| [Paid search](/plays/paid-search) | [Paid](/strategy/paid) |

## Reference
| Tool | Runs today |
| --- | --- |
| <Op verb="Domain.benchmark" /> | Coming |
| <Op verb="Monitor.create" /> | Coming |