Quick Answer
If you're seeing an aggregate Competitor Presence percentage (like 40%) that's higher than any individual competitor percentage (like Competitor A at 16%, Competitor B at 12%), you're not looking at a bug—this is how the metric is designed to work.
The 40% represents responses where at least one competitor appears. The individual percentages show how often each specific competitor appears.
These percentages overlap. Multiple competitors can appear in the same response, so you can't add them together or average them.
How Competitive Presence Works
Aggregate Competitor Presence
Where you'll see it: Dashboard competitive presence chart, summary cards
What it measures: The percentage of AI responses where at least one competitor appears.
How it's calculated:
(Responses with ≥1 competitor mention) / (Total responses)
Example:
You collect 100 AI responses
39 of those responses mention at least one competitor
Result: 39% Competitor Presence
Individual Competitor Percentages
Where you'll see it: Competitor breakdown table, individual competitor trend lines
What it measures: How often each specific competitor appears in responses.
How it's calculated:
(Responses mentioning Competitor A) / (Total responses)
Example:
You collect 100 AI responses
Competitor A appears in 16 of them → 16% presence
Competitor B appears in 12 of them → 12% presence
Competitor C appears in 10 of them → 10% presence
Why the Math Doesn't Line Up
The aggregate Competitor Presence (40%) is not an average of the individual competitor percentages. Instead, it represents the percentage of responses where at least one competitor appears.
The individual percentages (Competitor A at 16%, Competitor B at 12%, etc.) show how often each specific competitor appears.
Why They Don't Match
Those competitor mentions overlap. A single response can include:
Multiple competitors at once
The brand and competitors together
Only some competitors
Only the brand
None of them
So if you looked at 100 responses:
Competitor A might appear in ~16
Competitor B in ~12
Competitor C in ~10
But around 39-40 responses include at least one competitor.
Because many of those mentions happen in the same responses, you can't add the individual percentages together or average them.
The Overlapping Circles Analogy
Think of it like overlapping circles (a Venn diagram):
Each competitor is its own circle, and they intersect a lot. The 40% is the total area covered by any circle, not the size of one specific circle.
The aggregate shows the combined competitive footprint. It tells you what percentage of responses have any competitor visibility, even though those competitors might be appearing together in the same responses.
What This Tells You
This is actually a very useful signal.
When Aggregate is High, But No Single Competitor Dominates
Example: 40% aggregate competitor presence, but highest individual is 16%
What it means:
The competitive landscape is fragmented
No single competitor consistently owns the conversation
Multiple competitors are getting visibility, but in different responses
There's an opportunity to break through since no one dominates
When One Competitor is Close to the Aggregate
Example: 60% aggregate competitor presence, and one competitor is at 55%
What it means:
One competitor is dominating most of the competitive visibility
They're the clear category leader in AI responses
Other competitors are barely showing up
How Presences Can Overlap
Scenario: A single AI response about "best project management tools"
The response might mention:
Your brand
Competitor A
Competitor B
Competitor C
This one response contributes to:
Your brand presence ✓
Competitor A's individual presence ✓
Competitor B's individual presence ✓
Competitor C's individual presence ✓
The aggregate competitor presence (only once) ✓
So four competitors appeared, but the aggregate only increases by 1 response, not 4.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this a bug? The percentages don't add up!
No, this is not a bug. The aggregate Competitor Presence and individual competitor percentages measure different things. They're designed to overlap because multiple competitors can appear in the same response.
Can I average the individual competitor percentages to get the aggregate?
No. The aggregate is not an average of individual competitor percentages. It's a completely different calculation:
Individual percentages: How often each specific competitor appears
Aggregate: % of responses where at least one competitor appears (any of them)
Because competitors often appear together in the same responses, averaging the individual percentages will give you the wrong number.
Why is the aggregate so much higher than any individual competitor?
This typically means the competitive landscape is fragmented—many different competitors are getting visibility across different responses, but no single competitor dominates. This is common in crowded categories.
Can competitor percentages add up to more than 100%?
Yes! If you added up all individual competitor percentages, you could theoretically get over 100% because they overlap. That's exactly why we show the aggregate separately—it shows the actual percentage of responses with any competitor.
Should I be concerned if the aggregate is high?
Not necessarily. Look at the individual competitor breakdown:
If one competitor is close to the aggregate → they're dominating, focus on them
If it's fragmented across many → opportunity to break through since no one owns it
Compare to your own brand presence to see how you stack up
How does this relate to citation metrics?
Great question! This follows the same logic as citation metrics:
Citation Share (donut) vs. Citation Consistency (row-level) show different calculations
Competitive Presence works the same way—aggregate vs. individual are measuring different things
In both cases, the metrics overlap because multiple entities can appear in the same response