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Competitor intelligence
A reputation score means more next to a peer's. Add a competitor as an entity, run its audit on public sources, and Compare sets your Reputation Health Scores side by side — on the same model version and only the sources every side shares, with coverage gaps stated plainly.
Updated By Drive Digital Editorial
Establish your own baseline first
Public sources only · Same model version and shared sources · Coverage gaps disclosed on every comparison
Direct answer
Can I benchmark my online reputation against competitors with Spy Monk?
Yes, with Compare, on every plan. Add a competitor as an entity and run its audit on public sources; Compare then sets the scores side by side on one model version and only the sources every side shares, always disclosing incomplete coverage. Competitor names stored on a monitoring project are not scanned by themselves.
- Status: available now — Compare, on every plan
- Each competitor is an entity in your workspace, audited on public sources and counted against your plan's entity limit
- Same model version and shared sources only; verdict comparable, compare with care or not comparable
- Public content only; no interaction with competitors' accounts
What it does
Context for your own numbers
A Reputation Health Score of 62 is a fact about you. Whether it is good depends on your field: a dental clinic in a competitive suburb, a regional hotel chain in peak season and a B2B software company live in different review cultures and news cycles. Competitor intelligence is the part of Spy Monk that supplies the context — the same measurement, applied to the peers you choose, over the same period, so that a difference in the numbers reflects a difference in reputation rather than a difference in method.
It works through Compare. You add each competitor as an entity in your workspace and run its audit on public sources — the same source adapters as any audit, de-duplicated and classified exactly as they are for you. Compare then sets the score snapshots side by side: two to four entities over the same window, or one entity across two windows. It uses only one model version and the harmonised source panel — the sources present for every side — because a competitor with three covered sources against your eight is not a fair comparison. Each result is marked comparable; compare with care, when the panels differ or a side's data is stale, with every difference flagged as an estimate; or not comparable, when a side has no scored snapshot, the versions differ or fewer than two sources are shared. Each side's missing sources are always listed.
What it does not do is just as plain. Competitor names stored on a monitoring project are not scanned by themselves; there is no separate automatic competitor scanning. Review-rating and engagement comparisons depend on review and social connectors, which are Phase 2 items, and share of voice from connected accounts is pending feasibility. This page labels each part accordingly.
What you get
Capabilities, labelled honestly
The first three items are available now. Rating and engagement comparisons wait for connectors; sector benchmarks depend on feasibility.
- Available now
Competitors as entities
Add a competitor or peer as an entity and run its audit on public sources — the same adapters as any audit. Each one counts against your plan's entity limit.
- Available now
Side-by-side scores on a shared panel
Reputation Health Scores compared on one model version and only the sources every side shares, with differences marked as estimates when the panels differ.
- Available now
Coverage disclosure on every comparison
Each comparison lists the shared sources and each side's missing sources, so incomplete competitor coverage is visible, never hidden.
- Phase 2
Review-rating and engagement trends
Rating trends and engagement comparisons depend on review and social connectors, which are themselves Phase 2 items.
- Pending feasibility
Industry benchmarks and influence analysis
Sector-wide benchmark datasets and media-influence analysis are later items that depend on lawfully assembled data and licensed feeds.
What it does not do
The limits, stated plainly
- It does not access competitors' private data or accounts. Only public content from the sources Spy Monk can lawfully query. No connectors to anyone else's accounts, ever.
- It is not a tool for acting against competitors. It does not post about them, report their content or help you pursue their lawful marketing. The acceptable use policy applies to competitor data exactly as it applies to your own.
- It does not present partial coverage as a result. If a competitor could be checked on fewer sources, the comparison says so and marks the difference as an estimate — or blocks it when fewer than two sources are shared.
- It does not scan competitor names on their own. Names stored on a monitoring project are kept, not scanned; a competitor is compared only once it is an entity with its own audit.
- It does not explain why a competitor scores as they do. Numbers describe public mentions within covered sources; they are not a verdict on anyone's business.
How it works
From your baseline to a fair comparison
All five steps work today, within your plan’s entity limit.
Establish your own baseline
Run the free audit and set up monitoring so your own Health Index, sentiment and coverage are measured consistently over time.
What you seeWhat you see: your dated baseline and its coverage table.
Add the competitors that matter as entities
Add one to three genuine peers in your market as entities, with their aliases — not the largest brand you can think of. Each entity counts against your plan.
What you seeWhat you see: each competitor listed as an entity in your workspace.
Audit them on the same public sources
Run each competitor’s audit. It queries the same source adapters as yours and processes results through the same pipeline, so the method matches.
What you seeWhat you see: a dated score snapshot and coverage table for each entity.
Compare with coverage attached
Choose the entities and the window. Compare keeps the same model version and the shared sources, gives its verdict and lists what each side is missing.
What you seeWhat you see: side-by-side scores with the verdict, the shared panel and the caveats.
Act on your own side of the ledger
Use the themes to fix recurring complaints, answer questions customers ask about your category, and track whether your position changes within covered sources. Nothing here is about acting against a competitor.
What you seeWhat you see: recommendations linked to evidence in your own mentions.
Who it is for
Who asked for benchmarking first
Corporate brands and products
Multi-brand companies that need category context for board reporting.
Hotels and restaurants
Properties competing on the same booking platforms in the same city.
Apps, SaaS and marketplaces
Products compared by users in forums and videos every day.
Schools, colleges and coaching
Institutions compared by parents during admissions season.
PR and marketing agencies
Agencies that report client position relative to peers.
Startups and SMEs
Founders who want to know whether a visibility gap is real before spending on marketing.
What you need to provide
Preparing for a fair comparison
- A consistent baseline. Your own audit — and, ideally, monitoring that has run for several weeks — so your own trend is stable before you compare it.
- Genuine peers. Competitors of similar size and market; comparing a single clinic with a hospital chain tells you little.
- Good aliases for each competitor. Common misspellings, Hindi spellings and product names, so their mentions are found as thoroughly as yours.
- The right plan. Compare is on every plan, but each competitor is an entity: Free and Starter include one entity, so there it compares you with your own past; Pro includes three and Business ten. Each audit uses a scan credit.
- Restraint. Benchmarking is for understanding your position and improving your own service, not for monitoring or acting against another business.
Availability
Feature status, matched to the Phase 1 scope
The table is the authoritative statement of what works today.
- Compare with competitors added as entities, on a harmonised source panelAvailable now
- Verdicts (comparable, compare with care, not comparable) and per-side missing sourcesAvailable now
- Store competitor names and aliases on a monitoring projectAvailable nowPro and Business; names are stored, not scanned by themselves
- Improvement scenarios with labelled rangesAvailable nowIllustrative ranges, labelled “Scenario estimate — not a forecast or guarantee”
- Review-rating and engagement comparisonPhase 2Needs review and social connectors
- Share of voice from connected accountsPending feasibilityNeeds account connectors and platform permissions
- Industry benchmark datasetsPending feasibilityOnly where lawfully assembled (SRS §24)
- Media and creator influence analysisPending feasibilityDepends on licensed feeds
- Available now
- Available now4 items
- Phase 2
- Phase 21 item
- Pending feasibility
- Pending feasibility3 items
Questions
Competitor intelligence — frequently asked
Can I use competitor benchmarking today?
Yes, through Compare. Add a competitor as an entity, run its audit on public sources, and compare on the sources both sides share. Competitor names stored on a monitoring project are not scanned by themselves, and rating or engagement comparisons wait for the Phase 2 connectors.
Will competitors know they are being tracked?
Comparison uses only publicly available content from the sources Spy Monk can access, in the same way an audit of your own name does. It does not connect to, interact with or report on competitors’ accounts.
Which plans include it?
Compare is on every plan. Each competitor is an entity, so how many you can compare follows your plan’s entity limit — one on Free and Starter, three on Pro, ten on Business — and each audit uses a scan credit. See the pricing page for current entitlements.
Does it calculate share of voice?
No. Compare works on Reputation Health Scores. Share of voice from connected accounts is pending feasibility, and wherever a calculated figure such as share of voice appears it is marked as an estimate with its source panel.
What if a competitor has far more mentions than I do?
Volume is one signal, not a verdict. A competitor may have more mentions because of a crisis, a campaign or a larger footprint. The comparison is of scores on shared sources, not raw volume, and your own improvement over time within covered sources is the measure that matters.
Can I report a competitor's misleading advertising through Spy Monk?
No. Spy Monk is not a tool for acting against other businesses. Consumer-protection complaints about misleading advertisements are made to the Central Consumer Protection Authority or through the National Consumer Helpline, by the affected consumer, outside Spy Monk.
Build the baseline, then compare
The comparison is only as good as your own measurement. Start with a free audit and a monitoring project.
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