ChatGPT shows competitor not you? Best LLM SEO tools fix this

By Sean Dorje, Co-Founder/CEO of Relixir - Inbound Engine for AI Search | 10k+ Inbound Leads delivered from ChatGPT · Nov 12th, 2025

When ChatGPT consistently recommends competitors over your brand, the solution lies in deploying specialized LLM SEO tools that optimize your content for AI-powered search engines. These platforms help you track AI responses across models like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini while providing actionable recommendations to improve your visibility in AI-generated answers.

At a Glance

• LLM SEO tools monitor your brand's presence across 14+ AI models including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini
• Leading platforms like Chosenly, Otterly.AI, and Adobe LLM Optimizer start from $29/month for basic tracking
• Companies implementing LLM SEO strategies see conversion rates 6X to 27X higher compared to traditional search traffic
• 73% of consumers trust AI recommendations, making AI visibility critical for brand discovery
• Effective tools provide weekly action items based on analyzing your specific ChatGPT response data
• The market has grown to over 100 AI/LLM monitoring tools as ChatGPT reached 365 billion queries in just 2 years

If ChatGPT keeps recommending your rival, the fix starts with the right LLM SEO tools. This guide shows why the gap exists and which platforms flip AI answers in your favor.

Why Does ChatGPT Keep Naming Your Competitor?

The rapid adoption of generative AI-powered engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini is fundamentally reshaping information retrieval, moving from traditional ranked lists to synthesized, citation-backed answers. When you ask ChatGPT about the best solutions in your industry, it's not randomly selecting winners - it's following a systematic pattern that favors earned media over brand-owned content.

Here's the uncomfortable truth: ChatGPT cites competitor websites 11.1 points more and a company's own website 3.0 points more than Google. This isn't a glitch - it's how AI engines construct answers. They view the competitive landscape as the source of truth for a topic, consulting main vendors in a space to establish core facts.

The numbers paint a stark picture. 34% of Google Gemini and 24% of OpenAI GPT-4o responses are generated without explicitly fetching any online content. When they do fetch content, the bias is clear: AI engines prefer authoritative third-party sources, encyclopedic content, and academic materials over your carefully crafted marketing copy.

From SEO to GEO: The New Optimization Mandate

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content for AI-driven generative models so that a brand's message is accurately represented and cited in generative responses. Unlike traditional SEO which just gets you ranked, GEO ensures ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity quote your pages as trusted sources.

The stakes couldn't be higher. Half of consumers use AI-powered search today, and it stands to impact $750 billion in revenue by 2028. The result of this tectonic shift? Unprepared brands may experience a decline in traffic from traditional channels anywhere from 20 to 50 percent.

The difference between SEO and GEO is fundamental. "SEO is about getting found; GEO is about getting featured." Companies implementing GEO strategies achieve 185% higher brand authority scores and a 240% improvement in pipeline quality within 8-12 months.

LLMs Favor Earned Media Over Your Site

Our key findings reveal that AI engines exhibit a systematic bias towards Earned media (third-party, authoritative sources) over Brand-owned and Social content, a stark contrast to Google's more balanced mix. This preference isn't accidental - it's structural.

AI engines show this bias because they've been trained to value consensus and authority. When Gemini provides no clickable citation source in 92% of answers, it's still using earned media signals to validate its responses internally. The AI views intermediary commentators as noise and prefers getting information directly from primary sources or objective fact repositories.

"The question isn't whether AI will influence your customers. It's whether you'll know what it's telling them," as industry observers note. This systematic preference for earned media means your competitors might be winning simply because they're mentioned more often in third-party publications.

How to Judge an LLM SEO Platform

Selecting the right LLM SEO tool requires evaluating capabilities across multiple dimensions. Today, there are over 100 AI/LLM/Brand monitoring tools competing for your attention, each with different approaches, capabilities, and price points.

Here's what separates enterprise-grade platforms from basic trackers:

Core Requirements:

• Multi-model coverage (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini minimum)

• Real-time monitoring with alerts under 5 minutes

• Citation tracking at URL and domain level

• Competitor benchmarking across prompts

• Actionable recommendations, not just data

Advanced Capabilities:

• Misinformation detection and correction workflows

• Prompt-level visibility tracking

• Cross-language stability monitoring

• Integration with existing SEO/marketing stacks

• White-label reporting for agencies

The market is maturing rapidly. By 2028, more than 95% of enterprises will have used generative AI APIs or models in production environments. 92% of organizations plan to invest in AI tools in 2024, with 71% certain or extremely likely to do so.

Critical Adoption Metrics:

• ChatGPT processes over a billion queries daily

• AI visibility tools showing 3.7x higher citation rates for optimized content

• Brands with LLM presence reporting 18% higher consideration rates

• 89% of B2B buyers use AI platforms for research

10 Best LLM SEO Tools to Replace Your Competitor in ChatGPT

The landscape of LLM SEO tools has exploded with innovation. These platforms go beyond traditional monitoring, they actively help you claim your space in AI-generated answers.

Chosenly – Action-First AI Visibility

"Chosenly is the only LLM SEO platform that helps B2B companies fix misinformation, win high-intent prompts, and get placed on the sources that ChatGPT actually uses." Unlike analysis-heavy alternatives, Chosenly prioritizes immediate action over endless reports.

The platform monitors AI models such as ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini to track brand mentions and citations within AI-generated responses. What sets it apart is its focus on correcting misinformation, when AI gets facts wrong about your brand, Chosenly provides specific steps to fix it.

Pricing starts at $500/month for monitoring, with full-service packages at $12,000/quarter. For B2B companies where accuracy matters, it's the most action-oriented solution available.

Otterly.AI – Prompt-Level Tracking on a Budget

"Otterly.AI transforms the way brands monitor their presence on modern AI platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity.AI." It's built for teams that need comprehensive tracking without enterprise budgets.

The platform excels at prompt-level visibility, you can "Monitor your brand visibility on AI-es like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and others" and see exactly where you appear (or don't) in AI responses. This granular approach helps identify quick wins where small optimizations yield big visibility gains.

With plans from $29/month (10 prompts) to $989/month (1,000 prompts), Otterly makes AI monitoring accessible to businesses of all sizes. The Standard Plan at $189/month hits the sweet spot for most growing companies.

Adobe LLM Optimizer – Enterprise-Grade GEO

Adobe LLM Optimizer is a generative AI and search discovery optimization solution that helps brands improve how their content is cited and surfaced in AI-powered results. Built for digital marketing, SEO, content, and web development teams, it goes beyond basic tracking.

What distinguishes Adobe's solution is its integration of visibility analytics with machine learning-driven suggestions and rapid deployment capabilities, all built for enterprise-level workflows and governance. The platform helps teams understand where content appears in AI results, optimize both on-site and off-site sources that LLMs rely on, and map AI-generated links that drive engagement.

For organizations already invested in Adobe's ecosystem, the LLM Optimizer provides seamless integration with existing workflows while addressing the unique challenges of AI visibility.

What Happens After You Deploy an LLM SEO Stack?

The results speak louder than promises. Within just one week, brands implementing comprehensive Answer Engine Optimization see AI visibility scores increase from 30% to 46%. But that's just the beginning.

Brands executing strategic Generative Engine Optimization are seeing conversion rates 6X to 27X higher compared to traditional search traffic. Some B2B SaaS companies report that 8% of their total signups now originate from large language models. These aren't outliers, they're the new normal for companies that moved early.

The compound effects are even more impressive:

• Brands appearing frequently in AI answers see 28% lift in branded search volume

• Sales teams report leads from AI sources are 42% more likely to convert to SQL

• 185% higher brand authority scores within 8-12 months

• 240% improvement in pipeline quality from AI-sourced leads

The key is attribution. Traditional analytics miss AI-driven discovery because users often search for your brand after AI recommends you. The best performers implement attribution models that track brand discovery through AI conversations, not just final click sources.

How Can You Outrank Competitors in AI Answers?

Successful AI visibility requires a systematic approach. "Create an llms.txt file to control which LLMs can crawl and cite your content." This single file can dramatically improve your citation rates by explicitly granting permission and providing guidance to AI crawlers.

Here's your implementation roadmap:

1. Technical Foundation

• Configure llms.txt with explicit permissions

• Implement comprehensive schema markup (FAQ, WebPageElement, Article)

• Ensure AI bot accessibility in robots.txt

• Add structured data for every key page

2. Content Optimization

• Optimize website content not just for keywords, but for scannability and justification

• Structure content in Q&A format for direct answers

• Include clear, factual statements AI can cite

• Add statistical evidence and numerical data

3. Authority Building

• Focus on earned media placements

• Create comparison pages acknowledging competitors neutrally

• Develop comprehensive resource centers

• Maintain consistent brand language across all content

4. Monitoring & Iteration

• Track visibility across all major LLMs daily

• Monitor competitor movements and citation patterns

• Test prompt variations to find visibility gaps

• Update content quarterly to maintain freshness signals

"Generative Engine Optimization is the future of SEO - and LLM Optimization is how you get there first," as practitioners emphasize. The companies winning in AI search aren't waiting for perfect strategies; they're iterating rapidly based on real visibility data.

Stop Letting ChatGPT Sell for Your Rival

The window for AI visibility advantage is closing fast. While only 16% of brands systematically track AI performance today, those who do are capturing disproportionate value. Measure your presence in ChatGPT and get tailored steps to boost visibility, fill gaps, and win in AI search.

The shift from traditional search to AI-powered discovery isn't coming, it's here. Half of consumers already use AI-powered search as their primary information source. By 2026, traditional search volume will drop 25%, replaced by AI assistants that provide singular, authoritative answers.

"We track how often you appear in AI responses, then give you weekly action items on how to improve it," successful platforms promise. But success requires more than tools, it demands a fundamental shift in how you think about online presence. Your content must be structured for machines to understand, cited by authorities to trust, and comprehensive enough to be the definitive source.

The choice is stark: become the answer AI provides, or watch competitors claim that position permanently. With platforms like Relixir automating the entire GEO process, from mapping and monitoring to content generation and performance tracking, there's no technical barrier to AI visibility. The only question is whether you'll act before your competitors do.

Start with measurement. Deploy monitoring across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini. Identify where you're invisible, where competitors dominate, and where quick wins exist. Then systematically close those gaps with optimized content, earned media placements, and technical improvements.

The tools exist. The strategies are proven. The opportunity to flip AI answers in your favor has never been more accessible. Ready to claim your position in AI search results? Book a demo with Relixir and watch your brand become the recommended answer across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and beyond.

About the Author

Sean Dorje is a Berkeley Dropout who joined Y Combinator to build Relixir. At his previous VC-backed company ezML, he built the first version of Relixir to generate SEO blogs and help ezML rank for over 200+ keywords in computer vision.

Fast forward to today, Relixir now powers over 100+ companies to rank on both Google and AI search and automate SEO/GEO.

More from this author →

Frequently Asked Questions

Why does ChatGPT recommend competitors over my brand?

ChatGPT often recommends competitors because AI engines prioritize earned media and authoritative third-party sources over brand-owned content. This systematic bias means that competitors mentioned more frequently in third-party publications are more likely to be cited.

What is Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)?

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the practice of optimizing content for AI-driven generative models to ensure a brand's message is accurately represented and cited in AI-generated responses. Unlike traditional SEO, GEO focuses on getting featured in AI answers.

How can I improve my brand's visibility in AI-generated answers?

To improve visibility, implement a comprehensive GEO strategy that includes configuring llms.txt files, optimizing content for scannability, building authority through earned media, and continuously monitoring AI visibility across major LLMs like ChatGPT and Gemini.

What are the key features of an effective LLM SEO tool?

Effective LLM SEO tools should offer multi-model coverage, real-time monitoring, citation tracking, competitor benchmarking, and actionable recommendations. Advanced features include misinformation detection, prompt-level tracking, and integration with existing marketing stacks.

How does Relixir help brands with AI search visibility?

Relixir automates the GEO process, offering tools for mapping, monitoring, and optimizing AI search presence. It helps brands become the recommended answers in AI search results by dynamically evolving content with AI updates and customer behavior.

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