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Competitive Retrieval Mapping

Competitive Retrieval Mapping is the practice of running a standardized set of category-relevant queries through ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, measuring which competitors get cited most often and in what context. It is the core diagnostic tool for understanding your Citation Share position.

What you're measuring: When a buyer asks an AI engine about your category, who does it cite? Your competitors or you? How frequently? In what contexts (definitions, product comparisons, case studies)?

How to do it: Build a prompt slate covering your category (50-100 queries). Run them through each engine. Log which companies appear, in what order, with what framing. Track weekly or monthly. Watch the shifts.

The output: A competitive retrieval landscape showing who owns the answer, who's gaining, who's losing. Actionable: if Competitor A is cited 3x more than you on "best X" queries, you know what content gap to fill.

Why it's strategic: Unlike SEO rank tracking (which measures Google's 10 links), retrieval mapping measures the actual answers buyers are seeing. It's the real measure of communications effectiveness in the AI era.

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