How Brand Tracking Works
Surfacd automatically identifies and tracks every brand mentioned in AI responses to your prompts. This means your data captures the full competitive landscape without any manual setup. However, for meaningful analysis you need to separate the signal from the noise.| Brand Type | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Primary | Your brand — one per project, always highlighted in reports |
| Competitor | Brands you’ve chosen to actively track and compare against |
| Other | All remaining brands discovered in AI responses |
Marking Competitors
On the Rankings page, click the star icon on any brand row to mark it as a competitor.- Your primary brand is highlighted with your team’s brand colour and is always included in reports
- Competitors are shown with a gold star
- Other brands show an empty star — they’re still tracked but not highlighted
Where Competitors Apply
Rankings
Toggle Only show competitors to filter the rankings table and visibility chart to your primary brand plus competitors only. This strips away the noise and gives you a clean competitive view.Analyse (Matrix)
When the competitors toggle is enabled and Brand is a dimension, the matrix focuses on your primary brand plus your competitors — making cross-dimensional analysis much clearer.Charts
The competitor visibility chart auto-selects your primary brand plus up to 4 competitors. If you haven’t marked any competitors, the top 4 ranked brands are selected instead.Exports
Use the Competitors Only toggle before exporting to generate focused competitive reports that only include the brands you care about.Tips
Start Focused
Mark 5–10 direct competitors. You can always add more as your understanding of the landscape evolves.
Review Regularly
New brands appear in AI responses over time. Check your rankings monthly for emerging competitors worth tracking.
Use for Reporting
Export with competitors only enabled to create clean competitive reports for stakeholders — no clutter from irrelevant brands.