Should you publish comparison pages on your own website?

Often, yes. In our research into AI answers about IT support, cyber security and app development companies, a supplier’s own comparison page was one of the websites AI cited most. But a comparison page works only when buyers really compare you with named competitors, the page answers their question honestly, and it is kept up to date. It also works best alongside the independent directories and comparison sites that AI tools use too.

Avouch’s free scan shows which companies AI recommends in your market, and which websites it relies on.

What counts as a comparison page

There are two common kinds. A “versus” page compares your company with one named competitor. An “alternatives” page helps buyers who want to move away from a competitor and sets out what else they could choose.

For IT support, managed IT and cyber security companies, buyers compare response times, contract length and exit terms, accreditations such as Cyber Essentials or ISO 27001, the hours you cover and who actually does the work. Software companies compare features, prices and integrations. Those are the facts a useful comparison page sets out.

What our research shows

We studied which websites appeared alongside recommendations in AI answers about IT support, cyber security and app development companies.

• A supplier’s comparison page was a leading source. In Gemini’s answers about UK cyber security providers, the website cited most often belonged to a security supplier that publishes its own comparison of providers. It appeared in 6 of 11 answers.
• Directories mattered too. An accredited-provider directory appeared in 10 of 11 of Claude’s cyber security answers.
• Your own website supports a recommendation, but rarely alone. Suppliers’ own websites appeared beside most of their recommendations, yet almost never as the only source.

Our study of a UK financial advice market points the same way: independent comparison and ranking sites decided which firm AI recommended about three times as often as the next source.

These studies show which websites appeared alongside recommendations, not what caused them. Read more in the websites behind repeated AI recommendations.

Should you publish one?

Answer four questions first. If any answer is no, do not publish yet.

Expect few searches for “us versus them” terms in most service markets. Treat the page as a source for AI answers and as help for buyers who are already comparing, not as a traffic page.

How to write it for SEO and GEO

• Answer the comparison in the first lines. Say plainly who each option suits, then give the detail. A short, direct answer near the top is easy for search engines and AI tools to quote.
• Use the question buyers ask as your title and headings, such as “[Your company] or [competitor] for a 50-person firm?”.
• Put the key facts in a simple table: response times, accreditations, contract terms, coverage and price approach. A table is easy to read and easy to quote.
• Say who should choose the competitor. A balanced page is more useful to buyers, and Google’s guidance on reviews asks for benefits and drawbacks.
• Link it from your service pages, and link back to them, so search engines and AI tools can find the page and connect it to what you sell.
• Let AI tools read it. Keep the content on the page itself, not behind a form, and check that your robots.txt allows search and AI crawlers. Our guide to AI crawlers explains the settings.
• Name the author and show a real “last reviewed” date. Change the date only when you have actually reviewed the page; Google warns that a new date on an unchanged page does not help.
• Make one page for each competitor buyers really name, not one for every competitor. Google treats large numbers of thin, near-identical pages made mainly for search as spam.

A layout like this works for most service companies:

Get the same facts onto independent sites

Your comparison page is one source. AI answers also draw on directories, review sites and independent comparison publishers. Make sure your company appears on the ones your buyers and AI tools use, with the same accurate facts as your own page. Our guides to comparison sites, best-of lists and G2 and Capterra reviews explain how.

Avouch can help with the parts that fit your company: content that answers buying questions, clear website and service pages, and the independent evidence through reviews and industry profiles and PR and industry coverage, with scope and price agreed before we start. To see why AI suggests other companies, read why AI recommends your competitors.

Want to know who AI compares you with?

Start with the free scan. For a fuller review and a written plan, choose the paid Recommendation Index™ assessment.