The advantage is that answers are explainable
You cannot see a competitor’s analytics, but you can ask the same engines your buyers ask and read what they say about them, with citations. That is far more visibility into a rival’s position than search ever offered.
Ask the buying questions, not their name
Branded questions tell you little. The useful prompts are the unbranded ones a buyer uses before they know anyone — the same set you should already be tracking for your own appearance rate.
Read the citations, not just the answer
Note which of their pages is being used, and which third-party sources appear. That distinguishes a competitor winning on their own content from one winning on corroboration you cannot quickly replicate.
The citation list tells you whether you’re beaten on writing or on reputation. Those need different budgets.
Open the cited page and diagnose it
Usually it is not their best-designed page. Look for the specific facts, the question-shaped headings, and the self-contained paragraphs — the properties that get a page quoted rather than admired.
Find the questions nobody answers well
Prompts where the model hedges or cites something weak are the openings. Those are worth more than contesting a question a competitor already owns with a strong page and years of mentions.
Turn it into a specific list
The output should be: questions to answer, facts to publish, and sources to be present in. That is a backlog you can execute, unlike a general instruction to improve visibility — and it feeds directly into briefing whoever writes it.