Dimension 5 of 12
Competitor key business metrics
Updated
What is key metrics competitor research?
The key competitor metrics are traffic, users, average order value (or ticket size), revenue and margin. Traffic comes from SEMrush or Ahrefs, average order value from their pricing pages, and revenue and margin from filings or careful estimates. Together they show how efficiently a competitor turns attention into money.
Why it matters
A competitor with half your traffic but double your order value may be the bigger business. Looking at the metrics together shows which model is working, not just who is loudest.
What to capture
| Field | What it tells you |
|---|---|
| Traffic | Monthly website visits and the trend over 12 months |
| Users | Customers or active users they claim publicly |
| Average order value | Typical purchase or plan price |
| Revenue | Disclosed or estimated, labelled as which |
| Margin | Gross margin from filings, or a sector benchmark marked as an estimate |
Where to find it
- SEMrush and Ahrefs: Traffic estimates and trends
- Their website: Pricing pages and customer counts
- Filings and press: Revenue and margin for listed or well-covered companies
How to do it, step by step
- Pull 12 months of traffic for each competitor from the same tool.
- Note their main plan prices to estimate average order value.
- Collect any customer or user counts they publish, with the date.
- Estimate revenue as customers multiplied by price, and compare with any reported figure.
- Mark every number as reported or estimated.
Questions this answers
- Who converts traffic into revenue most efficiently?
- Is a competitor growing traffic but not revenue, or the other way round?
- Where do your own numbers sit against the range?
Do this research in CompetitionOS
CompetitionOS stores SEMrush data and other metrics as evidence with the source and date, so you can see where each number came from when you compare competitors later.
- Find competitors with AI discovery or from the Google results for your keywords
- Keep one shared competitor library across projects, split by direct, indirect and search competitors
- Save evidence with its source: search results, website snapshots and SEMrush data
- Check whether ChatGPT and Claude mention your brand, and which competitors they name instead
- Connect Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor so an assistant can do the research for you
- Export every project to CSV or Excel
Are AI assistants recommending you, or your competitors?
Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity which tool to use. CompetitionOS runs the questions your buyers ask, records which brands each answer names, and shows where competitors are mentioned and you are not. That is answer engine optimisation (AEO), alongside your SEO.
Frequently asked questions
Which competitor metrics matter most?
Traffic, users, average order value, revenue and margin. Traffic alone can mislead; pair it with price and conversion signals.
How do I estimate a competitor's average order value?
Use their pricing page: the most promoted plan or product price is a good starting point. For stores, average the prices of their bestsellers.
Can I see a private competitor's margin?
Rarely. Use a sector benchmark and say so, or look for margin comments in interviews and funding announcements.