7. Why does AI recommend our competitor but not us?

Why AI Recommends Your Competitor & What To Do About It

Who: Kris Jones of LSEO with Loren Baker on the Search Engine Journal podcast. Publisher date: 3 August 2026. Format: video podcast; the page links to YouTube. Evidence reviewed: publisher recap and chapters. (searchenginejournal.com)

Why it earns a place: It focuses on the buyer’s immediate concern while connecting visibility with the accuracy of third-party information.

Key takeaways:

• Jones argues that existing SEO work remains relevant, with additional attention needed for outside descriptions of the business.
• The discussion stresses consistency in what sources say about products and pricing.
• Baker recounts an example of outdated third-party tuition information appearing in AI answers. Start at 18:32 for messaging consistency and 21:23 for pricing errors. (searchenginejournal.com)

Buyer application — our recommendation: Build a competitor citation map containing exact source pages, their publication or update dates, and the claims they make. Separate correcting a factual error from seeking new editorial coverage.

Important limitation: Recommendations about awards and recognition are practitioner advice, not proof that purchasing an award produces assistant recommendations. Require evidence before funding such activity, and distinguish independent editorial recognition from paid promotion. (searchenginejournal.com)