Short answer

A comparison on your website works for AI and for people when it compares verifiable facts (price, features, timeframes, requirements), explains its criteria, admits where the alternative is better and links the source of each fact. It works against you when it is a list of adjectives in your favour. And in Spain, for example, comparative advertising is lawful if it is objective, verifiable and does not denigrate: exactly what makes it useful. Check the rules where you sell.

Why it is worth it

When someone asks AI for “alternatives to X” or “differences between X and Y”, the answer usually leans on something that compares. If the only comparison that exists is a third party’s, someone else controls the conversation about you, and that is one of the reasons AI recommends your competitor. If yours is honest and complete, it can become the source that gets cited.

The rules

  1. Compare facts, not judgements. Published price, specific features, timeframes, requirements, support, language, integrations. Every cell has to be verifiable in a public source.
  2. Cite the source of every fact about others. A link to the competitor’s pricing or features page and the date you checked it. If the fact changes, update it or remove it.
  3. Explain the criteria. Why those columns and not others. The reader (and AI) needs to know what you are measuring.
  4. Admit where you lose. If the alternative is better for large teams or cheaper in one case, say so. It is what makes the rest credible.
  5. No adjectives or put-downs. “Slower”, “worse support” or “unreliable” without data are opinions, and in comparative advertising they are a risk.
  6. Say who each option is for. “If you need X, choose A; if you need Y, choose B” is the sentence that answers what people ask.

A structure that works

  • H1: Your product vs alternative: differences, prices and who each one is for
  • First paragraph: the main difference in two sentences, and who each one suits.
  • A table of facts, with sources and dates.
  • A section per criterion (price, features, support, requirements), with text, not just a table.
  • A “who each one is for” section.
  • Date of the last review.

What not to do

  • Mass-produced “X vs Y” comparisons against twenty competitors. One good one is worth more than twenty empty ones.
  • Using trademarks misleadingly in titles or URLs to capture traffic.
  • Copying tables from third-party comparison sites.
  • Hiding that you are one of the parties. The page is on your domain; be transparent.

Note

This article is not legal advice. Comparative advertising is regulated, and the rules depend on the country where you sell (in Spain, the General Advertising Act and the Unfair Competition Act). If you have doubts about a specific case, ask a lawyer.