# Review competitors through MCP

> Tools Claude uses to show the brands that appear in AI answers next to yours, ranked by share of voice, and to track up to 5 competitors.

<Frame caption="Competitors in a collection beside your favorites">
  <img src="/docs/mcp/competitors-tools/01-compare.png" alt="Competitors in a collection with their share, beside the favorites you track" />
</Frame>

Ask Claude who you compete with in AI answers and Erlin shows you. These tools return the competitor leaderboard from your visibility checks and let you track up to 5 competitors per collection.

The leaderboard counts brands in the AI answers Erlin collected for your prompts. It does not measure competitors' revenue or market share.

## Choose the collection

Claude uses your default collection unless you name another. Name the website and collection when you track more than one, so the leaderboard matches the prompts you mean.

For example: "Who are my top 20 competitors in AI search for the Product Queries collection?"

## Read the competitive picture

| Tool | Access | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| `erlin_get_competitors` | Read | The brands in AI answers to your tracked prompts, ranked by [share of voice](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/ai-visibility/metrics/share-of-voice). Top 10 by default, and you can ask for more. |
| `erlin_get_favorite_competitors` | Read | The competitors you track for a collection, up to 5, with their priority from 1 (highest) to 5 |
| `erlin_add_favorite_competitor` | Write | Add a brand to your tracked competitors for a collection |

For each brand, the leaderboard returns its rank, domain, share of voice, [AI visibility](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/ai-visibility/metrics/ai-visibility), number of mentions, [average position](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/ai-visibility/metrics/average-position) and how many platforms named it. Your own brand appears at its real rank.

A brand named in one answer may not be a real alternative to your offering. Check it before you track it.

## Investigate a gap

Ask Claude for the prompts and answers where a competitor appears and you do not. Use [visibility tools](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/mcp/visibility-tools) to read those answers and the sources they cite.

A competitor appearing instead of you is a reason to investigate. It does not show that one content change caused the difference.

## Add a favorite deliberately

`erlin_add_favorite_competitor` takes the collection, the brand name and an optional priority from 1 to 5. You can track up to 5 per collection. Tracked competitors are starred in `/erlin_competitor_deep_dive` and appear next to the top competitors in your full dashboard.

<Frame caption="Review a rival before you track it">
  <img src="/docs/mcp/competitors-tools/02-add-favorite.png" alt="A relevant rival, your review, and adding it to favorites" />
</Frame>

For a full review, see [MCP workflow prompts](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/mcp/slash-commands). In the app, see [Compare competitors](https://www.erlin.ai/docs/ai-visibility/competitors).