From Data to Action: 4 Insights You’ll Find in a Scout Competitor Report

TL;DR: Yext Scout's Competitor Report shows brands how their locations rank in traditional and AI search — and why. It breaks down key visibility drivers including listings coverage, reviews, posts, and photos to help marketers take action and outperform local competitors.

Every day, AI is rewriting the rules of search. People are asking questions in ChatGPT, exploring Google's AI Mode, and relying on voice assistants to find what they need.

The takeaway? Brands need to understand how — and whether — they're being discovered across traditional and AI search. They need to know where they stand, why local competitors outrank them, and what actions will have the biggest impact on improving visibility, engaging customers, and ultimately driving more revenue.

That's where Yext Scout comes in.

Scout gives marketers a clear, actionable view of how each location is performing — and how it compares to top local competitors across both traditional and AI-driven search platforms, like Google, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity. One of the most powerful tools in Scout? The Competitor Report.

A competitor report in Scout is your shortcut to strategic clarity. It doesn't just show where you stand — it reveals what's helping you win, where you're falling behind, and what to do next.

Think of it as your visibility guide to win in the era of AI search:

• Benchmarked against nearby rivals

• Measured across key local ranking signals

• Tailored for both AI and traditional search platforms

The goal: turn competitive insight into action. Here's how.

1. Listings visibility

Being listed accurately and consistently across a wide range of publishers is one of the strongest factors influencing local search performance. With Scout, you can see how each of your locations stacks up against its top local competitors in terms of:

• Number of publishers synced

• Accuracy and completeness of data

Why it matters: If one of your stores ranks #1, it might be because it's listed in more places — and more accurately — than the competition. This consistency is foundational to AI search and agents, which rely on structured, trusted data to generate answers.

Action: Use this insight to identify underperforming locations and sync them to more directories with complete, up-to-date info.

2. Review count

Brand reputation isn't just about sentiment — it's also about volume. The more (positive) reviews a location has, the more likely it is to rank higher in local search results.

Scout highlights review count and trends compared to nearby competitors.

Why it matters: If one of your stores is lagging in reviews, it could explain a drop in ranking. Even if a location has great sentiment, having significantly fewer reviews can hurt its visibility in both traditional and AI search results.

Action: With this insight, you could launch a targeted review generation strategy for underperforming locations to close that gap.

3. Google Business posts

Posting regular updates on your Google Business Profile doesn't just help customers stay informed about events and offerings. It also influences your local ranking.

Scout surfaces:

• Which locations are publishing posts

• How often they're doing it

• How that compares to competitors

Why it matters: If a top-performing competitor is publishing 4x more updates than your location, it's likely boosting visibility and relevance.

Action: Replicate post cadence and content strategy from high-performing locations and local competitors to bring others up to speed. Sometimes it's not about finding what's broken, but about scaling what's working.

4. Photo count

Photos do more than showcase your brand — they help traditional and AI search platforms understand and rank your business. Locations with more photos tend to perform better in local search.

Scout helps you spot gaps in:

• Quantity of photos

• Consistency across locations

Why it matters: Take one location that only has two photos on its Google profile, while competitors nearby have dozens. That gap could be holding the location back even if everything else is optimized – but if you have this visibility, you can take action.**

Action: Add more high-quality, on-brand images to underperforming profiles. It's often a low-effort, high-impact update.

A competitor report in Scout doesn't just tell you how you're doing – it's not just another dashboard. It shows what might drive performance, what might be holding you back, and where your biggest opportunities lie.

See what Scout can do for your brand — and how you can use insights like these to drive better visibility, reputation, and results across every location.