Definition
In the report, the rival named ahead of you most often when you both appear: the company buyers are actually weighing you against, as opposed to the one with the largest share.
In the report
One line in the report: the rival named ahead of you most often when both of you appear. It is often not the company with the largest share; it is the one buyers are told to prefer when they are already considering you.
Worked example
For a UAE gym chain named in 89% of answers, Fitness First was the most-named rival at 32%, but the one question the chain lost, 'gym membership with ladies-only area in UAE', went to FitnGlam, a smaller women-only operator. That is the sharpest threat: not the biggest name in the category but the one taking the exact question this company is competing for. The report names it once, on the cover, with the question it took.
How to move it
A comparison page on your site against this company, honest about where each wins, is the page the engines quote for the 'you vs them' question.
Where it shows up
What is share of voice in AI search? The percentage of recorded answers to a category's buyer questions that name a given company. One answer can name several companies, so the shares in a category do not add to 100. A company with 1.5 times the next company's share leads the category's answers; the report calls that posture 'leader'.
Why does the AI name Amazon or noon instead of my store? Because 'where to buy X' is answered from the largest pages that sell X, and the marketplaces are those pages. A store's share of voice against Amazon looks like nothing; the report files marketplaces as channels, not rivals, unless the company is one, and scores the store against the stores it competes with, including.
See sharpest threat measured on your site
Your website, region and work email. The score appears in about three minutes, and the report is a link you keep.