Comparison Clusters: The New Blogging Strategy That Makes LLMs Recommend Your SaaS Over Competitors

Picture this:

Your ideal SaaS user asks AI to ”review [your competitor]”

What happens next?

Option A: They read the review and sign up with your competitor.

Option B: AI recommends YOUR product instead.

For most SaaS companies, it’s Option A.

For our clients? It’s Option B.

Check this out:

Real Results: How We Hijacked Our Client’s Biggest Competitor

We have a client, Mailfloss.

(It’s a small email verification SaaS.)

Their biggest competitor is NeverBounce.

When someone searches “NeverBounce Review,” Google’s AI Overview gives a standard answer at first…

And then recommends Mailfloss as an alternative

Same thing happens in other LLMs, like ChatGPT…

… where mailfloss is recommended three times in the answer:

… two times in Perplexity:

… and even Claude drops mailfloss right into the conversation:

Wild, right?

The prospect wasn’t even LOOKING for alternatives.

(They were looking for “neverbounce review”)!

But AI gave them one anyway.

Why This Matters More Than You Think

Forrester says:

“90% of SaaS buyers already use AI in their research process.”

And that number is climbing fast.

Which means…

If AI doesn’t know about your SaaS, you’re practically invisible.

😱

But here’s the good news:

Teaching AI how to pitch your SaaS is surprisingly simple.

You just need Comparison Clusters.

What Are Comparison Clusters?

A Comparison Cluster is a set of comparison pages that target search terms like:

• [Competitor] vs [My Platform]
• [Competitor A] vs [Competitor B]
• [Competitor] Review
• [Competitor] Pricing
• [Competitor] Alternatives

Why are they so powerful?

Comparison Clusters mirror AI Search Habits

Let’s look behind the scenes.

When I ask Claude to decide between two companies:

Before answering, Claude Googles:

• “NeverBounce vs ZeroBounce”
• “NeverBounce Pricing”
• “ZeroBounce Pricing”

And reads the top 10 articles on each result.

(Yes, Claude actually opens and reads all 10 articles for each search.)

When I ask Perplexity the same thing:

Perplexity Googles:

• “NeverBounce vs Zerobounce”
• “NeverBounce Review”
• “ZeroBounce Review”

And also reads the top articles on each result.

(Notice that AIs search more broadly than “Neverbounce vs Zerobounce”)

Now here is the key:

Because we wrote one article for each of these searches…

• Neverbounce vs Zerobounce (vs Mailfloss)
• Neverbounce Review: features, pricing, and Mailfloss
• NeverBounce Pricing: should you consider Mailfloss?
• Zerobounce Review: features, pricing, and Mailfloss
• Zerobounce Pricing: should you consider Mailfloss?

… we flooded the AI’s context with mentions of Mailfloss.

Which maximized the chances of AI recommending Mailfloss.

Very powerful.

But This Doesn’t Work For Every SaaS Company

Before we go further, a reality check.

This strategy only works if your SaaS has:

1. Defined competitors

A competitor is anyone that is solving the same problem as you.

• Different approach → Still a competitor.
• Different mechanism → Still a competitor.
• Different target audience → Still a competitor.

Is your SaaS literally the only solution in the world solving this problem?

Then this strategy won’t work.

2. Something noteworthy

No, you don’t need more features.

But you do need something your users prefer:

• Nicer UI/UX
• Better support
• Simpler pricing
• More integrations
• Unique mechanism
• Vertical specialization
• Developer-friendliness
• Tighter security or compliance
• Or anything else that’s noteworthy

Is your SaaS a carbon-copy of the market leader?

Then there is no reason to recommend you over established options.

🤷‍♂️

Now if you have at least one competitor AND something your users genuinely prefer?

Then pay close attention to every word on this page.

Comparison Clusters Solve 3 Big Problems For SaaS Companies

1. Hijack Competitors’ Marketing

Your competitors may have invested millions in SEO, ads, and outreach.

They built awareness, educated prospects, created demand.

Should you worry?

Nope.

You should be happy.

Most ready to buy will first explore what the rest of the market has to offer.

That’s where you intercept them.

You didn’t pay for the awareness, education, or demand.

But you still win the sale.

2. Attract High-intent Leads

Imagine a lead searching for:

• Reviews
• Alternatives
• Comparisons

They’re not browsing.

They’re buying.

They have a clear problem, approved budget, and a mission to find the best-fit platform.

It’s the highest quality traffic you can possibly get.

3. Sharpen Market Positioning

All positioning is relative.

What is your SaaS best at?

It depends on what other SaaS companies are best at.

Comparison Clusters highlight this difference.

This clarity of choice leads to more recommendations, by both people and AI.

All You Need Is One Comparison Cluster Per Competitor: Here’s How To Make Them In a Week

Just follow these three steps:

• Plan a cluster — that mirrors AI search habits
• Write the content — that teaches the AI how to pitch your SaaS
• Optimize the content — so it gets discovered by AI at the right time

Let’s dive in.

STEP 1: Plan a Comparison Cluster That Mirrors AI Search Habits

Here’s what a Comparison Cluster looks like for ONE competitor:

Main Search Term	Type	Search Volume
NeverBounce Review	Platform Review	300
NeverBounce Pricing	Pricing Breakdown	700
NeverBounce Alternatives	Alternatives List	200
NeverBounce vs Zerobounce	Three-way Comparison	400
NeverBounce vs Kickbox	Three-way Comparison	200
NeverBounce vs Briteverify	Three-way Comparison	10
NeverBounce vs Debounce	Three-way Comparison	—
NeverBounce vs Millionverifier	Three-way Comparison	—
NeverBounce vs Mailfloss	Direct Comparison	—

For each competitor, you’ll target exactly:

• One “Alternatives List”
• One “Platform Review”
• One “Pricing Breakdown”
• One “Direct Comparison”

BUT! You can target dozens of Three-Way Comparisons.

(Three-way Comparisons are “vs” keywords that don’t include your brand.)

Find them by entering your competitor into Ahrefs’ Matching Terms report with a “vs” filter:

Voila ✨

Even if these keywords have low search volume, they’re still valuable.

Why?

Because, as we’ve seen, AI casts a wide net when researching.

(Much wider than humans.)

So every comparison is another chance for AI to discover and recommend your platform.

ACTION STEP: Use the example above as a template. Create one for each competitor. Want our help? We’ll build your strategy at no cost to you—complete with search volumes and difficulty scores. Just book a call with Max and show up. Your custom strategy will only be delivered live on the call, along with a full walkthrough.

STEP 2: Write Comparison Content That Teaches The AI When And How To Pitch Your SaaS

We have written hundreds of comparisons since 2020.

Many templates can work, but there’s one thing you must get right:

Justifying your inclusion early

Most comparison keywords won’t include your brand.

That’s fine, you’re the “secret alternative” after all.

But you need to earn your spot.

Use this 4-part intro:

• Make a strong case for [Competitor A]
• Make a strong case for [Competitor B]
• Explain where both fall short
• Make a strong case for [Your SaaS]

Here’s how we did it in NeverBounce vs ZeroBounce:

The pattern is similar for other comparison articles:

• [Competitor] Pricing → Karbon Pricing (written for Uku)
• [Competitor] Review → Yodlee Review (written for SnapTrade)
• [Competitor] Alternatives → TestRail Alternatives (written for PractiTest)

This intro creates demand for your SaaS + teaches AI when to recommend you.

Don’t mess this up.

ACTION STEP: Study our examples. Research your competitors. Analyze their positioning. Then write a 3000-word comparison for each keyword in your cluster. Back every claim with external sources. And include in-app screenshots, when possible.

Note: Creating Comparison Content is our core service. Our process is so dialed-in we can do all of the above in 48 hours… for up to 20 comparison articles. Learn more about our process here.

STEP 3: Optimize Comparison Content So It Actually Gets Discovered By AI

There is a lot of talk about AISEO / GEO / LLMSEO online…

I think it’s all 🐂💩

We only focus on:

• Good content
• Good strategy
• Good optimization

(Classic SEO, nothing fancy.)

And we still get into AI results.

After all, AI was trained on internet data. Made by humans.

If humans can read it, so can AI. If humans value it, so would AI.

Just make sure to have:

• Clear heading structure
• Target keyword in the intro
• Somewhat enticing meta data
• Short URL with the target keyword
• Keyword at the beginning of some headers
• Article Schema with basic info about the article

This helps the article rank, which correlates with more AI mentions:

ACTION STEP: For each article in the Comparison Cluster, do good on-page SEO, write enticing metadata, and prepare an article schema. Note: All of this is included when we write your Comparison Clusters. Every articles comes fully optimized and ready to rank.

That’s it! 🎉

What Results To Expect?

Let’s be honest:

There’s no single “LLM score” you can track yet.

AI search is still evolving. Metrics are messy. Attribution is chaotic.

That’s why our clients track all sorts of metrics:

• Article quality
• Overall leadflow
• Organic rankings
• LLM referral traffic
• Direct website traffic
• AI citation frequency
• Branded search volumes
• Bottom-of-funnel presence

Which matters most?

It depends on what you value.

But here’s what we know:

56% of clients order more articles within 30 days after the pilot project.

And 80% of our business comes from repeat buyers.

Make of that what you will 🙂

The Traditional ROI Model, If You Want Hard Numbers

We originally developed our service back in 2020, for pure SEO results.

(Read our story here.)

Since then we’ve worked with 80+ SaaS clients, and gathered good data.

Here’s what one comparison article typically generates:

• 10-100 organic clicks per month (30 average)
• 5-12% convert to trial signups (7% average)
• 1% convert to sales calls

So a 10-article project would bring:

TRIAL SIGNUPS:

Timeline	Trial Signups	Cost per Trial
1 month	21	143€
3 months	63	48€
6 months	126	24€
12 months	252	12€
36 months	756	4€

SALES CALLS:

Timeline	Sales Calls	Cost per Call
1 month	3	1000€
3 months	9	333€
6 months	18	167€
12 months	36	83€
36 months	108	28€

Keep in mind:

This is ONLY organic traffic from Google.

It doesn’t include awareness, demand, and conversions from AI/SEO.

Those are pure upside.

You now have two options

Option 1: Do it yourself, at your own pace

Take the step-by-step process I laid out here. Look at our comparison clusters. Give it a go on your own. There is no secret sauce. I’ve just figured out a way to plan, write, and optimize comparison content that gets discovered and cited by AI. If you have the time, go for it. The more articles you create, the better results you’ll get.

Option 2: Let us do it for you, fast

We’ll first prepare a complete Comparison Cluster strategy at no cost to you. Then, we’ll create as many comparison articles as you want—be it 10, 50, or 300—in as little as one month. When you work with us, you get access to scale, speed, and quality at prices that guarantee ROI:

• Speed — 24 hour turnarounds

• Quality — the best in the industry

• Scale — results without operational hassle

Get Started With Us By Claiming Your Comparison Cluster Strategy… At No Cost To You 📞

Our Comparison Clusters put our clients into new buying conversations.

Want the same for your SaaS?

Book a call with Max. Before the call, Max will prepare a complete Comparison Cluster strategy for your SaaS, at no cost to you. Just show up on the call to get it. Max will also answer any other questions you have about working with us. Most importantly, there will be no pressure, pitch decks, or sales hype.

Just a custom strategy and an outline of how to work with us 🙂

(Want to see our full process first? Check it out here.)

Cheers,

Miha