Competitor Analysis 2026 Statistics (Updated September)

How buyers compare vendors

1. 1

   Review sites (38%) and AI chatbots (37%) are the top sources shaping which vendors make a software buyer's shortlist, in G2's 2026 Buyer Behavior Report.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

2. 2

   40% of software buyers say evaluation, the stage where they compare shortlisted vendors, is now the longest part of their buying journey, up from 36% a year earlier.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

3. 3

   Buyers who got software recommendations from AI chatbots bought from their initial shortlist in at least three of their last five purchases 80% of the time, against 65% of buyers who did not use chatbots.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

4. 4

   Once a buyer has a shortlist, IT security review is the most common cause of delay before purchase (39% of buyers; 50% of enterprise buyers), per G2.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

5. 5

   Building shortlists of vendors and comparing total cost of ownership are the most common tasks buyers use or plan to use AI agents for, each named by 51%.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

6. 6

   84% of software buyers consolidated at least three single-purpose tools into an all-in-one platform in the past year, and 50% consolidated at least five, according to G2.

   Source: G2, 2026 ^[1]

7. 7

   In G2's 2025 buyer survey, generative AI chatbots were the top single source influencing vendor shortlists (17.1%), ahead of software review sites (15.1%) and vendor websites (12.8%).

   Source: G2, 2025 ^[2]

8. 8

   Half of enterprise software buyers (1,000 to 5,000 employees) said they had switched vendors for better AI, against 32% of buyers at companies with up to 250 employees.

   Source: G2, 2025 ^[2]

9. 9

   The average B2B technology shortlist holds 2.6 products, and only 14% of buyers put four or more products on theirs, per TrustRadius's 2025 buyer survey.

   Source: TrustRadius, 2025 ^[3]

10. 10

    82% of B2B technology buyers had a favourite product in mind when they built their shortlist, and 70% bought that product, according to TrustRadius.

    Source: TrustRadius, 2025 ^[3]

11. 11

    79% of B2B technology buyers, and 89% of enterprise buyers, knew about the product they bought before they started researching.

    Source: TrustRadius, 2025 ^[3]

12. 12

    77% of B2B technology buyers read user reviews while comparing products, per TrustRadius's 2025 survey.

    Source: TrustRadius, 2025 ^[3]

13. 13

    52% of B2B technology buyers use vendor websites as a source during their purchase, and 13% consult a vendor website first.

    Source: TrustRadius, 2025 ^[3]

14. 14

    68% of B2B buyers have a front-runner vendor in mind when they start a purchase, and that front-runner wins 80% of the time, per Forrester's Buyers' Journey Survey 2025.

    Source: Forrester, 2025 ^[4]

15. 15

    Only 19% of B2B marketing leaders believe buyers have clear vendor preferences at the start of a purchase, in Forrester's 2025 B2B Brand and Communications Survey.

    Source: Forrester, 2025 ^[4]

16. 16

    In Forrester's 2024 Buyers' Journey Survey, 41% of B2B buyers had a single vendor in mind when they began a purchase, and 92% had a shortlist.

    Source: Forrester, 2024 ^[5]

How often customers switch to a competitor

1. 17

   79% of US consumers would switch to a competitor after a single negative customer experience, according to a 2026 Verint survey of 5,000 consumers.

   Source: Verint, 2026 ^[6]

2. 18

   73% of consumers will switch to a competitor after multiple bad experiences, according to Zendesk benchmark data.

   Source: Zendesk, 2026 ^[7]

3. 19

   56% of consumers rarely complain about a bad customer experience and switch to a competitor instead, per Zendesk.

   Source: Zendesk, 2026 ^[7]

4. 20

   52% of consumers in PwC's 2025 Customer Experience Survey stopped using or buying from a brand after a bad experience with its products or services, and 29% stopped because of poor customer experience.

   Source: PwC, 2025 ^[8]

How companies rate their position against competitors

1. 21

   39.7% of small businesses say competition is getting harder and 34.5% say it is getting easier, in a Small Business Expo poll of 1,179 businesses.

   Source: Small Business Expo, 2026 ^[9]

2. 22

   35.9% of small businesses say they are losing ground to larger competitors; 33.2% say they are not and 30.9% are unsure.

   Source: Small Business Expo, 2026 ^[9]

3. 23

   Among small businesses losing ground to larger competitors, 67% say competition is getting harder, against 19% of those not losing ground, in a 2026 Small Business Expo survey of 1,179 small businesses.

   Source: Small Business Expo, 2026 ^[9]

4. 24

   Only 6% of marketing leaders at B2B SaaS companies with $50M+ revenue rate their brand as very distinctive from competitors; 40% say only slightly distinctive and 8% say not at all, in Wynter's 2025 survey.

   Source: Wynter, 2025 ^[10]

5. 25

   Fear of risk and herd mentality (36%) was the most cited reason B2B SaaS brands sound like their competitors, per the same Wynter survey.

   Source: Wynter, 2025 ^[10]

6. 26

   80% of marketers say they are either ahead of their peers or on par with the competition, in SurveyMonkey's 2025 State of Marketing report.

   Source: SurveyMonkey, 2025 ^[11]

7. 27

   43% of B2B marketers name differentiating their content from competitors as a top content creation challenge, down from 54% the year before, per the Content Marketing Institute.

   Source: Content Marketing Institute, 2025 ^[12]

8. 28

   28% of US small businesses use algorithmic, dynamic or personalised pricing, according to a 2025 SBE Council survey.

   Source: SBE Council, 2025 ^[13]

9. 29

   43% of small businesses that do not use dynamic pricing believe it could help them compete, especially against larger companies.

   Source: SBE Council, 2025 ^[13]

What competitors run, from CompetitorBase scans

1. 30

   166 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (53.5%) were running ads on at least one network at the time of the scan; 143 of them on Google.

   Source: CompetitorBase scans of 310 domains, August 13 to September 25, 2026 · method

2. 31

   141 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (45.5%) had at least one advertising pixel on their website: Google Ads on 125, Meta on 80 and LinkedIn on 76.

   Source: CompetitorBase scans of 310 domains, August 13 to September 25, 2026 · method

3. 32

   186 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (60.0%) had bought Google search ads at some point, and the median domain had 12 paid keywords on record.

   Source: CompetitorBase scans of 310 domains, August 13 to September 25, 2026 · method

4. 33

   Among 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026, the largest paid search histories belonged to Amazon (21,175,531 paid keywords), Google (8,753,689) and Facebook (954,531).

   Source: CompetitorBase scans of 310 domains, August 13 to September 25, 2026 · method

What win-loss interviews say about competitors

1. 34

   Nearly 70% of buyers name a different main competitor than the one recorded in the seller's CRM, according to Clozd's win-loss interviews.

   Source: Clozd, 2025 ^[14]

2. 35

   Buyers' and sellers' reasons for a lost deal match only 15% of the time, per Clozd.

   Source: Clozd, 2026 ^[15]

3. 36

   39% of companies run win-loss analysis as an ongoing, cross-functional program, up from 30% a year earlier, in Clozd's 2025 State of Win-Loss study.

   Source: Clozd, 2026 ^[15]

4. 37

   63% of companies with a win-loss program report a higher win rate, rising to 84% for programs running longer than two years.

   Source: Clozd, 2025 ^[14]

5. 38

   Sales or marketing owns 72% of win-loss programs, per Clozd's 2025 report.

   Source: Clozd, 2025 ^[14]

6. 39

   97% of companies that run win-loss analysis plan to keep or increase their investment in it.

   Source: Clozd, 2026 ^[15]

What research papers find

1. 40

   In a study of small and medium enterprises in Yobe State, Nigeria, competitor orientation explained 11.7% of the variance in innovation.

   Source: European Journal of Business and Management, 2020 ^[16]

2. 41

   Among Kenyan deposit-taking savings and credit cooperatives, competitor orientation accounted for 51.4% of the variance in innovation.

   Source: Oradea Journal of Business and Economics, 2024 ^[17]

Frequently asked questions

How many competitors do B2B buyers compare?

TrustRadius's 2025 survey puts the average B2B technology shortlist at 2.6 products, and only 14% of buyers list four or more. Forrester found 92% of buyers had a shortlist when they began a purchase (2024) and 68% had a front-runner that went on to win 80% of the time (2025).

How often do customers switch to a competitor?

In a 2026 Verint survey of 5,000 US consumers, 79% said they would switch to a competitor after one bad customer experience. Zendesk puts the share at 73% after multiple bad experiences. In PwC's 2025 survey, 52% had actually stopped buying from a brand after a bad experience with its products or services.

Where do buyers find competing vendors?

In G2's 2026 Buyer Behavior Report, review sites (38%) and AI chatbots (37%) were the top sources shaping shortlists. TrustRadius found 77% of technology buyers read user reviews and 52% use vendor websites during a purchase.

Do companies know why they lose to competitors?

Clozd's win-loss interviews suggest they often do not: buyers and sellers give the same reason for a lost deal only 15% of the time, and nearly 70% of buyers name a different main competitor than the seller's CRM. 39% of companies run win-loss analysis as an ongoing program.

How many companies advertise, from competitor scans?

Of 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026, 166 (53.5%) were running ads at scan time, 141 (45.5%) had an ad pixel on their site, and 186 (60.0%) had bought Google search ads at some point.

Sources

1. [1]G2. 2026.↑1 ↑2 ↑3 ↑4 ↑5 ↑6
2. [2]G2. 2025.↑7 ↑8
3. [3]TrustRadius. 2025.↑9 ↑10 ↑11 ↑12 ↑13
4. [4]Forrester. “Building preference is the key to winning B2B buyers”. 2025.↑14 ↑15
5. [5]Forrester. “Why performance marketing falls short”. 2024.↑16
6. [6]Verint. 2026.↑17
7. [7]Zendesk. 2026.↑18 ↑19
8. [8]PwC. 2025.↑20
9. [9]Small Business Expo. 2026.↑21 ↑22 ↑23
10. [10]Wynter. 2025.↑24 ↑25
11. [11]SurveyMonkey. 2025.↑26
12. [12]Content Marketing Institute. 2025.↑27
13. [13]SBE Council. 2025.↑28 ↑29
14. [14]Clozd. “Win-loss analysis software”. 2025.↑34 ↑37 ↑38
15. [15]Clozd. “Win-loss analysis guide”. 2026.↑35 ↑36 ↑39
16. [16]European Journal of Business and Management. 2020.↑40
17. [17]Oradea Journal of Business and Economics. 2024.↑41

Method

We searched Google for competitor analysis statistics, competitor research statistics and competitive analysis statistics. Most of those results are how-to guides with few numbers, so we also searched for buyer surveys, customer switching studies and win-loss research, read about 90 pages, and traced each number to the company or survey that produced it. Every outside number was checked against the producer's page on September 24, 2026. Many producers sell to the people they survey (G2, TrustRadius and Clozd sell to software vendors, Wynter sells message testing), so read their numbers as surveys of their own audiences. Market size and competitive intelligence team numbers are on our competitive intelligence statistics page and are not repeated here. We found few research papers with usable numbers on competitor analysis; the two here measure competitor orientation in small samples. CompetitorBase numbers come from the latest scan of each of 310 company domains run through the product between August 13 and September 25, 2026, with test domains removed.

CompetitorBase numbers new on this page:

• 166 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (53.5%) were running ads on at least one network at the time of the scan; 143 of them on Google. Latest report per domain; a network counts when its ad library or keyword data shows ads running at scan time. Meta 62, LinkedIn 49. Test domains removed.
• 141 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (45.5%) had at least one advertising pixel on their website: Google Ads on 125, Meta on 80 and LinkedIn on 76. Pixel scan of the homepage in the latest report per domain. Microsoft/Bing 40, Reddit 34, Quora 27, X 21, TikTok 20, Pinterest 7, Snapchat 4.
• 186 of the 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026 (60.0%) had bought Google search ads at some point, and the median domain had 12 paid keywords on record. SpyFu US Google Search keyword history in the latest report per domain; a domain counts when its lifetime paid keyword count is above zero.
• Among 310 company domains scanned with CompetitorBase between August 13 and September 25, 2026, the largest paid search histories belonged to Amazon (21,175,531 paid keywords), Google (8,753,689) and Facebook (954,531). SpyFu US Google Search keyword counts in the latest report per domain; lifetime US paid keywords. Next were Intel (275,968) and Akamai (163,405).

All 41 statistics as a CSV: competitor-analysis-statistics.csv.

Cite this page

CompetitorBase, “Competitor Analysis 2026 Statistics (Updated September)”, updated September 2026, https://competitorbase.com/research/competitor-analysis-statistics

To cite one number, link its anchor: each statistic has one, for example https://competitorbase.com/research/competitor-analysis-statistics#stat-1.