What it means
It is target-relative: the brand's absence alone is not displacement, and neither is a competitor's mention or citation. Formula: eligible answers where the brand is not recommended and at least one tracked competitor is recommended ÷ eligible answers × 100.
Displacement Rate is measured only in the paid audit, over every evaluable run of the audit's approved questions, and reports show it as a count of displacement cases beside the runs it was counted from. The AI Recommendation Index publishes the related Displacement Share, counted only among Recommendation Gap answers.
Why it matters
It answers the commercial follow-up to a low Shortlist Share: when the brand is not chosen, is a competitor chosen instead? Knowing which competitors fill those answers shows whose evidence to study first.
Example
Illustrative: of 90 evaluable runs, the brand is not recommended in 50, and in 27 of those at least one tracked competitor is recommended. The report shows 27 displacement cases out of 90 runs.
Common misunderstandings
- It does not mean the competitor caused the brand's absence.
- It is not a share of gap answers only; Displacement Share measures that.
- It is not market share lost to a competitor, and it does not predict or guarantee future answers.