Sample Competitor Intelligence Report
A real example of what the £680 report looks like. Six real Leeds emergency plumbing firms, compared on price, trust, search and AI answers. Every finding below comes from a public page we opened, with the date.
This is a real sample, with names withheld. The six firms are real Leeds businesses from our emergency plumber price study. We call them Firm A to Firm F. Firm A is treated as the client to show how a report reads. Firm A did not order this report and has no link to Whito.
Prices and Companies House checks collected 2 October 2026. Websites, search and AI answers checked 9 November 2026.
For UK businesses only. By ordering you agree to our terms and conditions. Prices in pounds, no VAT added.
1. Executive summary
Firm A is a registered plumbing and heating firm in Leeds that says it is Gas Safe registered. It is one of only two firms in this set that publishes its emergency hourly rates. That is a real advantage, but the prices sit on a separate rates page that the homepage does not show.
The firms customers are pointed to are not the ones with the best websites. Search results and AI answers for “emergency plumber Leeds” are led by directories (Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Bark, Yell, FreeIndex) and by firms that say “no call-out fee”. Firm A appeared in neither.
The three changes most likely to win Firm A more emergency calls:
- Put its published prices on the homepage and the emergency page, and say plainly what the first hour includes.
- Get listed and reviewed on the directories that AI tools quote, starting with Checkatrade and TrustATrader.
- Grow Google reviews from fewer than 20. The best-reviewed rival shows several hundred reviews across two review sites.
2. Business profile: Firm A
| Location | Leeds. Homepage lists more than a dozen towns it covers, reaching well beyond Leeds. No postcodes listed. |
|---|---|
| Services | Emergency plumbing, boiler service and repair, heating, bathrooms, powerflushing, underfloor heating. |
| Published prices | A daytime hourly rate plus VAT, with higher evening and night rates. No separate call-out fee, but a minimum charge applies. Found on a rates page, not on the homepage. |
| Trust signals on site | Says it is Gas Safe registered. A workmanship guarantee longer than 12 months. Google reviews shown, fewer than 20. |
| Companies House | Matched by name search. Active. The company number is not shown on the website. |
| Homepage message | The browser title talks about fast-response plumbing in Leeds. The main heading talks about boiler installation across Yorkshire. Two different messages on one page. |
3. Competitor overview
Five Leeds firms from the same price study, chosen because they publish an emergency price or a “no call-out fee” policy on their own website.
| Firm | What it is | Emergency price as published |
|---|---|---|
| A (client) | Local plumbing and heating firm | Daytime hourly rate plus VAT, higher evening and night rates |
| B | Heating and plumbing firm covering several Yorkshire areas | First-hour price under £100, includes diagnosis. No call-out fee. VAT not stated |
| C | Leeds emergency plumber covering nearby towns | No call-out fee. Hourly rate not published |
| D | Leeds plumber that lists the postcodes it covers | First-hour weekday price under £100, includes call-out. Higher minimum charges evenings and weekends |
| E | Leeds plumber covering nearby areas | No call-out charge. No rate published |
| F | Yorkshire plumbing and gas network | No call-out charge. No rate published |
4. Side by side
| Check | A | B | C | D | E | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hourly rate published | Yes, rates page | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Price on main page checked | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Gas Safe mentioned on site | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | No |
| Reviews shown on site | Google, under 20 | Several hundred, two sites | Google link, no count | Rating shown, no count or source | None | None |
| 24/7 claim | Yes | No | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Guarantee | Over 12 months | Long warranty on heating | None stated | 12 months | None stated | 12 months |
| Phone number easy to find | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Company number on site | No | Yes | No | No | No | Yes |
| Companies House | Active | Active | Active | Not confirmed | Not found | Not active (see note) |
Notes. “Gas Safe mentioned on site” means the website says so. We did not check the Gas Safe Register for this sample; a paid report does. “Not confirmed” and “Not found” mean we could not match one company with confidence, often because a firm trades as a sole trader or under a trading name, which is lawful and common. For Firm F, the company number shown on its website did not belong to an active company on 2 October 2026. There can be innocent reasons, such as a change of trading company not yet updated on the site. Nothing in this table is a finding of wrongdoing by any firm.
5. Website analysis
- Firm A has the clearest prices in the set but hides them. A customer with a burst pipe at 9pm will not hunt for a rates page.
- Firm A’s homepage talks about boiler installs. An emergency customer lands on a heading about boiler installation. Firms C and D lead with emergency and same-day help.
- Firm D does well on local detail. It lists the Leeds postcodes it covers. Firm A lists towns well beyond Leeds, which dilutes its local message.
- Two rivals make contact hard. Firms D and E showed no phone number on the page we checked. That is an opening for Firm A, whose number is in the header.
6. Search visibility
We ran two searches on 9 November 2026: “emergency plumber Leeds” and “Leeds plumber call out charge”. This used one web search tool, not a full ranking study, and results change by day and by device.
- Results were led by directories: Checkatrade, Bark, local newspaper business listings, FreeIndex, MyJobQuote and price guides.
- Many results were one-page sites on free hosting, built to catch the search.
- Firm C appeared through a lead-generation site profile and local newspaper business listings. Firm E appeared through a directory profile.
- Firm A did not appear, on its own site or through a directory.
7. AI answer check
We asked Perplexity two questions on 9 November 2026. This sample uses one AI tool and two questions. The paid report uses up to 20 questions across four AI tools, because answers change from one run to the next.
| Question asked | Who was named | Sources it used |
|---|---|---|
| Who is a good emergency plumber in Leeds? Name 5 firms. | Four firms, none of A to F. One other firm from our Leeds price study was named. | TrustATrader, Checkatrade, Rated People, MyJobQuote, Good Builders |
| Which Leeds emergency plumbers publish their prices or charge no call-out fee? | Four firms that say “no call-out fee”. None of A to F, although A and B publish prices. | Firms’ own sites, Checkatrade, Yell, a Whito price study |
What this means for Firm A: AI tools are building answers from directories and from short, plain claims like “no call-out fee”. Firm A’s prices are real and specific, but they are not written in a way, or in a place, that AI tools pick up.
AI answers are produced by the AI tool, not by Whito, and can be wrong or incomplete.
8. Market positioning
Most rivals compete on one message: “no call-out fee, 24/7”. That message is now common, so it no longer sets anyone apart. Firm B competes on proof (hundreds of reviews and long warranties). Firm D competes on a clear first-hour price.
The open position is “the Leeds emergency plumber that tells you the full price before you call”. Firm A already has the facts to own it: published day, evening and night rates, a stated Gas Safe registration, and a long workmanship guarantee.
9. Strengths and weaknesses
Strengths
- Published rates for every time of day, rare in this market
- Active registered company; says it is Gas Safe registered
- One of the longer workmanship guarantees in the set
- Phone number easy to find
Weaknesses
- Prices hidden from the homepage
- Homepage heading about boiler installs, not emergencies
- Fewer than 20 reviews, against hundreds for Firm B
- Not seen in search results or AI answers we checked
- Company number not shown
10. Opportunities
- Price clarity. Only two of six firms show a full emergency rate. Leading with it is a point of difference rivals cannot copy without publishing their own prices.
- Directory presence. AI tools quoted Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Yell and others. A complete, reviewed profile there may matter more than another page on Firm A’s own site.
- Trust gaps in rivals. One rival’s website shows a company number that did not match an active company. Two show no phone number on the page we checked. Firm A can show its company number and Gas Safe number, which a careful customer can check.
- Leeds focus. Listing LS postcodes, as Firm D does, makes it clearer that Firm A is local.
11. Priority recommendations
| # | Change | Effort | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Add a short price box to the homepage: day, evening and night rates, what the first hour includes, VAT shown. | 1 hour | Turns a hidden strength into the main reason to call. |
| 2 | Change the homepage heading to lead with emergency help in Leeds. | 15 minutes | Matches what emergency customers search for. |
| 3 | Consider complete profiles on the directories AI tools quoted, such as Checkatrade and TrustATrader, with the same prices, if the fees make sense for the business. | Half a day, plus any fees | These are the sources AI tools quoted. |
| 4 | Ask every customer for a Google review for 90 days. | Ongoing | Review count is the clearest gap against Firm B. |
| 5 | Show the company number and Gas Safe number in the footer. | 15 minutes | A trust signal only two rivals show. |
| 6 | List the LS postcodes covered. | 30 minutes | Clearer local signal for search and AI. |
12. Sources, dates and limits
- Prices and Companies House matches: Whito emergency plumber call-out price study, collected 2 October 2026 from each firm’s own website.
- Website checks: each firm’s homepage or Leeds page, read 9 November 2026.
- Search: two searches, one web search tool, 9 November 2026.
- AI answers: Perplexity, two questions, 9 November 2026, signed out.
- Limits: this sample is shorter than a paid report. Prices can change after the collection date. Search and AI results vary by day, device and wording. We did not contact any firm, mystery-shop, or check prices by phone.
About this sample
- It uses public information only: the firms’ own websites, Companies House, public search results and public AI answers.
- Names are withheld and some figures are rounded or described in general terms, so the firms are harder to identify. It is not a ranking, review, endorsement or criticism of any firm. No firm paid to appear or to be left out.
- Facts are as at the dates shown and may have changed since.
- Brand names such as Checkatrade, TrustATrader, Bark, Yell, FreeIndex and Perplexity belong to their owners. Mentioning them does not mean they are linked to Whito or endorse this report.
- This is information and opinion, not legal, financial or professional advice. Check anything important before you act on it.
- If you think one of these firms is yours and something here is wrong, use our corrections, right of reply and removals page. We will check it and fix genuine errors.
- How Whito earns its money is set out on our how we make money page.
Want this for your business?
You and up to five UK competitors. What they offer and charge, who search results and four AI tools name, the gaps, and a ranked list of things to change. £680, delivered within 10 working days of agreeing the scope.
For UK businesses only. By ordering you agree to our terms and conditions. Prices in pounds, no VAT added.