Ban Competitors Agent

The Ban Competitors Agent identifies and filters references to competing products, services, and companies in user interactions. It helps maintain brand focus, prevent competitor promotion, and ensures AI systems don't inadvertently recommend or discuss competitive offerings.

Ban Competitors Agent interface and configuration

Business Guidance: When configuring competitor detection, balance business needs with user experience. Overly aggressive filtering may frustrate users seeking legitimate comparative information. Consider your specific use case and audience expectations.

Component Inputs

Input Text: The text content to be analyzed for competitor references
Example: "How does your product compare to CompetitorX's solution?"
Competitor List: Names of competitors to detect and filter
Example: "CompetitorX,CompetitorY,CompetitorZ"
Detection Mode: Level of competitor reference detection
Options: "exact" (exact name matches), "fuzzy" (includes variations), "semantic" (conceptual references)
Is Blocked: Whether content with competitor references should be blocked
Options: true (block content) or false (allow but flag content)

Component Outputs

Processed Text: The input text with competitor references potentially redacted
Example: "How does your product compare to [competitor]'s solution?"
Safety Status: Indicator of whether competitor references were detected
Values: Safe (no competitor references), Unsafe (competitor references detected)
Risk Score: Numerical evaluation of competitor reference risk
Scale: 0.0 (no risk) to 1.0 (high risk)
Detected Competitors: List of specific competitors identified in the content
Example: ["CompetitorX"]

Detection Strategies

Recognition Methods

Exact Name Matching: Identifies precise competitor name occurrences
Best for well-defined brand names and products
Fuzzy Name Detection: Recognizes variations, misspellings, and partial matches
Helps catch intentional obfuscation and common typos
Semantic Reference Detection: Identifies conceptual references even without direct naming
Catches "that other cloud provider" or "your main rival in CRM software"
Product-Focused Detection: Identifies competitor products and services
Catches specific product names rather than just company names

How It Works

The Ban Competitors Agent uses a combination of text matching techniques and semantic analysis to identify mentions of competitive products and companies. It processes text through multiple detection layers to ensure comprehensive coverage of both direct mentions and indirect references.

Processing Flow

Text normalization and preprocessing
Exact name matching against competitor database
Fuzzy matching for variant detection (if enabled)
Semantic analysis for contextual references (if enabled)
Risk score calculation based on match confidence and context
Optional content redaction or rejection

Use Cases

Product Support: Prevent support chatbots from discussing competitor products
Marketing Content: Ensure marketing materials don't inadvertently promote competitors
Documentation: Keep help content focused on your own products and services
Sales Assistants: Prevent sales AI from recommending competitor solutions
Internal Communications: Maintain focus on company strategy rather than competition

Implementation Example

const competitorFilter = new BanCompetitorsAgent({
  competitors: [
    "CompetitorX",
    "CompetitorY",
    "CompetitorZ",
    "Product A",
    "Service B"
  ],
  detectionMode: "fuzzy",
  isBlocked: true,
  redactionText: "[competitor]"
});

const inputText = "I've been using CompetitorX's cloud solution, but I'm considering switching to your platform.";
const result = competitorFilter.analyze(inputText);

// Output:
// {
//   processedText: "I've been using [competitor]'s cloud solution, but I'm considering switching to your platform.",
//   safetyStatus: "Unsafe",
//   riskScore: 0.85,
//   detectedCompetitors: ["CompetitorX"],
//   detectionDetails: [
//     {
//       competitor: "CompetitorX",
//       position: 15,
//       confidence: 1.0,
//       context: "using CompetitorX's cloud solution"
//     }
//   ]
// }

Useful Resources

Best Practices

Regularly update your competitor list as the market evolves
Include product names and common abbreviations, not just company names
Consider your response strategy when competitors are mentioned
Balance filtering with user experience - provide helpful alternatives
Monitor false positives and adjust detection sensitivity accordingly

Documentation