An alternative page is built for people looking for options to a product they already know, with searches such as “HubSpot alternatives” or “alternatives to CrowdStrike Falcon.” The searcher has usually used or evaluated that product and wants to switch, so the page competes for buyers at the end of their research, not the start.
Switching is more common than most vendors assume. In G2’s 2026 survey of B2B software buyers, 69% chose a different vendor than they first expected, and 33% bought from a vendor they had never heard of. A third of buyers are open to a name they didn’t know when they started, and an alternative page is where they find it.
Who searches for alternatives
These searchers know the category and what frustrates them about their current tool. They’re building a new shortlist. That makes alternative pages some of the best-converting content a B2B SaaS site can publish, even at low search volume. A query with 90 monthly searches from people ready to switch is worth more than a broad category term with ten times the volume.
Alternative pages vs comparison pages
| Alternative page | Comparison page | |
|---|---|---|
| Query | “[Competitor] alternatives” | “[Product A] vs [Product B]” |
| Searcher | Wants to leave a product | Choosing between two named options |
| Page shape | Several options, one recommended | Head-to-head on shared criteria |
| Best for | Winning customers from a market leader | Defending against a direct rival |
Build both for each major competitor. They catch buyers at different moments. See comparison page for how the head-to-head format works.
Anatomy of an alternative page that ranks
- Put the competitor’s name in the title tag, H1 and URL slug, matching how people search: “[Competitor] alternatives for [use case].”
- Open by saying who should switch and who should stay. Admitting the competitor suits some buyers better is what makes the rest of the page credible.
- Compare on the criteria buyers weigh in a table: pricing model, integrations, deployment, support and contract terms. Date the pricing.
- Add a switching section on data migration, contract exit and onboarding time. That’s the buyer’s real worry, and most alternative pages skip it.
- Show proof: a customer who moved from the competitor, with a specific result.
- End with a next step built for switchers, such as a migration call, in place of a generic demo request.
Alternative pages and AI chatbots
Buyers now ask ChatGPT and Perplexity the same question. G2’s research found 51% of B2B software buyers now start their research in an AI chatbot more often than in Google. These tools assemble answers from vendor pages, review sites and comparison content.
The same G2 research analysed 30,000 AI citations and found G2 itself carried 22.4% influence on software queries across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Mode. G2 has an obvious interest in that finding, so weigh it accordingly. The direction still holds: your alternative page competes with review sites for the citation, so your review profiles need the same attention as the page.
Common mistakes
- Ranking yourself first with no reasons. Buyers and Google both see through it.
- Avoiding the competitor’s name, so the page never matches the search.
- Leaving pricing or features to go stale. Claims about a named competitor need to be accurate and dated, and outdated pricing is the easiest error for a competitor to complain about.
- Covering every competitor on one page. Each competitor gets its own page with its own switching story.
Related terms
Comparison page · Bottom of funnel content · SaaS SEO · Search intent for B2B · Lead generation SEO
Building alternative pages for a software product? See how I approach SEO for B2B SaaS companies.
