---
updatedAt: 2026-10-29T18:59:00.000Z
agentTools:
  projectIndex: https://data.crunchbase.com/llms.txt
---

# Explore competitor relationships

Inspect ranked company matches and available similarity reasons.

<div class="cb-playbook-pilot" aria-hidden="true"></div>

## Before you begin

Your API key must include the fields and collections requested below. Check <a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/api-packages-overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">your API package</a> if an endpoint or field is unavailable. Complete <a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/make-your-first-api-request" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">your first API request</a> to set `CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY` in bash or zsh. Commands below include response headers; look for HTTP `200`, then read the JSON body.

**Primary APIs:** Organization Search and Organization Similarity Search

<div class="cb-pilot-goal">
      <b>Goal:</b> Retrieve ranked company matches and their available similarity reasons for competitive research. Not every match includes every reason or signal.
    </div>

## About Crunchbase Competitors

Crunchbase's Competitors endpoint (org\_similarity) identifies a company's closest competitors and explains the signals behind each competitive relationship.

* **Competitive Score** — How closely the two organizations resemble one another
* **Category Overlap** — Shared industries and market categories
* **Location Overlap** — Shared geographic presence
* **Product Similarities** — Overlapping products and offerings
* **Additional Reasons** — Which identifies whether they overlap in global markets

<span id="step-1"></span> <span id="find-your-source-companys-uuid"></span>

## 1. Find the source company’s UUID

Retrieve the organization UUID for a portfolio company or potential investment. Use it as the source for the competitor lookup in Step 2.

### Endpoint

`POST https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/searches/organizations`

<Accordion title="API reference and guides" icon="fa-info-circle">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/reference/searchorganizations-3" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Search organizations</a></li>
  </ul>
</Accordion>

<span id="key-fields-for-this-query"></span>

### Fields used in this query

<div class="cb-mobile-table" role="region" aria-label="Fields used in this query — scroll horizontally to view all columns" tabIndex={0}>

| field_id    | What this field does                                                                                     | operator_id (these are the compatible operators per field)              |
| :---------- | :------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :---------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `uuid` | Crunchbase’s Unique Identifier (this is what’s being returned).                                          | `blank`; `eq`; `includes`; `not_eq`; `not_includes` |
| `website_url` | Use this field_id to search for your source company by its domain/website (this will go into your query) | `domain_blank`; `domain_eq`; `domain_includes`; `not_domain_eq`; `not_domain_includes` |

</div>

<p class="cb-mobile-table-hint">Scroll to view all columns →</p>

<span id="sample-query"></span>

### Run the request

Find Fiveonefour by its website, inspect the match, and copy its organization UUID into the `source` filter in Step 2.

```bash
curl --include --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/searches/organizations' \
  --header "X-cb-user-key: $CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY" \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "field_ids": [
    "identifier",
    "website_url"
  ],
  "query": [
    {
      "field_id": "website_url",
      "operator_id": "domain_eq",
      "type": "predicate",
      "values": [
        "www.fiveonefour.com/"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "limit": 3
}'
```

<span id="response"></span>

### Example response

Response examples below are historical, shortened JSON samples; search samples show one entity and card samples show at most one record per card. Other fields or records may be omitted. Counts and values change; `count` is the total matching records, while `entities` contains the returned page.

```json
{
  "count": 1,
  "entities": [
    {
      "uuid": "2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c",
      "properties": {
        "website_url": "https://www.fiveonefour.com/",
        "identifier": {
          "permalink": "fiveonefour",
          "image_id": "aa125f087c634b89a8fe2892033f28ec",
          "uuid": "2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c",
          "entity_def_id": "organization",
          "value": "Fiveonefour"
        },
        "uuid": "2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c"
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

<span id="outcome"></span>

### Interpret the response

The example returns Fiveonefour with organization UUID `2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c`. After confirming the website and organization match your intended company, use its UUID in the Step 2 `source` filter.

<span id="step-2"></span> <span id="find-competitors-and-similar-organizations"></span>

## 2. Find competitors and similar organizations

Use the target company's UUID to retrieve a ranked list of competitors along with the signals behind each competitive relationship.

### Endpoint

`POST https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/searches/org_similarities`

<Accordion title="API reference and guides" icon="fa-info-circle">
  <ul>
    <li><a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/reference/searchorgsimilarities" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Search organization similarities</a></li>
  </ul>
</Accordion>

<span id="key-fields-for-this-query-1"></span>

### Fields used in this query

<div class="cb-mobile-table" role="region" aria-label="Fields used in this query — scroll horizontally to view all columns" tabIndex={0}>

| field_id             | What this field does                                                                                 | operator_id (these are the compatible operators per field)         |
| :------------------- | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | :----------------------------------------------------------------- |
| `source` | The company whose competitors you want to find. Filter by its UUID                                   | `blank`; `contains`; `eq`; `includes`; `not_contains`; `not_eq`; `not_includes`; `starts` |
| `target` | The competitor (similar company) returned for the source.                                            | `blank`; `contains`; `eq`; `includes`; `not_contains`; `not_eq`; `not_includes`; `starts` |
| `score` | The similarity score for the match. Use it to rank or threshold competitors.                         | `between`; `blank`; `eq`; `gt`; `gte`; `lt`; `lte`; `not_eq` |
| `category_overlap` | The shared industries the two companies operate in.                                                  | `blank`; `includes`; `includes_all`; `not_includes`; `not_includes_all` |
| `location_overlap` | Shared geography, down to the region level (city, region, country)                                   | `blank`; `includes`; `includes_all`; `not_includes`; `not_includes_all` |
| `product_similarities` | Overlapping products that make the two companies compete                                             | `blank`; `includes`; `includes_all`; `not_includes`; `not_includes_all` |
| `additional_reasons` | Currently only flags when the overlap is global (more additional reasons are on our product roadmap) | Not currently queryable.                                           |

</div>

<p class="cb-mobile-table-hint">Scroll to view all columns →</p>

The response returns a ranked list of organizations that compete with the target company, each with a competitive score and supporting signals when returned: category overlap, location overlap, product similarities, and additional reasons. Investors can use the score to prioritize where to focus diligence and the signals to defend the why.

```bash
curl --include --request POST \
  --url 'https://api.crunchbase.com/v4/data/searches/org_similarities' \
  --header "X-cb-user-key: $CRUNCHBASE_API_KEY" \
  --header 'Accept: application/json' \
  --header 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data '{
  "field_ids": [
    "source",
    "target",
    "score",
    "identifier",
    "category_overlap",
    "location_overlap",
    "product_similarities",
    "additional_reasons"
  ],
  "query": [
    {
      "field_id": "source",
      "operator_id": "eq",
      "type": "predicate",
      "values": [
        "2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "order": [
    {
      "field_id": "score",
      "sort": "desc"
    }
  ],
  "limit": 3
}'
```

<span id="response-1"></span>

### Example response

```json
{
  "count": 11,
  "entities": [
    {
      "uuid": "b6570d4b-33d2-4dd7-952a-11b90bd7df72",
      "properties": {
        "category_overlap": [
          {
            "permalink": "analytics",
            "image_id": "ca9c73c2692e4557924ec8ed54c34083",
            "uuid": "99c5404c-0ff5-8ee5-d334-4b944ddb8cd9",
            "entity_def_id": "category",
            "value": "Analytics"
          },
          {
            "permalink": "software",
            "image_id": "f137af6adb1a4170908597d523483c13",
            "uuid": "c08b5441-a05b-9777-b7a6-012728caddd9",
            "entity_def_id": "category",
            "value": "Software"
          }
        ],
        "source": {
          "permalink": "fiveonefour",
          "image_id": "aa125f087c634b89a8fe2892033f28ec",
          "uuid": "2d44d8e3-d7cb-4983-9a35-f78060dffe9c",
          "entity_def_id": "organization",
          "value": "Fiveonefour"
        },
        "identifier": {
          "uuid": "b6570d4b-33d2-4dd7-952a-11b90bd7df72",
          "entity_def_id": "org_similarity",
          "value": "Fiveonefour competes with Evidence"
        },
        "score": 97.0,
        "product_similarities": [
          {
            "entity_def_id": "product_similarity",
            "uuid": "1e700a04-4e65-46a9-b1f8-0e68fb25d76e",
            "value": "Moose is similar to Open Source Framework"
          }
        ],
        "target": {
          "permalink": "evidence-1cfc",
          "image_id": "jksqcivnsmajx29z3aa3",
          "uuid": "893bf234-3e1c-4476-94ab-83e4b1fe1cfc",
          "entity_def_id": "organization",
          "value": "Evidence"
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
```

<span id="outcome-1"></span>

### Interpret the response

<Cards>
  <Card icon="fa-solid fa-code-compare" title="Inspect the available reasons behind each competitor match">
    The illustrative response identifies Fiveonefour as `properties.source` and Evidence as `properties.target`, with a `score` of 97. It includes `category_overlap` and `product_similarities`. Inspect those returned reasons, then use `properties.target.uuid` to research Evidence. Other matches may return different supporting fields.
  </Card>
</Cards>

## Check your result

The first request should identify your intended organization. In the similarity response, `source.uuid` should match that organization; use `target.uuid` to identify the peer company. A similarity record UUID identifies the relationship, not the peer. Inspect the returned overlap fields before treating a match as relevant.

Search requests here use `limit: 3` for a small first page. For a complete result set, follow <a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/paginate-search-results" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">search pagination</a> while preserving the filters and ordering. For request failures, use <a href="https://data.crunchbase.com/docs/api-essentials#request-limits-and-retries" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">the shared request and retry guidance</a>.