How to Build a Competitor Report From X Analytics
A Monthly X Report That Puts Your Numbers Next to Your Rivals on the Same Terms
Short answer
A competitor report from X analytics compares your account with rivals on public metrics only. Record follower change, original posts, replies per post, median views and median public engagement rate for each account monthly. Add the top post, the content mix shift and one conversation theme per rival, then end with the decisions it changes.
1. What does X Analytics report, and what is missing for competitor work?
X Analytics covers your own account: impressions, engagements, engagement rate, clicks and audience data, and X ties it to a Premium subscription. It shows nothing about any other account, so competitor numbers must come from public post metrics.
- X Analytics
- The analytics dashboard X provides to an account owner, reporting impressions, engagements, clicks and audience information for that account's posts only.
- Also known as: Twitter Analytics
- Full definition of X Analytics
That means a competitor report has two data sources with different rules. Your own analytics include private metrics such as link clicks and profile clicks. Competitor data is limited to what every post shows publicly: views, replies, reposts, quotes, likes and bookmarks.
2. What belongs in the monthly scorecard?
Seven rows per account: follower count and change, original posts, replies per original, median views, median public engagement rate, share of posts with video or threads, and the top post by views multiple.
| Row | How to calculate it | Why it earns a row |
|---|---|---|
| Followers and monthly change | Count on the same day each month; change from last month | The only public growth figure |
| Original posts | Posts in the month excluding replies and reposts | Output and effort |
| Replies per original post | Replies posted by the account divided by original posts | How conversational or support-heavy they are |
| Median views | Middle view count of original posts, measured two days or more after posting | Typical distribution per post |
| Median public engagement rate | (Replies + reposts + quotes + likes) divided by views, per post, then the median | How well posts convert viewers |
| Format share | Share of originals that are video, threads or link posts | Where their content is moving |
| Top post | Highest views multiple against the account median, with a one-line description | What worked this month |
3. What should the report include beyond the scorecard?
Three short narrative blocks: what changed in each competitor's content mix or cadence, one theme from what people said about them, and one example post worth studying. Each block should be two or three sentences.
A usable monthly X competitor report has this structure:
- Summary: three sentences on the month, written last and read first.
- Scorecard: the seven-row table above, with your account in the first column.
- Changes: any content mix, cadence or pinned-post change per competitor, with the date.
- Conversation: one theme from what customers and critics said about each rival, with a representative post.
- Complaints: any spike in complaint volume, the bucket it fell in, and the likely cause.
- Worth studying: one post per competitor that beat their median, and why you think it did.
- Decisions: what, if anything, changes in your own plan, with an owner.
The decisions block is the only part anyone acts on. If it is empty two months running, the report is either tracking the wrong accounts or measuring the wrong things.
4. How do I build the first report step by step?
Fix the account set, fix the formulas and the measurement day, log a month of posts per account, compute the scorecard, write the narrative blocks, and save the sheet as the template for next month.
- Fix the account set. Choose three to five competitors plus your own account and keep the set unchanged for at least two quarters. Changing it mid-series makes every trend meaningless.
- Write down the formulas. Record the engagement rate numerator, the post age at measurement, and that reposts are excluded. Put the definitions at the bottom of the report so any reader can check them.
- Log the month. For each account, list the month original posts with date, format, views, replies, reposts, quotes and likes. Count their replies separately. Use a dated search to pull the month quickly.
- Compute and compare. Fill the scorecard, then compare each figure with last month. Write a change only when it is large enough to survive one unusual post.
- Write the narrative blocks. Changes, conversation, complaints and one post worth studying per competitor. Keep each to two or three sentences.
- End with decisions. Write at most three decisions with an owner and a date. If nothing changes, say so explicitly; that is a finding too.
5. How often should I send it, and to whom?
Monthly to the marketing team, quarterly as a summarized trend for leadership. Weekly X reports tend to report noise, because one post can move a small account numbers for a week.
Leadership rarely needs the scorecard. They need the direction of travel over a quarter and the decisions it produced. Turn three monthly reports into one page: the trend in median views and engagement per account, the biggest competitor change, and what you did about it.
Oppira tracks competitor X posts and replies daily alongside Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, charts engagement, cadence and tone per rival and head to head, and can send scheduled email reports plus a weekly briefing. The scorecard stops being a monthly spreadsheet job, and the time goes into the narrative and decisions blocks instead.
Key Takeaways
X Analytics covers only you
Competitor numbers must come from the public metrics shown on every post.
Keep your column public too
Your analytics engagement rate counts clicks; recompute it from public counts before comparing.
Seven scorecard rows
Followers, originals, replies per post, median views, median rate, format share and top post.
Medians, not averages
One viral post can triple a monthly average and hide the rest of the month.
Narrative beats numbers
Changes, conversation themes and one post worth studying explain what the scorecard cannot.
End with decisions
A report with no decisions for two months is tracking the wrong accounts or the wrong things.
Frequently Asked Questions
Sources
- Post and Video Activity Dashboards X Business, September 2026.Owner-side metric definitions, including that engagements count clicks.
- About X Premium X Help Center, September 2026.The subscription X associates with its analytics features.
- Metrics X Developer Platform, September 2026.Which post metrics are public and which are owner-only.
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