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NearIQ watches your tracked competitors and your own business continuously. When something notable changes, it creates an alert so you can respond without having to check the dashboard manually. Alerts appear in the Alerts tab and are surfaced in the notification bell in the top navigation bar.
Real-time alerts require a Growth plan or higher. On Starter plans, alerts are generated on a slower polling schedule.

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Alert types

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Competitor alerts

These alerts fire when NearIQ detects a change in one of your tracked competitors.
A competitor’s Google star rating has fallen since the last snapshot. This can indicate customer dissatisfaction and may be an opportunity to position your business favourably.
A competitor’s rating has improved. Worth knowing so you understand who is gaining ground and why.
A competitor received an unusually high number of new reviews in a short window. Surges can indicate a promotional push, a viral moment, or a coordinated review campaign.
The competitor’s review velocity (new reviews per week) has jumped significantly above their historical average, even if the total count is not yet alarming.
The competitor’s listed opening hours have changed on Google Maps. This can signal a strategic shift — extended hours, a new day off, or a full closure.
The URL on the competitor’s Google listing has changed. This may indicate a rebrand, a domain migration, or a new offer page.
NearIQ has detected that the competitor is actively hiring, which can signal expansion plans before any public announcement.
A new business matching your category has appeared near your location on Google Maps.
A competitor’s operational status has changed — for example from OPERATIONAL to CLOSED_TEMPORARILY or CLOSED_PERMANENTLY.

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Your business alerts

These alerts fire when NearIQ detects a change in your own Google Business Profile.
Your own Google star rating has fallen. Act quickly — respond to recent low-star reviews and consider whether any operational issues need addressing.
Your rating has improved. A good moment to understand which reviews drove the change and reinforce whatever is working.
Your business received an unusually high number of new reviews in a short period. Review the new feedback to catch any patterns, positive or negative.

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Severity levels

Every alert carries a severity level that indicates how urgently it warrants your attention.
SeverityMeaning
DangerNeeds immediate attention — your own rating dropped, or a competitor had a dramatic shift
WarningWorth investigating soon — a notable change that could affect your competitive position
OpportunitySomething in your favour — a competitor had a rating drop or is losing velocity
InfoA change worth knowing about, but not time-sensitive
Severity is colour-coded in the alert list and in the notification bell badge.

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Reading an alert

Each alert card shows:
  • Title — a plain-language summary of what changed (e.g. “Joe’s Pizza rating dropped to 4.1”)
  • Description — context about the change, including the before and after values where available
  • AI recommendation — a suggested action you can take in response to this specific change
  • Competitor name — which business triggered the alert (your own business for own_* alerts)
  • Timestamp — how long ago the alert was generated

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Marking alerts as read

Unread alerts show a coloured dot and contribute to the badge count on the notification bell. You can:
  • Click an alert to mark it as read individually
  • Click “Mark read” in the notification panel to mark all current alerts as read at once
  • Click “Clear all” in the notification panel to remove all alerts from the list
Alerts in the full Alerts tab can also be deleted individually or all at once.

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Notification bell

The bell icon in the top navigation bar shows a badge with the number of unread alerts. Click it to see a preview of the most recent ten alerts without leaving your current tab. Click any alert in the panel to mark it read and jump to the Alerts tab, or click View all alerts at the bottom of the panel.
Keep the unread count low by reviewing alerts daily. NearIQ surfaces the most actionable changes first, so a quick scan of the Alerts tab each morning is usually all you need.