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How to read your benchmark position
What the 1-99 position, the quartile bands and the source labels on every Benchmarketing comparison mean.
BenchMarketing editorial team Updated October 7, 2026 3 min readShare
Every comparison places your number inside the benchmark's quartile bands.
The position
Positions run from 1 to 99 and higher is always better, even for costs. 25 sits on the bottom-quartile line, 50 on the median and 75 on the top-quartile line. A CPA of $40 against a $60 median scores above 50, because cheaper is better.
The labels on each figure
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Published | A published figure for your exact industry, such as LocaliQ's 2026 search benchmarks |
| Category estimate | A published figure for the category your industry sits in |
| Estimate | Benchmarketing's own estimate for the industry, from the sources we hold |
| Base estimate | The platform's median scaled to your industry: the weakest comparison |
When an industry only has a base estimate, the free report compares you with the platform's published all-industry band instead, and says so. Quartiles marked as using the platform's typical spread were not published with the figure.
What moves your position
The benchmarks change when a source publishes new figures; every change is listed in the change log. Your own position changes when your numbers do, so import a new export after any campaign change you want to measure.
About the figures
Benchmark figures in this article come from the BenchMarketing dataset and update when the benchmark pages do. Each benchmark page lists its sources and period; see our methodology.
See where you stand
Compare your own numbers with these benchmarks for your industry.
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