Adspy Brand X-Ray: what a brand's ads have in common
Adspy Brand X-Ray is a report that counts the formats, hooks, messages and offers across up to 5,000 of a brand's public creatives and cites the ads behind every number. Compare two to five brands on the same dimensions to see where their creative differs.
- Sample
- Newest 5,000 creativesAnd 2,000 source ads per brand
- Ranges
- 30, 90, 180 days or allBy the date each creative was first seen
- Dimensions
- 25 tag dimensionsPlus formats, hooks, timeline, longevity
- Cost
- 60 credits per brandFor each range; reused free for 24 hours
- Creatives observed
- 6,706
- Newest read
- 5,000
- Median days observed
- 18
How the ads open
Image leads the creative mix. 2891 of 5000 observed creatives (58%) use this format.
What does a Brand X-Ray show?
An Adspy Brand X-Ray reads one brand's public creatives for the range you choose and answers the questions a strategist asks first: what formats it uses, how its ads open, which messages and offers recur, what stays in circulation and what changed lately. Every figure cites up to four example ads.
- The reading
- Up to four findings in plain sentences: the leading format, a recurring angle, a repeated combination and the median time creatives stay observed.
- Timeline
- New creatives per month, by the date the library first recorded them; empty months show as zero.
- Creative mix
- Image and video shares and publishing platforms, then how the mix changes month by month.
- What changed recently
- The last 30 days against the 30 before, for the tags whose share moved most.
- Staying power
- How long creatives were observed, in bands of 0–7, 8–30, 31–90 and 91+ days, and the traits of those that stayed longest.
- Creative DNA
- The share of creatives in each of 25 tag dimensions, from production style to call to action.
- Recipes and pairs
- Repeated chains of production, hook and call to action, and the tags that appear together most.
- Hooks and destinations
- The most frequent hook types, examples of hook descriptions, and the landing pages the ads link to most.
- Audience signals
- The model's estimates of the age and gender of people shown in the ads, and provider-reported demographics where a source publishes them.
When did the brand publish its creatives?
Brand X-Ray counts new creatives per month by the date the library first recorded each one. AG1 by Athletic Greens's timeline in that snapshot runs from July 2025 to September 2026; its busiest month is August 2026, with 785 creatives first seen. The last month is partial: the snapshot was taken on 23 September 2026.
- 2Jul 25
- 256Aug
- 319Sept
- 464Oct
- 276Nov
- 353Dec
- 247Jan 26
- 69Feb
- 184Mar
- 304Apr
- 365May
- 590Jun
- 486Jul
- 785Aug
- 300Sept
September 2026 counts up to the snapshot date, 23 September 2026.
How are Brand X-Ray percentages computed?
Every Brand X-Ray share is a count divided by the creatives that could carry the trait. Formats use every sampled creative, tag patterns use tagged creatives, hooks use creatives with a classified hook. The report prints both numbers, so "24% Pattern Interrupt" means 495 of 2,058.
- 6,706 creatives observedall time
- 5,000 newest readthe sample cap
- 4,890 with AI tagsdenominator for tag patterns
- 2,058 with a classified hookdenominator for hooks
Pattern Interrupt: 495 of 2,058 = 24%
| Section | Share of |
|---|---|
| Formats and platforms | Every sampled creative |
| Tag patterns and pairs | Creatives with at least one AI tag |
| Hook types | Creatives with a classified hook |
| Timeline | Creatives with a recorded first-seen date |
| Creative DNA | Creatives with a value in that dimension; a creative can carry several values, so shares can add up to more than 100% |
| Audience estimates | Creatives with an estimate; age and gender are counted separately |
How do you compare brands with Brand X-Ray?
Adspy compares two to five brands on the same range, one dimension at a time, using each brand's full X-Ray. In the same snapshot, Bold Claim opens 36% of AG1's tagged creatives and 39% of Huel's, while Grüns uses Pain Point Call-Out most often, at 25%.
| Brand | Bold Claim | Pain Point Call-Out | Question | Relatable Situation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AG1 by Athletic Greens4,885 classified | 36%1,736 | 13%636 | 9%426 | 8%401 |
| Huel3,478 classified | 39%1,359 | 12%423 | 14%482 | 7%258 |
| Ritual1,769 classified | 35%616 | 18%314 | 10%183 | 5%84 |
| Grüns4,226 classified | 17%728 | 25%1,036 | 12%527 | 13%531 |
How to run a Brand X-Ray in Adspy
Adspy's Brand X-Ray runs in your AI assistant, Claude, Claude Code, Codex or any remote MCP client, through the Adspy MCP server. get_brand_xray reads one brand and range for 60 credits, reused free for 24 hours, and compare_brands lines up two to five brands for up to 60 credits each, a price the assistant says once.
In your AI assistant
- Connect Adspy to your AI assistant once: Claude, Claude Code, Codex or any remote MCP client. The setup guide has the steps for each.
- Ask for the report, for example "X-Ray AG1 over the last 90 days and compare it with Huel". The assistant quotes the credits first.
get_brand_xrayone brand and range; reused free for 24 hours.60 creditscompare_brandstwo to five brands on the same range.Up to 60 credits per brand
What Brand X-Ray does not tell you
Observed ads, not results
Brand X-Ray describes what a brand published. It has no spend, reach or ROAS, and a long median running time does not show that an ad was profitable.
A capped sample
Each report reads the brand's newest 5,000 creatives in the range and 2,000 source ads. The report says when a cap applies.
Inputs written by AI
Tags, hook types and audience estimates come from AI analysis. Audience estimates describe people shown in the ads, not who saw them or who was targeted.
Descriptive, not tested
Shares and differences between periods are descriptive. The report runs no significance tests, so a shift of a few points can be noise.
Questions about Brand X-Ray
How is it different from the Brand Full Analysis?
The Brand Full Analysis includes the X-Ray's sections and adds the brand's organic posts, the posts it later ran as ads, and a test and 95% interval behind each finding, for 90 credits. Your assistant offers it for a brand's full picture; a Brand X-Ray alone runs when you ask for it by name.
Is Brand X-Ray written by AI?
No. Adspy computes the report from stored data each time it runs: counts, shares and medians, with fixed sentence templates for the findings. Its inputs, such as AI tags and hook types, come from analysis done earlier.
Does a Brand X-Ray include the ads themselves?
It cites the ads behind each share by their ids. Reading those ads is a separate request, included in your plan. For AG1 by Athletic Greens in the snapshot, the X-Ray observed 6,706 creatives.
What is the difference between 0% and No data?
In a comparison, 0% means the brand has creatives classified in that dimension and none carries the value. No data means the brand has no classified creatives there, and Unavailable means the report could not be read.
Which range should I choose?
All time shows a brand's habits; 30 days shows what it is doing now. Undated creatives count only in all time.
How much does a Brand X-Ray cost?
On Starter and Pro, a new brand and range costs 60 credits from your monthly credits, and the same report is free again for 24 hours; Unlimited has no credit count (fair use). A comparison costs up to 60 credits per brand.
Sources and method
Examples come from a snapshot of the shared library taken on 23 September 2026: AG1 by Athletic Greens's Brand X-Ray for all time, and the all-time reports of AG1, Huel, Ritual and Grüns for the comparison.
Brand X-Ray counts distinct creatives (by media hash) unless a figure says source ads. Each share is a count over the creatives that could carry the trait, and the report prints both.
Corrections: info@adspy.sh
Have a brand in mind?
Add Adspy to your assistant with this URL, sign in, and ask about its ads. Connecting takes a few minutes, and no ad account.
https://www.adspy.sh/mcp