When affiliate publishers outrank the brand itself for its own brand-name search queries, capturing traffic and commission on customers who were already intending to buy directly from the brand.
In Plain English
When a coupon site ranks above your own website for searches like "YourBrand discount code" — stealing customers who were already coming to you and charging you a commission for the privilege.
Example
If RetailMeNot outranks a brand for "[brand] promo code" and earns a commission on those sales, that is parasitic SEO — the affiliate added zero value but claimed last-click attribution.
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