In an increasingly interconnected world, countries often face similar challenges, from economic instability to public health crises to climate change. When finding solutions to pressing problems, politicians often seek inspiration from other countries, potentially leading to the diffusion of policies through learning and emulation. Throughout this process, politicians regularly convey lessons learned from other countries to their own citizens, essentially referencing global benchmarks to highlight where their country stands in comparison to others and set ambitious goals based on what is being achieved elsewhere. However, the systematic identification of these benchmarking cues has been largely overlooked in the policy diffusion literature. This paper addresses that gap by examining parliamentary debates in the United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, and Singapore between 2001 and 2018. Using large language models (LLMs) to identify and classify these cues, we provide new insights into how policies from abroad are presented to the public at home. Our analysis disaggregates the applied benchmarking cues and highlights three key categories - success, competition, and norm compliance - employed in political debates. Additionally, we analyze which countries are benchmarked over time and across various policy areas, as well as the individual-level factors associated with the use of benchmarking cues. In particular, we argue that politicians with elite educational backgrounds or prior experience studying abroad are more likely to benchmark foreign countries. Male politicians tend to exhibit greater competitiveness compared to the female MPs. Overall, our findings enhance our understanding of how cross-country benchmarking shapes domestic policy-making.