An ELISA can also be performed as a competitive assay. This is common when the antigen is small and has only one epitope, or antibody binding site. One variation of this method consists of labeling purified antigen instead of the antibody. Unlabeled antigen from samples and the labeled antigen compete for binding to the capture antibody. A decrease in signal from purified antigen indicates the presence of the antigen in samples when compared to assay wells with labeled antigen alone.