Competitor Intel

Competitive intelligence research and analysis for any company, product, or market. Use when asked to research competitors, analyze a competitor's strategy, compare products/pricing/positioning, identify market gaps, monitor competitor activity, build competitive battle cards, or assess a competitive landscape. Triggers on phrases like "competitor analysis", "competitive research", "what are competitors doing", "battle card", "market landscape", "competitive positioning", "how does X compare to Y", "spy on competitors", "competitor pricing", "SWOT analysis".

Competitor Intelligence Skill

Deliver sharp, decision-ready competitive intelligence. Surface what matters, skip what doesn't.

Workflow

1. Define Scope

Clarify (ask if not provided):

• Your company/product: What are you competing with?
• Target competitors: Named, or should you discover them?
• Intelligence goal: Pricing? Positioning? Features? Marketing? All?
• Output format: Quick summary, full report, or battle card?

2. Discover Competitors (if not named)

Use web_search:

• "[product category] alternatives"
• "best [product type] software 2026"
• "[your company] vs" — autocomplete reveals top competitors
• site:g2.com [category] and site:capterra.com [category]

3. Profile Each Competitor

For each competitor, gather via web_fetch + web_search:

Positioning & Messaging

• Homepage headline and sub-headline
• Target ICP (who they're selling to)
• Core value proposition
• Brand voice/tone

Pricing

• Pricing page structure (tiers, prices, what's included)
• Free trial / freemium?
• Annual vs monthly discount
• Enterprise pricing signals

Product/Features

• Feature list from pricing/features pages
• Changelog or "what's new" page
• App store reviews (common complaints = their weaknesses)

Marketing & Distribution

• Blog topics (what keywords they're targeting)
• Social media presence + posting frequency
• Ad library: web_search "site:facebook.com/ads [competitor]"
• Backlink signals from SERP results

Customer Sentiment

• G2/Capterra/Trustpilot reviews — pull 1-star AND 5-star patterns
• Common complaints = their moats AND their gaps

4. Build Competitive Matrix

Use scripts/build_matrix.py to generate a side-by-side comparison table across:

• Pricing tiers
• Key features
• Target segment
• Positioning angle
• Strengths / Weaknesses

5. Identify Market Gaps

Synthesize: What are all competitors missing or doing badly? These are your wedges.

6. Output Options

• Quick brief: 1-page summary with top 3 competitors and key takeaways
• Full report: Complete profiles + matrix + gap analysis + recommendations
• Battle card: 1-page per competitor — use against in sales calls. See references/battle-card-template.md.

See references/battle-card-template.md for the battle card format. See references/intel-sources.md for a full list of research sources and tools.