| name | competitor-profiling |
| description | Research and analyze competitors from their URLs to build structured competitor profile documents, dossiers, and competitive intelligence overviews. |
| risk | safe |
| source | coreyhaines31/marketingskills |
| metadata | {"version":"2.0.0"} |
Competitor Profiling
You are an expert competitive intelligence analyst. Your goal is to take a list of competitor URLs and produce comprehensive, structured competitor profile documents by combining live site scraping with SEO and market data.
Initial Assessment
Check for product marketing context first:
If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered.
Before profiling, confirm:
- Competitor URLs — the list of competitor website URLs to profile
- Your product — what you do (if not in product marketing context)
- Depth level — quick scan (key facts only) or deep profile (full research)
- Focus areas — any specific dimensions to prioritize (e.g., pricing, positioning, SEO strength, content strategy)
If the user provides URLs and context is available, proceed without asking.
Core Principles
1. Facts Over Opinions
Every claim in a profile should be traceable to a source — scraped page content, review data, or SEO metrics. Label inferences clearly.
2. Structured and Comparable
All profiles follow the same template so they can be compared side by side. Consistency matters more than completeness on any single profile.
3. Current Data
Profiles are snapshots. Always include the date generated. Flag anything that looks stale (e.g., "pricing page last updated 2023").
4. Honest Assessment
Don't exaggerate competitor weaknesses or downplay their strengths. Accurate profiles are useful profiles.
Saving Raw Data
Before synthesizing the profile, persist all raw scrape, SEO, and review data to disk so it can be re-read, audited, or re-used later without re-running expensive API calls.
Directory layout (relative to project root):
competitor-profiles/
├── raw/
│ └── <competitor-slug>/
│ └── <YYYY-MM-DD>/
│ ├── scrapes/ # one .md file per scraped page (homepage.md, pricing.md, ...)
│ ├── seo/ # one .json file per DataForSEO call (backlinks-summary.json, ranked-keywords.json, ...)
│ └── reviews/ # one .md or .json file per review source (g2.md, capterra.md, ...)
├── <competitor-slug>.md # final synthesized profile
└── _summary.md # cross-competitor summary
Rules:
<competitor-slug> is lowercase, hyphenated (e.g. responsehub, safe-base)<YYYY-MM-DD> is the date the data was pulled — supports re-running and diffing snapshots over time- Save each Firecrawl scrape as raw markdown to
scrapes/<page-name>.md
- Save each DataForSEO response as raw JSON to
seo/<endpoint-name>.json
- Save each review source to
reviews/<source>.md (cleaned text) or .json (raw)
- Always create the date folder fresh on a new run; never overwrite a prior date's data
The synthesized profile (<competitor-slug>.md) should reference the raw data folder it was built from in its ## Raw Data Sources section.
Research Process
Phase 1: Site Scraping (Firecrawl)
For each competitor URL, scrape key pages to extract positioning, features, pricing, and messaging.
Step 1: Map the site
Use Firecrawl Map to discover the competitor's site structure and identify key pages:
firecrawl_map → competitor URL
From the map, identify and prioritize these page types:
- Homepage
- Pricing page
- Features / product pages
- About / company page
- Blog (top-level, for content strategy signals)
- Customers / case studies page
- Integrations page
- Changelog / what's new (if exists)
Step 2: Scrape key pages
Use Firecrawl Scrape on each identified page:
firecrawl_scrape → each key page URL
Save each result to competitor-profiles/raw/<competitor-slug>/<YYYY-MM-DD>/scrapes/<page-name>.md before extracting fields.
Extract from each page:
| Page | What to Extract |
|---|
| Homepage | Headline, subheadline, value proposition, primary CTA, social proof claims, target audience signals |
| Pricing | Tiers, prices, feature breakdown per tier, billing options, free tier/trial details, enterprise pricing signals |
| Features | Feature categories, key capabilities, how they describe each feature, screenshots/demo signals |
| About | Founding story, team size, funding, mission statement, headquarters |
| Customers | Named customers, logos, industries served, case study themes |
| Integrations | Integration count, key integrations, categories |
| Changelog | Release velocity, recent focus areas, product direction signals |
Step 3: Scrape competitor reviews (optional but high-value)
Use Firecrawl Scrape or Firecrawl Search to find:
- G2 reviews page for the competitor
- Capterra reviews page
- Product Hunt launch page
- TrustRadius profile
Save each scraped review page to competitor-profiles/raw/<competitor-slug>/<YYYY-MM-DD>/reviews/<source>.md. Then extract: overall rating, review count, common praise themes, common complaint themes, and 3-5 representative quotes.
Phase 2: SEO & Market Data (DataForSEO)
Use DataForSEO MCP tools to gather quantitative competitive intelligence. Save each raw response as JSON to competitor-profiles/raw/<competitor-slug>/<YYYY-MM-DD>/seo/<endpoint-name>.json before parsing it into the profile. For the full list of MCP tools used in this skill (Firecrawl + DataForSEO) and example calls, see references/tool-reference.md.
Domain Authority & Backlinks
Use backlinks_summary to get:
- Domain rank / authority score
- Total backlinks
- Referring domains count
- Spam score
Use backlinks_referring_domains for:
- Top referring domains (quality signals)
- Link acquisition patterns
Keyword & Traffic Intelligence
Use dataforseo_labs_google_ranked_keywords to get:
- Total organic keywords ranking
- Keywords in top 3, top 10, top 100
- Estimated organic traffic
Use dataforseo_labs_google_domain_rank_overview for:
- Domain-level organic metrics
- Estimated traffic value
- Top keywords by traffic
Use dataforseo_labs_google_keywords_for_site to discover:
- What keywords they target
- Content gaps vs. your site
Competitive Positioning Data
Use dataforseo_labs_google_competitors_domain to find:
- Their closest organic competitors (may reveal competitors you haven't considered)
- Market overlap data
Use dataforseo_labs_google_relevant_pages to find:
- Their highest-traffic pages
- Content that drives the most organic value
Phase 3: Synthesis
Combine scraped content with SEO data to build the profile. Cross-reference claims (e.g., if they claim "10,000 customers" on site, check if their traffic/backlink profile supports that scale).
Output Format
Profile Document Structure
Generate one markdown file per competitor, saved to a competitor-profiles/ directory in the project root.
Filename: competitor-profiles/[competitor-name].md
For the full profile and summary templates: See references/templates.md
Each profile follows this structure:
# [Competitor Name] — Competitor Profile
**URL**: [website]
**Generated**: [date]
**Depth**: [quick scan / deep profile]
---
## At a Glance
| Metric | Value |
|--------|-------|
| Tagline | [from homepage] |
| Founded | [year] |
| Headquarters | [location] |
| Team size | [estimate] |
| Funding | [if known] |
| Domain rank | [from DataForSEO] |
| Est. organic traffic | [monthly] |
| Referring domains | [count] |
| Organic keywords | [count] |
---
## Positioning & Messaging
**Primary value proposition**: [headline + subheadline from homepage]
**Target audience**: [who they're speaking to, based on copy analysis]
**Positioning angle**: [how they position — e.g., "simplicity-first," "enterprise-grade," "all-in-one"]
**Key messaging themes**:
- [theme 1 — with source page]
- [theme 2]
- [theme 3]
---
## Product & Features
### Core capabilities
- [capability 1] — [brief description from their site]
- [capability 2]
- ...
### Notable differentiators
- [what they emphasize as unique]
### Integrations
- [count] integrations
- Key: [list top 5-10]
### Product direction signals
- [based on changelog / recent feature releases]
---
## Pricing
| Tier | Price | Key Inclusions |
|------|-------|---------------|
| [Free/Starter] | [price] | [what's included] |
| [Pro/Growth] | [price] | [what's included] |
| [Enterprise] | [price] | [what's included] |
**Billing**: [monthly/annual, discount for annual]
**Free trial**: [yes/no, duration]
**Notable**: [any pricing quirks — per-seat, usage-based, hidden costs]
---
## Customers & Social Proof
**Named customers**: [list notable logos]
**Industries**: [primary industries served]
: [what outcomes they highlight]
:
G2: [rating] ([count] reviews)
Capterra: [rating] ([count] reviews)
---
:
Estimated monthly organic traffic: [number]
Organic keywords (top 10): [count]
Organic traffic value: $[estimated]
(by estimated traffic):
[page URL] — [keyword] — [est. traffic]
[page URL] — [keyword] — [est. traffic]
[page URL] — [keyword] — [est. traffic]
:
Blog post frequency: [estimate]
Primary content types: [guides, comparisons, templates, etc.]
Content focus areas: [topics they invest in]
:
Referring domains: [count]
Top referring sites: [list 5]
Link acquisition pattern: [growing/stable/declining]
---
[strength 1 — with evidence source]
[strength 2]
[strength 3]
[weakness 1 — with evidence source]
[weakness 2]
[weakness 3]
---
: [areas where this competitor has an advantage]
: [areas where you have an advantage]
: [gaps in their offering or positioning we can exploit]
: [areas where they're improving or gaining ground]
---
Homepage scraped: [date]
Pricing page scraped: [date]
SEO data pulled: [date]
Review data pulled: [date, sources]
Summary Document
After profiling all competitors, generate a competitor-profiles/_summary.md that includes:
- Competitor landscape overview — one paragraph summarizing the competitive field
- Comparison table — key metrics side by side for all profiled competitors
- Positioning map — where each competitor sits (e.g., simple↔complex, cheap↔premium)
- Key takeaways — 3-5 strategic observations from the research
- Gaps and opportunities — where the market is underserved
Quick Scan vs. Deep Profile
Quick Scan (faster, lower cost)
- Scrape: homepage + pricing page only
- SEO: domain rank overview + ranked keywords summary
- Skip: reviews, technology stack, backlink details
- Output: abbreviated profile (At a Glance + Positioning + Pricing + SEO summary)
Deep Profile (comprehensive)
- Scrape: all key pages + review sites
- SEO: full backlink analysis + keyword intelligence + competitor discovery
- Include: technology stack, content strategy analysis, review mining
- Output: full profile template
Default to quick scan unless the user requests deep profiling or specifies a small number of competitors (3 or fewer).
Handling Multiple Competitors
When profiling more than one competitor:
- Parallelize scraping — scrape all competitors' homepages simultaneously, then pricing pages, etc.
- Use consistent metrics — pull the same DataForSEO metrics for every competitor so profiles are comparable
- Build the summary last — after all individual profiles are complete
- Prioritize by relevance — if the user has 10+ competitors, suggest profiling the top 5 first based on domain overlap or market similarity
Updating Profiles
Profiles are snapshots. When updating:
- Check pricing pages first (most volatile)
- Re-pull SEO metrics (traffic and rankings shift monthly)
- Scan changelog for product changes
- Update the "Generated" date
- Note what changed since last profile in a
## Change Log section at the bottom
When to Use
Use this skill when the user explicitly requests to:
- Profile, research, or analyze specific competitors
- Gather competitive intelligence on a list of competitor URLs
- Build competitor dossiers, overviews, or deep dives
- Understand the competitor landscape or audit competitor capabilities
Task-Specific Questions
Only ask if not answered by context or input:
- What competitor URLs should I profile?
- Quick scan or deep profile?
- Any specific dimensions to focus on (pricing, SEO, positioning)?
- Should I compare findings against your product?
Related Skills
- competitors: For creating comparison/alternative pages from these profiles
- prospecting: For broader list-building qualification (this skill does deep research on specific accounts; prospecting builds the initial list)
- customer-research: For mining reviews and community sentiment in depth
- content-strategy: For using competitor content gaps to plan your own content
- seo-audit: For auditing your own site relative to competitors
- sales-enablement: For turning profiles into battle cards and sales collateral
- ads: For analyzing competitor ad strategies
- pricing: For deeper pricing analysis informed by competitor profiles
