competitive-local-strategy

name	competitive-local-strategy
description	Competitor gap analysis, displacement tactics, benchmarking, citation gaps, and quarterly strategy reviews for local businesses. Use when analysing competitors, planning market positioning, or building competitive advantage in local search.
metadata	{"author":"synthex","version":"1.0","engine":"synthex-ai-agency","type":"reference-skill","triggers":["competitor analysis","competitive advantage","competitor tracking","market positioning","benchmarking","content gaps","competitor reviews","SWOT analysis","competitor displacement"],"requires":["google-business-profile","google-search-console"]}
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Competitive Local Strategy — Analysis, Benchmarking, and Displacement

Purpose

SYNTHEX tracks competitors across social platforms and local search to identify gaps, benchmark performance, and execute displacement strategies. This skill documents how to use the competitive intelligence infrastructure to win in local markets.

Infrastructure Map

Layer	File	Exports / Purpose
Service (class)	lib/services/competitive-intel.ts	CompetitiveIntelligence class, singleton competitiveIntel
		Key methods: addCompetitor, getCompetitors, getCompetitorProfile, analyzeCompetitorContent, generateBenchmarkReport, analyzeHashtags, identifyContentGaps, compareSentiment, getStrategicInsights
Fetcher	lib/social/competitor-fetcher.ts	Public profile lookup: Twitter (Bearer token), Instagram (Business Discovery API), YouTube (Channels API), Facebook (Page token), Reddit (public, no auth)
Dashboard	app/dashboard/competitors/page.tsx	Competitor tracking UI
Types	In competitive-intel.ts	Competitor, CompetitorProfile, ContentAnalysis, BenchmarkReport, HashtagAnalysis, ContentGap, SentimentComparison
Alert types	CompetitorAlert (5 types)	viral_post, follower_spike, new_campaign, strategy_change, new_competitor

Competitor Gap Analysis Workflow

Step 1: Identify Local Competitors

• Search Google for "[service] [suburb]" to find who ranks in local pack
• Check Google Maps for businesses in the same category and service area
• Track 3-5 direct competitors (same service + same geography)

await competitiveIntel.addCompetitor(userId, {
  name: 'Competitor Name',
  handles: { instagram: '@handle', facebook: 'page-name' },
  website: 'https://competitor.com.au',
  industry: 'plumbing',  // or relevant vertical
  notes: 'Main competitor in northern suburbs',
});

Step 2: Run Benchmark Report

const report = await competitiveIntel.generateBenchmarkReport(userId, {
  platforms: ['instagram', 'facebook'],
  period: { start: thirtyDaysAgo, end: now },
});

The report returns:

• metrics.your vs metrics.industryAvg vs metrics.topPerformer
• rankings — your rank and percentile for each metric
• gaps — where you trail, by how much, with priority (high/medium/low) and recommendations

Step 3: Identify Content Gaps

const gaps = await competitiveIntel.identifyContentGaps(userId, 'instagram');

High opportunity = topic covered by 3+ competitors with >5% engagement rate that you have not covered.

Step 4: Analyse Hashtag Strategy

const hashtags = await competitiveIntel.analyzeHashtags(userId, 'instagram');

Each hashtag gets a recommendation: adopt (high engagement, multiple competitors use it), monitor (moderate performance), or avoid (low engagement or declining).

Market Positioning Framework

Positioning Matrix

                    Specialised
                        |
           Premium      |      Niche Expert
           Full-Service |      Deep Expertise
                        |
    High Price ---------+--------- Low Price
                        |
           Established  |      Value Player
           Brand        |      Budget-Friendly
                        |
                    Generalised

Content Positioning Options

Position	Voice	Content Focus
Authority	Expert, data-driven	Industry insights, research, case studies
Local expertise	Community-focused, personal	Suburb guides, local events, neighbourhood tips
Community	Inclusive, conversational	Customer stories, behind-the-scenes, team culture
Premium	Refined, confident	Quality craftsmanship, attention to detail, outcomes
Value	Transparent, practical	Clear pricing, comparison guides, ROI demonstrations

Integrate with business-dna skill for messaging consistency. GBP description and categories should reflect chosen positioning.

Content Differentiation Strategy

For each high-opportunity content gap identified:

1. Create superior content — 10x the depth of competitor content, with a local angle and genuine E-E-A-T signals
2. Cross-post strategically — use content-pipeline skill and platform-content-adaptor for multi-platform distribution
3. Monitor sentiment response — compareSentiment reveals what resonates positively vs generates negative reactions

Differentiation Principles

• Competitors post generic advice? You post suburb-specific case studies.
• Competitors use stock photos? You use genuine before/after photos.
• Competitors ignore comments? You respond to every one within 24 hours.
• Competitors post weekly? You post 3-4 times per week with higher quality.

Review Strategy vs Competitors

Benchmarking Reviews

Compare your GBP review data against competitor profiles:

• GBPSnapshot contains your review count and average rating
• CompetitorSnapshot (via getCompetitorProfile) contains theirs

Decision Matrix

Your Position	Action
Trailing review count by 20%+	Priority 1: intensify review generation (see local-seo-agent skill)
Trailing average rating by 0.3+ stars	Focus on service quality improvements + rapid response to negative reviews
Leading count but trailing rating	Respond faster to negatives; address service gaps
Leading both	Maintain velocity; focus on quality of replies

Response Rate Advantage

• Industry average response rate: <50%
• Target: 100% response rate within 24-72 hours
• Use useGBPReviews({ unreplied: true }) to find unreplied reviews
• AI-assisted replies via gbp-monitor cron, but always human-reviewed before sending

Local Pack Displacement Checklist

To displace a competitor from the local 3-pack:

• Review count — match or exceed their total review count
• Average rating — maintain higher rating (minimum 4.5 stars)
• Listing completeness — every field populated; exceed competitor's detail level
• Citations — listed on all directories where competitor appears (see Citation Gap Analysis)
• Local content — more suburb-specific service pages than competitor
• Local backlinks — higher-quality local links (chambers of commerce, community groups)
• Google Posts frequency — more frequent and higher-quality posts (1-2/week minimum)
• Response time — faster response to reviews (24h target vs their average)
• Photo freshness — more recent and more diverse photos

Citation Gap Analysis

Process

1. Research where each competitor is listed (top 20 directories)
2. Compare against your own citation profile
3. Prioritise directories where 2+ competitors are listed but you are not

Australian Priority Directories

Priority	Directory	Notes
1	Google Business Profile	Primary — already managed via Synthex
1	Apple Maps / Apple Business Connect	Second-largest maps platform
1	Bing Places for Business	Bing local results
1	Yellow Pages Australia	High domain authority
2	True Local	Australian-specific directory
2	Hotfrog	Business directory
2	StartLocal	Australian local business directory
2	Yelp Australia	Review-focused directory
2	Localsearch	Regional Australian directory
2	Word of Mouth	Australian recommendation platform
3	Industry-specific directories	Varies by vertical (see below)

Industry-Specific Directories

Vertical	Directories
Tradies	HiPages, ServiceSeeking, Oneflare, Airtasker
Medical	HealthEngine, HotDoc, RateMDs
Legal	Law Society (state), FindLaw Australia
Hospitality	TripAdvisor, Zomato, OpenTable
Beauty	Fresha, StyleSeat, Bookwell

Citation Submission Rules

• NAP must match GBPLocation exactly (see google-business-profile skill NAP protocol)
• First 250 characters of description should be consistent across all citations
• Use the same logo/profile photo across all directories
• Include UTM-tracked URL for attribution

Monitoring Cadence

Frequency	Action	Source
Daily (automated)	CompetitorAlert monitoring	viral_post, follower_spike, new_campaign, strategy_change alerts
Weekly	Review competitor social activity	Dashboard at app/dashboard/competitors/page.tsx
Monthly	Full benchmark report	generateBenchmarkReport with 30-day period
Quarterly	SWOT update + strategy review	getStrategicInsights (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, action items)

Quarterly Strategy Review Template

Agenda

1. Performance review — GSC + GBP snapshot trends (28-day and 90-day)
2. Fresh SWOT analysis — getStrategicInsights(userId, { platforms }) returns structured SWOT + prioritised action items
3. Landscape changes — new competitors entered? Existing ones pivoted?
4. Content gap evolution — identifyContentGaps — which gaps closed, which remain, any new ones?
5. Set next quarter's top 3 priorities

Priority Decision Tree

Review count behind top competitor?
  YES --> Priority: review generation campaign
  NO  -->
    Content authority behind?
      YES --> Priority: content creation on high-opportunity gaps
      NO  -->
        Citations behind?
          YES --> Priority: citation building sprint
          NO  -->
            All covered?
              YES --> Priority: differentiation and innovation
                      Find new angles competitors haven't explored

SWOT Output Structure

{
  strengths: string[];    // Where you outperform (75th+ percentile)
  weaknesses: string[];   // Where you lag (25th- percentile)
  opportunities: string[]; // Untapped topics with high engagement
  threats: string[];       // Competitors growing rapidly
  actionItems: {
    priority: 'high' | 'medium' | 'low';
    action: string;
  }[];
}

Reference skill: This is a read-only architecture guide — it documents existing systems and does not generate creative or code output. No capability uplift block is needed.

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Foundation & Gate Wiring (SYN-1049)

Adopted from the senior-skill standard so every artefact this connector produces is checked against the locked foundation before it lands.

Reads at every invocation (never cached — re-read each run):

• .claude/memory/ceo-foundation.md — verification gates for category/competitor claims, universal taboos.
• .claude/memory/verification-gates.md — gate state for any claim referenced.

Output gate: every client-facing artefact this connector produces routes through brand-voice-enforce before the CEO batched-review queue. A REJECT blocks the artefact until the quoted offending string is fixed.

Evidence standard: every quantitative or factual claim carries exactly one tag — [VERIFIED] / [INFERENCE] / [UNCONFIRMED]. Untagged = defect (.claude/rules/fabel-evidence-standard.md). Never state a projected result as fact.

Spec: see spec.md in this skill directory.