competitive-analysis

name	competitive-analysis
description	Perform competitive market analysis with feature comparisons, positioning, and strategic recommendations.

Competitive Analysis

Identify competitors, analyze positioning, and deliver actionable recommendations. Skip textbook frameworks (Porter's, PESTLE) unless specifically requested — they're MBA artifacts, not operator tools.

When to Use

• "Who are my competitors?" / "How do we compare to X?"
• Feature comparison matrix or positioning map needed
• Fundraising deck competition slide
• Finding market gaps

When NOT to Use

• General market sizing (use deep-research)
• SEO-specific competitor keyword analysis (use seo-auditor)

What Practitioners Actually Use

Skip Porter's Five Forces. Operators use these four:

1. April Dunford's Positioning (from "Obviously Awesome") — the most-used positioning method in B2B SaaS. Five inputs in strict order:

1. Competitive alternatives (what customers would do if you didn't exist — including "spreadsheets" and "nothing")
2. Unique attributes you have that alternatives lack
3. Value those attributes deliver (with proof)
4. Best-fit customer characteristics
5. Market category you win in Key insight: positioning starts from alternatives, not features. Your "competitor" might be Excel.

2. Wardley Mapping (Simon Wardley, free book at medium.com/wardleymaps) — plot components on two axes: visibility-to-user (y) vs evolution Genesis → Custom → Product → Commodity (x). Reveals: where competitors overinvest in commoditizing components, where to build vs buy, what's about to become table stakes. Tool: onlinewardleymaps.com (free). Best for platform/infra competition.

3. Feature comparison matrix — the unglamorous workhorse. Rows = capabilities, columns = competitors, cells = ✓/✗/partial. Battlecards for sales teams are this + "trap-setting questions." Key: weight features by how often they appear in lost-deal notes, not by what engineering thinks matters.

4. Kano mapping applied to competitors — categorize each competitor feature as Basic (expected, table stakes), Performance (more = better), or Delighter (unexpected). Kano's insight: today's delighters become tomorrow's basics. Competitors' delighters tell you where the bar is moving.

Research Toolchain

Need	Tool	How to use
Find competitors	webSearch("[product] alternatives site:g2.com")	G2's "alternatives" pages are crowdsourced competitor lists
Verified user complaints	webSearch("[competitor] site:g2.com"), Capterra, TrustRadius	Filter reviews to 1-3 stars. Look for repeated phrases — those are exploitable weaknesses
Enterprise IT buyers	PeerSpot (formerly IT Central Station)	More technical, less marketing-gamed than G2
Pricing (often hidden)	webFetch competitor /pricing page, Wayback Machine for historical, webSearch("[competitor] pricing reddit") for leaked enterprise quotes
Tech stack	webFetch("https://builtwith.com/[domain]") — 673M+ sites, 85k+ technologies. Wappalyzer similar.	Reveals: are they on legacy stack? What vendors? Switching cost signals
Traffic/channel mix	SimilarWeb (reliable for large sites, unreliable <50k visits/mo)	See which channels drive competitor traffic
Funding/team size	Crunchbase free tier, webSearch("[competitor] raises TechCrunch")
Strategic direction	webSearch("[competitor] site:linkedin.com/jobs") — hiring = roadmap. 5 ML engineers = AI features in 6mo.
Historical messaging	webFetch("https://web.archive.org/web/2024*/[competitor].com")	Shows positioning pivots — what they tried and abandoned
SEO/content strategy	Ahrefs (paid, $129+/mo) or webSearch("site:[competitor].com") to map content
Regional competitors (non-US)	App Store: curl -sL "https://apps.apple.com/us/search?term=[name]" · Play Store: webSearch("[name] site:play.google.com") · Search in local language	G2/Product Hunt have near-zero coverage outside US/EU

Analyzing JS-Rendered Competitor Sites (SPAs)

Many early-stage competitors build their site as a React/Vue/Svelte SPA. webFetch and webSearch return empty results for these — the HTML shell has nothing but <div id="root"></div>. Always try curl via bash first:

Step 1 — Get meta tags from the HTML shell (works even on SPAs):

curl -sL --max-time 10 "https://competitor.com/" | head -100
# → Reveals: title, meta description, OG tags, and the JS bundle filename

Step 2 — Extract readable strings from their JS bundle:

# Get the bundle filename from Step 1 output (e.g. /assets/index-AbCd1234.js), then:
curl -sL "https://competitor.com/assets/index-[hash].js" \
  | grep -oE '"[^"]{10,200}"' \
  | grep -iE "(price|plan|free|gratis|feature|bank|sync|categor|budget|presupuest)" \
  | sort -u | head -80

Step 3 — Check static files for site structure:

curl -sL "https://competitor.com/robots.txt"
curl -sL "https://competitor.com/sitemap.xml"
curl -sL "https://competitor.com/manifest.json"

This approach can reveal pricing plans, feature descriptions, FAQ content, legal disclaimers, and marketing copy — all embedded in the compiled JS. For example, this technique on novia.com.do surfaced: their two pricing tiers ("Plan Cita" = free, "Plan Compromiso" = premium coming soon), their exact value proposition copy, a disclaimer that they have no real-time bank connection, and their full FAQ structure.

Critical Rule: When the User Names a Specific Competitor

If the user tells you a competitor exists by name, believe them immediately. Do not attempt to verify through web searches first — that costs multiple failed rounds. Instead:

1. Ask for the URL right away if you don't already have it: "Can you share their website or App Store link?"
2. Once you have a URL, go directly to the SPA research chain (curl → bundle extraction) — do not webFetch or webSearch the name first.
3. If you have no URL and searches return nothing, ask the user for 3–5 key facts: what it does, price, platform, 1–2 differentiators. User knowledge > empty search results every time.

The user naming a competitor is the highest-confidence intelligence you will receive. Don't waste rounds trying to independently confirm what they already know.

Zero Search Results Protocol

When webSearch and webFetch both return empty results for a competitor, follow this decision tree in order — do not repeat the same failed approach with different keywords:

1. Try curl on the homepage (catches SPA meta tags — see SPA section below)
2. Try curl on their JS bundle (catches pricing, features, copy — see SPA section)
3. Try App Store / Play Store — search apps.apple.com and play.google.com directly for the app name; the store listing contains descriptions, screenshots text, and reviews
4. Try social proof search — webSearch("[name] instagram OR twitter OR linkedin") — even tiny startups have social profiles
5. Ask the user — if all above fail, ask for 3–5 facts and build the profile from that. State clearly: "I can't find [name] through any of my research tools. Can you tell me what they do, their price, and their main features?"

Empty results ≠ no competition. In niche, regional, or non-English markets (Latin America, Caribbean, Southeast Asia, MENA), G2/Capterra/Product Hunt have near-zero coverage. An app can have 10,000 active users and zero English web presence.

Niche and Regional Market Research

Standard tools (G2, Capterra, Product Hunt) are US/English-centric. For non-US markets use these instead:

Market type	Where to look
Latin America	App Store regional search (apps.apple.com/[country-code]/), Google Play with hl=es, local tech blogs (Contxto, Startup Genome LatAm), AppFollow for store rankings
Caribbean / Emerging	Instagram/Facebook pages (startups in these markets often exist only on social), local chambers of commerce, fintech-specific databases (Finnovista, IDB Fintech census)
Any niche market	Search in the local language — always try Spanish/Portuguese/French/etc. queries, not just English. A Dominican app will not appear in English results.
App stores (universal)	curl -sL "https://apps.apple.com/[country]/search?term=[query]" and Play Store search — app descriptions contain features and positioning that web searches miss

Rule: Always run at least one search in the target market's primary language before concluding no local competitors exist.

Methodology

Step 1: Frame — Get from user: their product, target customer, and who THEY think competes. Their list is always incomplete — but treat every name they give you as a confirmed lead, not a hypothesis to verify.

Step 2: Expand the competitor set — Run webSearch("[known competitor] alternatives") and webSearch("[category] vs"). Check G2 category pages. Add indirect competitors (different product, same job) and the "do nothing" option. Also search in the local market language if the product targets a non-English market.

Step 3: Per-competitor dossier — For each (limit to 5-7 for depth):

• Positioning one-liner (their homepage H1 or title tag)
• Pricing model + tiers (try /pricing; if SPA use curl; if nothing found, note it explicitly)
• Top 3 strengths (from 5-star reviews, or inferred from their own copy if no reviews exist)
• Top 3 weaknesses (from 1-2 star reviews — use exact customer language; if no reviews, infer from what they don't mention)
• Funding stage + headcount (Crunchbase/LinkedIn)
• Recent product launches (changelog, blog, Product Hunt)

If a competitor is a direct local rival (same market, same core use case, same pricing model): flag them separately as "Direct Competitor" and add a dedicated head-to-head comparison section — don't just include them as one row in the matrix. Make clear: what does the user's product do that this one doesn't, and vice versa?

Step 4: Synthesize — Build the feature matrix. Plot on a 2×2 (pick the two axes the buyer cares about, not the ones that make user look good). Identify white space.

Step 5: Recommend — Not "monitor the threat." Specific: "Competitor X's reviews mention slow support 23 times — lead with your SLA in sales calls."

Ongoing Monitoring

Competitive landscapes shift constantly — pricing changes, features launch, funding rounds close. The analysis you just delivered is a snapshot. This section defines monitoring as a second deliverable the agent offers immediately after the report, not optional advice.

Always Offer Monitoring Activation

At the end of every competitive analysis, always ask:

"Would you like me to set up ongoing monitoring for these competitors? I'll generate your alert links, a bookmark bundle, and a monthly ritual checklist — takes about 2 minutes to activate. Where do you want alerts to land?"

Do not skip this offer. Present it as a distinct, activatable package — not a footnote.

Channel Decision Tree

Ask the user which channel they prefer, then follow the matching setup path. Priority order: Slack → Teams → Email → Manual file.

Does the user have Slack?
  YES → Set up Slack RSS feeds + optional webhook
  NO  → Does the user work in a Microsoft org (Teams)?
          YES → Set up Teams RSS connector
          NO  → Set up Google Alerts (email)

Always: also save competitor-monitoring.md to the project regardless of channel chosen.

If the user is unsure or doesn't answer, default to Google Alerts (zero-friction, universally available) plus the project file.

Per-Channel Setup Instructions

Slack

Option A — RSS feeds (native, free, no admin required):

/feed subscribe https://[competitor].com/changelog/rss
/feed subscribe https://[competitor].com/blog/rss

Run these commands in a dedicated #competitive-intel channel. The agent should generate the exact feed URLs for each competitor and give the user the ready-to-paste commands.

Option B — Google Alerts → Slack (via Zapier or Make, free tier):

1. Create a Gmail label called "Competitor Alerts" (for each Google Alert)
2. In Zapier/Make: Trigger = new email with label "Competitor Alerts" → Action = post message to #competitive-intel
3. The agent provides exact Zapier/Make setup steps when this option is chosen

Option C — Incoming webhook (advanced): When the user runs the monthly ritual on demand, the agent can post a summary to a Slack webhook URL. The user provides the webhook URL; the agent stores it in the monitoring brief for future use.

Microsoft Teams

RSS connector (native, free):

1. Open the target channel → click ... → Connectors → RSS
2. Paste the feed URL and set a display name
3. The agent generates the exact feed URLs for each competitor's changelog and blog

Power Automate (for Microsoft 365 orgs): Trigger: new email matching subject pattern → Post message in Teams channel. The agent describes the exact flow when this option is chosen.

Google Alerts (Email — universal fallback)

For each competitor, generate a ready-to-click alert URL:

https://www.google.com/alerts?q=[COMPETITOR+NAME]&hl=en&gl=us&source=web&hl=en

Replace [COMPETITOR+NAME] with the URL-encoded competitor name. The user clicks once to activate. Recommend setting delivery to "As it happens" for major competitors, "At most once a week" for minor ones.

Also generate alerts for: "[competitor] pricing", "[competitor] raises", "[competitor] launches".

Manual Project File (always generated)

Regardless of which channel is chosen, always save a competitor-monitoring.md file to the project root. This file is the source of truth and last-checked log. Structure:

# Competitor Monitoring Brief
Last updated: [date]

## Competitors tracked
- [Name] — [URL] — Alert channel: [Slack/#channel | Teams/#channel | Email]

## Bookmark bundle
Per competitor: pricing page, changelog/blog, App Store listing, LinkedIn jobs, G2 reviews page

## Change log
| Date | Competitor | What changed | Action taken |
|------|------------|-------------|--------------|

The Monitoring Package Deliverable

When the user activates monitoring, the agent generates and delivers four items:

1. Alert bundle — ready-to-click Google Alert URLs (or paste-ready Slack/Teams commands), one set per competitor
2. Bookmark list — 5 URLs per competitor: pricing page, changelog or blog, App Store listing, LinkedIn jobs, G2/Capterra reviews page
3. Ritual card — the 30-minute monthly checklist (see below), saved to competitor-monitoring.md
4. On-demand command — a natural language prompt the user can paste back at any time: "Run my monthly competitive check for [competitor name]" — the agent then runs the ritual and updates the monitoring brief

30-Minute Monthly Ritual

A structured, timed sequence the user (or agent, on demand) runs once per month per competitor:

Minutes	Task	What to look for
0–5	Check Google Alert digest (or Slack/Teams channel)	Any press coverage, blog posts, or product announcements since last month?
5–10	Open App Store listing	Any version updates? Read the 3 most recent reviews for new complaint patterns
10–15	Open their changelog or blog	Any feature launches? Note the category (pricing, UX, integrations, AI)
15–20	Scan their jobs page	Any new roles? 3+ ML/AI roles = AI feature coming. Enterprise Sales hire = moving upmarket
20–25	Check pricing page (compare to Wayback Machine if needed)	Any tier changes, price increases, or new plan names?
25–30	Update competitor-monitoring.md	Log date + what changed. Flag anything that warrants a response

Output of each ritual: one row added to the change log in competitor-monitoring.md. If a change is significant (new pricing tier, major feature launch, funding round), escalate: "[Competitor] launched [X] — this affects [specific recommendation from the original report]. Consider [specific response]."

On-Demand Ritual Invocation

The user can trigger the ritual at any time by telling the agent:

"Run my monthly competitive check for [competitor name]" "What's changed with [competitor] since last month?" "Update my competitive monitoring"

The agent reads competitor-monitoring.md to get the last-checked date and bookmark list, runs through the ritual checklist, and appends findings to the change log.

Output — Ask the User First

Before building any deliverable, ask the user how they want the analysis presented using the query tool:

"How would you like your competitive analysis presented — as a slide deck or a written report?"

Then follow the appropriate path below. Do not default to one format without asking.

---

Option A: Slide Deck

Load the slides skill and build a Replit slide deck. Follow the slides skill's conventions for manifest, components, and design. Structure the deck as:

1. Title slide — Product name, category, date
2. Executive summary — Positioning statement (Dunford format) + top 3 recommendations
3. Competitive landscape — Table: Company, Stage, Pricing, Strength, Weakness
4. Feature matrix — Rows = capabilities, columns = competitors, cells = checkmark/x/partial, color-coded
5. Positioning map — 2×2 chart (matplotlib/plotly image)
6. White space & opportunities — Gaps + Kano analysis
7. Action plan — Top 3 specific actions + battlecard trap-setting questions
8. Sources — Numbered URLs for every claim

---

Option B: Written Report (PDF + Web Preview)

Do not output a markdown summary. Build a polished competitive analysis report as a professional PDF using jsPDF, with a React web preview that visually matches page-by-page. The report should look like a strategy consulting deliverable.

Build order: Generate the PDF first and present it to the user. Then build the web preview. The PDF is the primary deliverable — the web app is a visual complement.

Report Structure

1. Page 1 — Executive Summary: Product name, category, date. Positioning statement (Dunford format): For [target customer] who [need], [product] is a [category] that [key benefit]. Unlike [primary alternative], we [key differentiator]. Top 3 strategic recommendations (the "so what").
2. Page 2 — Competitive Landscape: Table with Company, Stage, Pricing, Strength (from reviews), Weakness (from reviews). Funding/headcount context for each competitor.
3. Page 3 — Feature Matrix: Rows = capabilities, columns = competitors, cells = checkmark/x/partial. Weight column (1-5) based on buyer conversation frequency. Color-code: green where the user's product wins, red where it loses.
4. Page 4 — Positioning Map: 2x2 chart with axes based on buyer decision criteria (not vanity metrics). Each competitor plotted with logo or labeled dot. Generated via matplotlib or plotly, embedded as image.
5. Page 5 — White Space & Opportunities: Gaps no one serves well, with evidence from reviews and market data. Kano analysis: which competitor features are Basics vs Performance vs Delighters.
6. Page 6 — Action Plan: Top 3 specific actions with source citations. Battlecard-style "trap-setting questions" for sales calls.
7. Final Page — Sources: Numbered URLs for every claim.

PDF Generation (jsPDF)

Use jsPDF to generate the PDF with explicit point-based layout:

• new jsPDF({ unit: "pt", format: "letter" }) — US Letter: 612×792pt
• Use 36pt margins (0.5in). Content area: 540w × 720h points.
• Track Y position as you render each element. When the next element would exceed PAGE_H - MARGIN, call doc.addPage() and reset Y to the top margin. Never let content silently overflow — always check before rendering.
• Embed charts as images via doc.addImage() — scale to fit content width while respecting remaining page height.
• Add a header and footer on each page. Footer must save/restore Y position — do not let footer drawing move the content cursor, or subsequent content will force blank pages.
• Before any manual page break, check whether a fresh page was already added (track an isNewPage flag). Only add a page if you're not already on a fresh one.
• Required before presenting: After generating the PDF, verify there are no blank pages. If any page is blank, fix the page-break logic and regenerate.

Web Preview

The React web artifact renders the same report data as an HTML version that visually mirrors the PDF page-by-page. Each "page" should be a fixed-size container (816×1056px — US Letter at 96dpi) with the same margins, typography, and chart placement as the PDF.

Honesty Rules

• If the user's product loses on most dimensions, say so — then find the niche where they win
• "No competitors" is never true. The competitor is always at least "build it yourself" or "do nothing"
• Flag when data is thin (e.g., "SimilarWeb shows <50k visits — estimate is low-confidence")
• Cite every claim to a URL the user can verify
• Flag inferred data: if a competitor profile was built from JS bundle strings or user-provided facts (not reviews or public docs), say so: "Profile based on homepage copy and compiled JS — no independent reviews available."
• Zero search results is not the same as no competitor. If searches return nothing for a named competitor, say: "I couldn't find [name] in any public database — this likely means they have low SEO footprint, not that they don't exist."

Limitations

• G2/Capterra reviews skew toward mid-market SaaS; thin for enterprise and consumer
• SimilarWeb is inaccurate for sites under ~50k monthly visits
• Cannot access paid CI tools (Klue, Crayon, Kompyte) or PitchBook
• Pricing pages lie — enterprise pricing is almost never public
• webFetch and webSearch fail for: JS-rendered SPAs (use curl), social media URLs (LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter — blocked by robots), sites behind Cloudflare or login walls, and any product with <1k English web mentions
• Regional/emerging market blind spot: G2, Product Hunt, Crunchbase have minimal coverage of LatAm, Caribbean, SEA, MENA, and African markets. Local competitors in these markets will often have zero results in standard research tools — always fall back to local-language search, App Store regional search, and direct curl analysis
• Monitoring channel assumptions: Slack RSS setup requires the native Slack RSS app to be installed in the workspace (free, but needs a workspace admin in some orgs). Teams RSS connector requires a Teams channel with Connectors enabled. If neither is available, fall back to Google Alerts → email without requiring any third-party tools or admin permissions.