Run a competitor analysis

Context, setup, and planning

Understand the decision the research will support. “Research Company X” could mean evaluating a partnership, preparing for a sales call, comparing positioning, or tracking where a market is headed; the purpose determines what to investigate and how deep to go.

When useful, inspect approved company materials, the user's website, and prior research rather than starting from scratch. Use them to understand the user's business model, positioning, and market. Map direct competitors, indirect alternatives, and emerging players. If the comparison set is not already agreed, confirm it with the user before going deep.

Agree on the timeframe, evidence standard, desired artifact, and depth. A broad sweep is a good starting point; focused research with one agent per competitor produces richer results but costs more. Explain that tradeoff when depth matters.

Execution

1. Search broadly before going deep. Prefer primary sources, preserve URLs and publication dates, and flag information that may be outdated.
2. For each competitor, investigate the product or service, pricing, positioning, recent news, and traction. Useful signals can also include:
   • job postings that reveal priorities and growth areas;
   • founders' and executives' posts, talks, and articles;
   • reviews and sentiment that expose strengths and gaps;
   • funding, financial, hiring, launch, and partnership signals;
   • marketing campaigns, ads, and changes in messaging or content strategy when relevant.
3. Compare claims across sources. Separate facts, interpretations, uncertainty, contradictions, and missing evidence.
4. Interpret what the patterns mean for the user's decision. For example, hiring several enterprise sellers in one region is a fact; a possible expansion into that market is an inference.
5. Present the findings side by side when that helps. Go beyond listing facts to show patterns, gaps, opportunities, and questions worth investigating.

Suggested outcome

Deliver the agreed brief, table, report, or presentation with sourced evidence, dates, implications, uncertainties, and clear distinctions between facts and inference.

Suggested next steps

Offer to go deeper on selected competitors or questions. If competitor tracking becomes a recurring need and scheduling is available, suggest a weekly or monthly routine. Preserve the accepted scope, sources, depth, and output as a user-owned skill when the workflow proves useful.