Competitive Brief

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Research competitors and generate a structured competitive analysis comparing positioning, messaging, content strategy, and market presence.

Trigger

User runs /competitive-brief or asks for a competitive analysis, competitor research, or market comparison.

Inputs

Gather the following from the user:

1. Competitor name(s) — one or more competitors to analyze (required)

2. Your company/product context (optional but recommended):

   • What you sell and to whom
   • Your positioning or value proposition
   • Key differentiators you want to highlight

3. Focus areas (optional — if not specified, cover all):

   • Messaging and positioning
   • Product and feature comparison
   • Content and thought leadership strategy
   • Recent announcements and news
   • Pricing and packaging (if publicly available)
   • Market presence and audience

Research Process

For each competitor, research using web search:

1. Company website — homepage messaging, product pages, about page, pricing page
2. Recent news — press releases, funding announcements, product launches, partnerships (last 6 months)
3. Content strategy — blog topics, resource types, social media presence, webinars, podcasts
4. Review sites and comparisons — third-party comparisons, analyst mentions, customer review themes
5. Job postings — hiring signals that indicate strategic direction (optional)

Research Sources

Gather intelligence from these categories of sources:

Primary Sources (Direct from Competitor)

• Website: homepage, product pages, pricing, about page, careers
• Blog and resource center: content themes, publishing frequency, depth
• Social media profiles: messaging, engagement, content strategy
• Product demos and free trials: UX, features, onboarding experience
• Webinars and events: topics, speakers, audience engagement
• Press releases and newsroom: announcements, partnerships, milestones
• Job postings: hiring signals that reveal strategic priorities (e.g., hiring for a new product line or market)

Secondary Sources (Third-Party)

• Review sites: G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Product Hunt — customer sentiment themes
• Analyst reports: Gartner, Forrester, IDC — market positioning and category placement
• News coverage: TechCrunch, industry publications — funding, partnerships, narrative
• Social listening: mentions, sentiment, share of voice across social platforms
• SEO tools: keyword rankings, organic traffic estimates, content gaps
• Financial filings: revenue, growth rate, investment areas (for public companies)
• Community forums: community forums (e.g. Reddit, Discourse), industry chat groups (e.g. Slack communities) — user sentiment

Research Cadence

• Deep competitive analysis: quarterly (full research across all sources)
• Competitive monitoring: monthly (scan for new announcements, content, messaging changes)
• Real-time alerts: ongoing (set up alerts for competitor brand mentions, press, job postings)

Competitive Brief Structure

1. Executive Summary

• 2-3 sentence overview of the competitive landscape
• Key takeaway: your biggest opportunity and biggest threat

2. Competitor Profiles

For each competitor:

Company Overview

• What they do (one-sentence positioning)
• Target audience
• Company size/stage indicators (funding, employee count if available)
• Key recent developments

Messaging Analysis

• Primary tagline or headline
• Core value proposition
• Key messaging themes (3-5)
• Tone and voice characterization
• How they describe the problem they solve

Product/Solution Positioning

• How they categorize their product
• Key features they emphasize
• Claimed differentiators
• Pricing approach (if publicly available)

Content Strategy

…