Competitor Analysis

Analyzes competitor SEO and GEO strategies -- keywords, content, backlinks, technical health, AI citations -- to reveal what's working in your market and surface actionable opportunities.

What This Skill Does

Profiles competitor keywords, content, backlinks, technical SEO, and AI citation patterns, then synthesizes gaps and actionable strategies to outperform them.

Quick Start

Start with one of these prompts. Finish with a short handoff summary using the repository format in Skill Contract.

Basic Competitor Analysis

Analyze SEO strategy for [competitor URL]

Compare my site [URL] against [competitor 1], [competitor 2], [competitor 3]

Specific Analysis

What content is driving the most traffic for [competitor]?

Analyze why [competitor] ranks #1 for [keyword]

GEO-Focused Analysis

How is [competitor] getting cited in AI responses? What can I learn?

Skill Contract

Expected output: a prioritized research brief, evidence-backed findings, and a short handoff summary ready for memory/research/.

• Reads: user goals, target market inputs, available tool data, and prior strategy from CLAUDE.md and the shared State Model when available.
• Writes: a user-facing research deliverable plus a reusable summary that can be stored under memory/research/.
• Promotes: durable keyword priorities, competitor facts, entity candidates, and strategic decisions to memory/hot-cache.md, memory/decisions.md, and memory/research/; hand canonical entity work to entity-optimizer.
• Next handoff: use the Next Best Skill below when the findings are ready to drive action.

Handoff Summary

Emit the standard shape from skill-contract.md §Handoff Summary Format.

Data Sources

Optional integrations: ~~SEO tool, ~~analytics, ~~AI monitor. Without tools, users provide competitor URLs, own site metrics, and industry context manually. See CONNECTORS.md.

Instructions

When a user requests competitor analysis:

1. Identify Competitors

   If not specified, help identify competitors:

   ### Competitor Identification Framework
   
   **Direct Competitors** (same product/service)
   - Search "[your main keyword]" and note top 5 organic results
   - Check who's advertising for your keywords
   - Ask: Who do customers compare you to?
   
   **Indirect Competitors** (different solution, same problem)
   - Search problem-focused keywords
   - Look at alternative solutions
   
   **Content Competitors** (compete for same keywords)
   - May not sell same product
   - Rank for your target keywords
   - Include media sites, blogs, aggregators
   

2. Gather Competitor Data

   Collect for each competitor: URL, domain age, estimated traffic, domain authority, business model, target audience, and key offerings.

3. Analyze Keyword Rankings

   Document total keywords ranking, top 10/top 3 counts, top performing keywords (with position, volume, traffic, page URL), keyword distribution by intent, and keyword gaps.

4. Audit Content Strategy

   Analyze content volume by type, top performing content, content patterns (word count, frequency, formats), content themes, and success factors.

5. Analyze Backlink Profile

   Review total backlinks, referring domains, link quality distribution, top linking domains, link acquisition patterns, and linkable assets.

6. Technical SEO Assessment

   Evaluate Core Web Vitals, mobile-friendliness, site architecture, internal linking quality, URL structure, and technical strengths/weaknesses.

7. GEO/AI Citation Analysis

   Test competitor content in AI systems: document which queries cite them, GEO strategies observed (definitions, statistics, Q&A, authority signals), and GEO opportunities they are missing.

8. Synthesize Competitive Intelligence

   Produce a final report with: Executive Summary, Competitive Landscape comparison table, CITE domain authority comparison, Strengths to Learn From, Weaknesses to Exploit, Keyword Opportunities, Content Strategy Recommendations, and Action Plan (Immediate / Short-term / Long-term).

   Reference: See references/analysis-templates.md for detailed templates for each step.

Example

Reference: See references/example-report.md for a complete example analyzing HubSpot's marketing keyword dominance.

Advanced Analysis Types

Content Gap Analysis

Show me content [competitor] has that I don't, sorted by traffic potential

Link Intersection

Find sites linking to [competitor 1] AND [competitor 2] but not me

SERP Feature Analysis

What SERP features do competitors win? (Featured snippets, PAA, etc.)

Historical Tracking

How has [competitor]'s SEO strategy evolved over the past year?

Tips for Success

1. Analyze 3-5 competitors for comprehensive view
2. Include indirect competitors - they often have innovative approaches
3. Look beyond rankings - analyze content quality, user experience
4. Study their failures - avoid their mistakes
5. Monitor regularly - competitor strategies evolve
6. Focus on actionable insights - what can you actually implement?

Save Results

After delivering, offer to save a dated summary to memory/research/competitor-analysis/YYYY-MM-DD-<topic>.md. Promote key conclusions to memory/hot-cache.md if they influence ongoing strategy.

Reference Materials

• Analysis Templates — Detailed templates for each analysis step (profile, keywords, content, backlinks, technical, GEO, synthesis)
• Battlecard Template — Quick-reference competitive battlecard for sales and marketing teams
• Positioning Frameworks — Positioning maps, messaging matrices, narrative analysis, and differentiation frameworks
• Example Report — Complete example analyzing HubSpot's marketing keyword dominance

Next Best Skill

Primary: content-gap-analysis. Also: serp-analysis, backlink-analyzer.