# OpenSEO competitor analysis Human Guide

## What This Is For
Analyze one competitor's organic footprint, ranking keywords, content themes, backlinks, and gaps. It gives the agent a clearer input/output frame for search and SEO workflows: what context to ask for, what decisions to make, and what usable artifact to return.

Use this as a human-readable version of the OpenSEO competitor analysis agent skill. It is meant for marketers, operators, founders, and other non-coders who want the workflow without reading agent-specific implementation instructions.

## When To Use This
- Use this when you need a repeatable process for OpenSEO competitor analysis.
- Use this when the task needs judgment, examples, constraints, or a clear output format rather than a one-off prompt.
- Use this when you want to hand an AI assistant enough context to produce a usable marketing artifact.

## When Not To Use This
- Do not use this when you only need a quick factual answer.
- Do not use this when the work depends on private data you cannot share with the assistant.
- Do not use this as a replacement for legal, compliance, financial, or medical review.

## What You Need Before Starting
- The goal or business outcome you want.
- The audience, customer segment, or market context.
- Any source material the assistant should respect, such as notes, briefs, examples, URLs, or brand guidance.
- Constraints such as tone, length, channel, deadline, region, or approval requirements.
- A clear definition of what a good final answer should look like.

## Step-By-Step Workflow
1. State the job clearly: "Use the OpenSEO competitor analysis guide to help me with..."
2. Add context: audience, goal, offer, channel, source material, and constraints.
3. Ask the assistant to identify missing inputs before producing the final output.
4. Have the assistant follow the skill-specific guidance below.
5. Review the result against the final checklist and ask for revisions where needed.

## Skill-Specific Guidance
- User's domain when comparison is requested
- Optional topic/category/location/language
- Call `get_project_context` first and ground the analysis in it — the saved competitors say whether this domain is already known and what was concluded about it before.
- Before spending credits, check the research log. If the same research ran within the last 30 days, reuse that result and say so instead of re-buying it.
- `get_domain_overview`: baseline organic traffic and keyword count.
- `get_ranked_keywords`: exact keyword, URL, rank, intent, traffic, CPC, and SERP-type rows for the competitor domain or page.
- `get_backlinks_overview`: backlink/referring-domain profile.
- `find_serp_competitors`: validate whether the named competitor is a real search competitor across the target keyword set.
- `search_local_businesses`, `get_local_serp_results`, and `get_google_business_questions`: use for local SEO competitors when Maps/local-pack visibility, nearby businesses, categories, or Google Q&A matter.
- `get_serp_results`: validate direct head-to-head SERPs for important keywords.
- `research_keywords`: expand gaps or category terms when needed.
- Call `get_domain_overview` for the competitor, passing provided location/language when supported.

## Decision Points And Nuance
The original skill emphasizes: Goal, Required inputs, Project context, OpenSEO MCP tools, Workflow, Output format, Guardrails.

Use these questions to steer the work:
- What is the intended audience or buyer?
- What source material must be preserved?
- What should the assistant optimize for: clarity, persuasion, accuracy, speed, creativity, or conversion?
- What examples represent the desired quality bar?
- What should the assistant avoid?

## Common Mistakes
- Analyze one competitor deeply enough to decide what to learn from, avoid, counter-position against, or outrank.
- `get_serp_results`: validate direct head-to-head SERPs for important keywords.
- Use `get_serp_results` for important shared or target keywords to compare positioning, passing provided location/language when supported.
- Do not treat all competitor keywords as desirable. Filter for business fit.
- Do not infer competitor page/content-type patterns from keyword rows alone; use SERP or web evidence for page-level claims.
- For local SEO, do not infer Maps/local-pack strength from national organic domain metrics alone; use local business and local SERP tools when the location is known or reasonably discoverable.
- Do not recommend copying content; recommend a stronger angle or better answer to the same intent.

## Copy-And-Paste Prompt
```text
Use the OpenSEO competitor analysis human guide.

My goal:
[Describe the business outcome]

Audience:
[Describe who this is for]

Context and source material:
[Paste notes, examples, links, or existing copy]

Constraints:
[Tone, length, channel, timeline, must-include items, must-avoid items]

Before producing the final output, ask me for any missing information that would materially improve the result.
```

## Final Checklist
- [ ] The output matches the original goal.
- [ ] The audience and context are reflected in the answer.
- [ ] Important constraints and source material were preserved.
- [ ] The assistant made the relevant decisions explicit.
- [ ] The final artifact is ready to use, review, or hand to the next person.

## Source
This guide was generated from the every-app/open-seo skill entry for `competitor-analysis`.

## Source Skill Notes
These notes preserve the nuance from the original skill. Use them as supporting reference when the workflow above feels too generic.

# OpenSEO Competitor Analysis

## Goal

Analyze one competitor deeply enough to decide what to learn from, avoid, counter-position against, or outrank.

Use this for a named competitor. For identifying the market leaders first, use `competitive-landscape`.

## Required inputs

- `projectId`
- Competitor domain
- User's domain when comparison is requested
- Optional topic/category/location/language

## Project context

The project-context tools are free and shared with the app and other agents.

1. Call `get_project_context` first and ground the analysis in it — the saved competitors say whether this domain is already known and what was concluded about it before.
2. This skill needs competitors. If none are saved, run a minimal inline setup: save the competitor being analyzed, and ask the user (or infer from `find_serp_competitors` and confirm) whether there are others, write them back with `update_project_context` (`addCompetitors`), then continue the analysis. Never front-load the full interview; suggest `seo-project-setup` at the end for the rest.
3. Before spending credits, check the research log. If the same research ran within the last 30 days, reuse that result and say so instead of re-buying it.
4. On finish, write back what is durable with `update_project_context` — an `addCompetitors` upsert for this domain with a short note on its strengths and where it is vulnerable — and append a research log entry: `{ appendResearchLog: { summary: "Competitor analysis: <domain>. Verdict: <conclusion>" } }`.

## OpenSEO MCP tools

- `get_domain_overview`: baseline organic traffic and keyword count.
- `get_search_console_performance`: when comparing to the user's own domain and Search Console is connected, use it as the first-party baseline (real clicks/impressions/CTR/position) instead of estimating the user's own performance from third-party data.
- `get_ranked_keywords`: exact keyword, URL, rank, intent, traffic, CPC, and SERP-type rows for the competitor domain or page.
- `get_backlinks_overview`: backlink/referring-domain profile.
- `find_serp_competitors`: validate whether the named competitor is a real search competitor across the target keyword set.
- `search_local_businesses`, `get_local_serp_results`, and `get_google_business_questions`: use for local SEO competitors when Maps/local-pack visibility, nearby businesses, categories, or Google Q&A matter.
- `get_serp_results`: validate direct head-to-head SERPs for important keywords.
- `research_keywords`: expand gaps or category terms when needed.

## Workflow

1. Call `get_domain_overview` for the competitor, passing provided location/language when supported.
2. If comparing to the user, call `get_domain_overview` for the user's domain too — and if Search Console is connected, `get_search_console_performance` for the user's real baseline.
3. Call `get_ranked_keywords` for the competitor. Use filters like `maxRank`, `minSearchVolume`, `excludeBrandTerms`, and `resultTypes` to keep rows relevant.
4. If comparing to the user, call `get_ranked_keywords` for the user's domain/page too, or use `get_serp_results` for the shared terms when a lighter check is enough.
5. For local SEO, use `search_local_businesses` and `get_local_serp_results` around the relevant business location(s) before drawing local-pack conclusions. Add `get_google_business_questions` only when Q&A evidence matters.
6. Use `find_serp_competitors` when the competitor was supplied by the user but its search overlap is unclear.
7. Group competitor keywords into themes:
   - Product/category terms
   - Alternatives/comparisons
   - Templates/tools/calculators
   - Educational guides
   - Branded demand
   - Local/neighborhood terms when relevant
8. Call `get_backlinks_overview` for the competitor, especially if authority appears to explain rankings. Continue without backlink evidence if it is unavailable.
9. Use `get_serp_results` for important shared or target keywords to compare positioning, passing provided location/language when supported.
10. Produce an actionable plan:
    - What they are doing well
    - Where they are vulnerable
    - Which pages/keywords to pursue
    - What to avoid copying

## Output format

Start with:

- Competitor snapshot
- Biggest lesson
- Best opportunity to beat them

Then include:

| Area | Competitor pattern | Evidence | OpenSEO opportunity |
| ---- | ------------------ | -------- | ------------------- |

Include sections for:

- Top keyword themes
- Content/page types working for them
- Backlink/authority notes
- Head-to-head SERP observations
- Priority actions for the user

## Guardrails