Competitor research
Quick answer
- 01What is it?
- Guides competitor research for SEO, content, backlinks, and positioning. What sets it apart is how it narrows competitive research into one specific workflow rather than a broad, generic prompt.
- 02Inputs
- Context for competitive research: your goals, audience, constraints, and any source material the skill asks for.
- 03Output
- A ready-to-use result for competitive research: the analysis, copy, or recommendations the agent produces.
Add this skill
Install as a package
Installs this one skill package for your coding agent, including any supporting files that skill ships with — not every skill in the repository. Read the tutorial.
$ npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill competitor-researchUse in Profound
Copy this file into a new Profound Skill. That's it, nothing else to install.
Copy and create in ProfoundSEO Content: Competitor Research
Guides competitor research for SEO, content, backlinks, and positioning. Use when planning content, auditing articles, building links, or evaluating market position.
When invoking: On first use, if helpful, open with 1–2 sentences on what this skill covers and why it matters, then provide the main output. On subsequent use or when the user asks to skip, go directly to the main output.
Research Types
| Type | Purpose | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword/topic | Topics competitors rank for; gaps | Keyword opportunities; content ideas |
| Content | Structure, length, gaps vs top rankers | Length target; H2 structure; content gaps |
| Backlink | Link profile; sites linking to competitors | Link gap; outreach targets |
| Pricing | Competitor pricing, positioning | Pricing context; differentiation |
| SEO metrics | Organic traffic, rankings vs competitors | Benchmark; opportunity areas |
Competitor Keyword / Topic Analysis
| Method | Practice |
|---|---|
| Reverse engineering | Analyze competitor titles, H1, URL; identify topics they rank for |
| SERP overlap | Keywords with overlapping top-ranking pages → same cluster; #4–10 = opportunity |
| site: operator | site:competitor.com to see indexed pages |
| Tool | Ahrefs, Semrush—competitor keyword overlap, gap analysis |
Output: Keyword opportunities; topics competitors cover that you don't.
Competitor Content Analysis
| Element | Check |
|---|---|
| Word count | Top 10 average; length target for your content |
| H2 structure | Topics covered; structure to adopt |
| Content gaps | What top rankers cover that you miss |
| Keyword placement | Primary keyword in title, H1, first 100 words |
| Format | Lists, tables, FAQ; match or improve |
Use when: Auditing or creating articles; see article-page-generator for Research Phase integration.
Competitor Article Fetch Workflow (for Article Analysis)
When analyzing or auditing a single article, use this lightweight workflow to obtain competitor articles:
- Obtain URLs: From user, project-context Section 11, or web search for
"[target keyword]"to find top-ranking pages - Fetch content: Use mcp_web_fetch or WebSearch to fetch 2–3 top-ranking pages
- Analyze: Word count, H2 structure, keyword placement, content gaps, CTA, schema
- Output: Competitor URLs, brief structure comparison, content gaps, length target, keyword opportunities
Output format: Competitor URLs; word count and H2 structure per URL; content gaps vs your article; recommended length target; keyword opportunities (terms top rankers use that your article misses).
Competitor Backlink Analysis
| Action | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Compare profiles | Your backlinks vs competitors |
| Link gap | Sites linking to competitors but not you |
| Opportunity | Outreach to those sites; content they might link to |
Tools: Ahrefs, Semrush—Link Intersect, competitor backlink reports. See backlink-analysis.
Competitor Pricing
| Use | Practice |
|---|---|
| Positioning | Where you sit vs competitors |
| Differentiation | Value prop when price differs |
| Alternatives pages | Who to include; how to position |
See pricing-strategy, alternatives-page-generator.
Data Sources
| Source | Use |
|---|---|
| SimilarWeb | Traffic, engagement, traffic sources by domain |
| Ahrefs | Competitor domains, backlinks, DR |
| SEMrush | Organic competitors, traffic share |
| GA | Referral traffic, acquisition by source |
| PostHog | Competitor feature usage (if tracked) |
Report Workflow
- Parse — Read Excel/CSV, infer domain, visits, traffic sources, etc. from headers
- Enrich — Web search, visit competitor sites; read
project-context.mdif present - Build — Structure data for report
- Generate — Output report in chosen format
Output Format
- Competitors identified
- Research type (keyword, content, backlink, pricing)
- Findings (gaps, opportunities, benchmarks)
- Recommendations (content to create, links to pursue, positioning)
Report Structure Reference
| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Executive Summary | Key findings (top 3), top 3 recommendations |
| Competitor Overview | Competitor, category, market position, key strength |
| Product Comparison | Feature/capability vs Us vs Competitors |
| SWOT Analysis | Our strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats; competitor deep dives |
| Marketing & Messaging | Value prop, target audience, key channels |
| Gaps & Opportunities | Gap, opportunity, priority |
| Prioritized Recommendations | Recommendation, impact, effort, owner |
Related Skills
- keyword-research: Competitor reverse; keyword discovery
- article-page-generator: Competitor article analysis in Research Phase
- content-strategy: Competitor analysis for topic mapping
- content-optimization: Competitor length and structure as reference
- backlink-analysis: Competitor backlink comparison; link gap
- seo-monitoring: Competitive comparison; organic vs competitors
- alternatives-page-generator: Competitor selection; comparison framing
- migration-page-generator: Competitor migration paths
- pricing-strategy: Competitor pricing context
- affiliate-marketing: Find affiliates promoting competitors
- directories: Competitor info for directory submissions
Common questions
How do I install Competitor research in Cursor, Claude Code, or Codex?
Run npx skills add kostja94/marketing-skills --skill competitor-research in the project where you want it, then ask your agent for the skill by name. The --skill flag installs only Competitor research, not every skill in the repository.
Where does Competitor research come from and what license is it under?
Competitor research comes from the kostja94/marketing-skills repository on GitHub. That repository has 691 GitHub stars. The skill is published under the MIT license.
Prefer plain text? Read the Competitor research guide as markdown.
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