/competitor-analysis

Competitor Analysis

Orchestrate both subagents to produce a competitor landscape for a client: first profile each competitor across three dimensions with the competitor-research-agent, then synthesize those profiles into a comparison matrix and strategic analysis with the comparison-analyst-agent. Work through the steps in order.

This pipeline covers exactly three dimensions for every competitor — nothing more:

1. Marketing & positioning — how they describe themselves, who they target, their core message and differentiators.
2. Pricing & packaging — plans, tiers, what's included, billing model.
3. Product & features — what the product actually does and its standout capabilities.

A core principle of this plugin applies throughout: NEVER fabricate. Only use what the user provides or what is genuinely found via web research. Do not invent competitors, URLs, prices, features, or numbers. Mark any unknown field _To be determined_ rather than guessing. Pricing especially must be marked _To be determined_ if it is not verified on a real, findable source — never estimate or infer a price.

1. Gather inputs

Collect the following:

1. Client / product context — who the client is, what they offer, and their target audience (required).
2. Competitors in mind — the names and/or URLs the user already has (required: at least one competitor or a clearly stated niche to discover competitors from).

If the user already supplied competitors in their command (e.g. /competitor-analysis Acme Co. — project management for agencies; competitors: Asana, monday.com, https://clickup.com), use them as given and only ask for the gaps. Do not re-ask for details the user already provided.

You need at minimum the client context plus either one competitor or a clear niche to discover from. If both the competitor list and a usable niche are missing, ask for them before continuing.

2. Discover additional competitors

Search the client's niche to identify 2-4 ADDITIONAL real, findable competitors beyond the ones the user provided. This produces a deliberate mix — the user's competitors plus a few discovered ones.

• Only surface competitors that genuinely exist and are findable online. Never invent a competitor to round out the list.
• Combine the user-supplied competitors with the newly discovered ones into a single list.
• Present the combined list to the user and ask them to confirm or trim it before any profiling begins. Do not start profiling until the list is confirmed.

3. Profile each competitor

For each confirmed competitor, use the competitor-research-agent subagent to produce a structured profile across the three dimensions (marketing & positioning, pricing & packaging, product & features). Pass it:

• The competitor (name, plus URL if known).
• The client context from step 1, so the profile is framed against what the client offers.

Save each returned profile to competitor-analysis/profiles/<slug>.md, where <slug> is the competitor name lowercased with spaces and special characters replaced by hyphens (e.g. "Acme Co." → acme-co). Create the competitor-analysis/profiles/ directory if it doesn't exist; don't overwrite existing files blindly — if a profile already exists, confirm with the user before replacing it.

Include the byline directly under the H1 of each saved profile:

> Prepared by Jed Quimno · <current date>

Keep the no-fabrication rule firm: any dimension the agent could not verify stays _To be determined_, and unverified pricing is always _To be determined_.

4. Build the comparison matrix and analysis

Use the comparison-analyst-agent subagent to synthesize the profiles into a comparison and strategy. Pass it:

• The saved profile files from step 3 (competitor-analysis/profiles/*.md).
• The client context from step 1.

The agent returns a comparison matrix table (competitors as rows or columns across the three dimensions), a strategic analysis (where the client can differentiate, gaps and opportunities, threats), and data-quality notes that flag which cells are _To be determined_ so nothing unverified is mistaken for fact.

Save its output to competitor-analysis/comparison-matrix.md. Create the competitor-analysis/ directory if needed; don't overwrite blindly. Include the byline directly under the H1:

> Prepared by Jed Quimno · <current date>

5. Summarize for the user

Give the user a concise, scannable summary:

• The profile files created — list each competitor-analysis/profiles/<slug>.md path.
• The matrix file path — competitor-analysis/comparison-matrix.md.
• The top 3 takeaways from the comparison-analyst-agent's strategic analysis.
• Suggested next steps — e.g. manually validate pricing before sharing, fill in any _To be determined_ cells, and share the matrix with the client.

Keep the no-fabrication principle in mind to the very end: flag every field left as _To be determined_ (pricing especially) so the user can verify it before this goes in front of the client.