Competitor Research
Run structured competitor analysis for keywords, content gaps, backlinks, pricing, and SEO benchmarks before you commit to a content or positioning plan.
Overview
Competitor Research is an agent skill most often used in Idea (also Launch, Grow) that guides structured SEO, content, backlink, and positioning analysis against competitors.
Install
npx skills add https://github.com/kostja94/marketing-skills --skill competitor-researchWhat is this skill?
- Five research types: keyword/topic, content, backlink, pricing, and SEO metrics
- Tabular outputs for gaps, outreach targets, length targets, and benchmarks
- Triggers on competitor analysis, link gap, content gap, and competitive comparison phrases
- Pairs with content-strategy for roadmap work instead of replacing it
- Optional 1–2 sentence opener on first use, then direct deliverables
- 5 competitor research types in the Research Types table
- Skill metadata version 1.2.1
Adoption & trust: 936 installs on skills.sh; 586 GitHub stars; 2/3 security scanners passed (skills.sh audits).
What problem does it solve?
You know competitors exist but lack a consistent framework for keyword gaps, content depth, links, pricing context, and organic benchmarks.
Who is it for?
Solo founders and indie marketers preparing content, link building, or repositioning who want table-driven competitor passes without hiring an agency playbook.
Skip if: Users who only need a long-term editorial calendar without rival analysis—use content-strategy instead—or teams that want automated rank tracking without strategic interpretation.
When should I use this skill?
User wants competitor analysis for SEO, content, backlinks, or positioning; mentions competitor research, competitor keywords, link gap, content gap, competitive analysis, or competitor comparison.
What do I get? / Deliverables
You get typed research outputs—opportunities, structure targets, link gaps, pricing context, and metric benchmarks—you can plug into content drafts, outreach lists, or launch SEO tasks.
- Keyword and topic opportunity lists
- Content structure and gap notes versus top rankers
- Backlink/link-gap and outreach target lists
Recommended Skills
Journey fit
Spans multiple journey phases - primary shelf plus alternate fits below.
Competitor research is the canonical shelf in Idea because positioning and gap discovery should happen before you scale Build or Launch content. The skill centers on competitor keywords, backlinks, content structure, and pricing—core competitor-intelligence work, not prototype code.
Where it fits
Map which topics rivals rank for before you narrow MVP scope and positioning.
Compare competitor pricing and packaging tables to stress-test your planned offer.
Derive H2 structure and length targets from top-ranking competitor articles for a launch page.
Re-run content and backlink gaps to prioritize the next articles and outreach batch.
How it compares
Structured SEO competitor methodology in SKILL.md, not a one-off “compare two websites” chat prompt or a rank-tracking MCP.
Common Questions / FAQ
Who is competitor-research for?
Solo and indie builders doing their own SEO and content who need repeatable competitor keyword, content, backlink, pricing, and metrics research.
When should I use competitor-research?
Use it in Idea when mapping rivals before you build, in Launch when tuning pages and keywords against SERP leaders, and in Grow when refreshing benchmarks and link gaps; also when you say competitor analysis, link gap, or content gap.
Is competitor-research safe to install?
It is procedural marketing guidance with no inherent repo access; review the Security Audits panel on this Prism page and treat any external SEO tools you pair with it as separate trust decisions.
SKILL.md
READMESKILL.md - Competitor Research
# SEO 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: 1. **Obtain URLs**: From user, project-context Section 11, or web search for `"[target keyword]"` to find top-ranking pages 2. **Fetch content**: Use mcp_web_fetch or WebSearch to fetch 2–3 top-ranking pages 3. **Analyze**: Word count, H2 structure, keyword placement, content gaps, CTA, schema 4. **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,