Competitor Analysis

SEO & GEO Skills Library · 20 skills for SEO + GEO · Install all: npx skills add aaron-he-zhu/seo-geo-claude-skills

This skill provides comprehensive analysis of competitor SEO and GEO strategies, revealing what's working in your market and identifying opportunities to outperform the competition.

When to Use This Skill

• Entering a new market or niche
• Planning content strategy based on competitor success
• Understanding why competitors rank higher
• Finding backlink and partnership opportunities
• Identifying content gaps competitors are missing
• Analyzing competitor AI citation strategies
• Benchmarking your SEO performance

What This Skill Does

• Keyword Analysis: Identifies keywords competitors rank for
• Content Audit: Analyzes competitor content strategies and formats
• Backlink Profiling: Reviews competitor link-building approaches
• Technical Assessment: Evaluates competitor site health
• GEO Analysis: Identifies how competitors appear in AI responses
• Gap Identification: Finds opportunities competitors miss
• Strategy Extraction: Reveals actionable insights from competitor success

How to Use

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?

Data Sources

See CONNECTORS.md for tool category placeholders.

With ~~SEO tool + ~~analytics + ~~AI monitor connected: Automatically pull competitor keyword rankings, backlink profiles, top performing content, domain authority metrics from ~~SEO tool. Compare against your site's metrics from ~~analytics and ~~search console. Check AI citation patterns for both your site and competitors using ~~AI monitor.

With manual data only: Ask the user to provide:

• Competitor URLs to analyze (2-5 recommended)
• Your own site URL and current metrics (traffic, rankings if known)
• Industry or niche context
• Specific aspects to focus on (keywords, content, backlinks, etc.)
• Any known competitor strengths or weaknesses

Instructions

When a user requests competitor analysis:

• 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

• Gather Competitor Data

• Analyze Keyword Rankings

• Audit Content Strategy

• Analyze Backlink Profile

• Technical SEO Assessment

• GEO/AI Citation Analysis

• Synthesize Competitive Intelligence

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

Validation Checkpoints

Input Validation

• [ ] Competitor URLs verified as relevant to your niche
• [ ] Analysis scope defined (comprehensive or specific focus area)
• [ ] Your own site metrics available for comparison
• [ ] Minimum 2-3 competitors identified for meaningful patterns

Output Validation

• [ ] Every recommendation cites specific data points (not generic advice)
• [ ] Competitor strengths backed by measurable evidence (metrics, rankings)
• [ ] Opportunities based on identifiable gaps, not assumptions
• [ ] Action plan items are specific and actionable (not vague strategies)
• [ ] Source of each data point clearly stated (~~SEO tool data, ~~analytics data, ~~AI monitor data, user-provided, or estimated)

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

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

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

Related Skills

• domain-authority-auditor — Compare CITE domain authority scores across competitors for domain-level benchmarking
• keyword-research — Research keywords competitors rank for
• content-gap-analysis — Find content opportunities
• backlink-analyzer — Deep-dive into backlinks
• serp-analysis — Understand search result composition
• memory-management — Store competitor data in project memory
• entity-optimizer — Compare entity presence against competitors