Competitive Intelligence

Real-time competitive intelligence powered by live web data. Combines Bright Data CLI (bdata) for data collection with strategic analysis frameworks to deliver actionable competitive insights — not stale training knowledge.
Never answer competitive questions from training knowledge alone. Always gather live data first using bdata commands, then analyze and synthesize.

Prerequisites

  1. Bright Data CLI installed:
    bash
    curl -fsSL https://cli.brightdata.com/install.sh | bash
  2. One-time login completed:
    bash
    bdata login
That's it. No env vars, no zone config, no API keys to manage.

Core Workflow

For every competitive intelligence request, follow this workflow:
  1. Clarify scope — Which competitors? What specifically does the user want to know? Select the right module(s).
  2. Gather live data — Run bdata commands. Parallelize independent calls. Prefer bdata pipelines (structured JSON) over bdata scrape (raw markdown) when a pipeline exists.
  3. Analyze — Apply the appropriate strategic framework. Read references/analysis-frameworks.md [blocked] for SWOT, Porter's Five Forces, positioning matrices, and more.
  4. Format output — Use the report templates from references/output-templates.md [blocked].
  5. Deliver actionable insights — Every report MUST end with a "Strategic Recommendations" section. Never deliver raw data without interpretation.

Data Collection Rules

  • Always use --json flag when you need to pipe or parse bdata output programmatically
  • Prefer bdata pipelines over bdata scrape whenever a pipeline type exists for the target platform — pipelines return clean structured JSON
  • Be cost-efficient — A snapshot should use 3-8 bdata calls, not 50. Scrape what you need.
  • Parallelize — Run independent bdata calls in parallel using multiple Bash tool calls in a single response
  • Handle failures gracefully — If a page is gated or returns empty, say so and try the fallback. Never hallucinate data to fill gaps.
  • Cite every data point — Include source URLs for everything. Users must be able to verify.
For the full mapping of intelligence needs to bdata commands, read references/data-source-guide.md [blocked].
For interpreting raw data as strategic signals, read references/industry-signals.md [blocked].

Analysis Modules

1. Competitor Snapshot

When to use: User asks to analyze, profile, or understand a specific competitor.
Data gathering:
bash
# Step 1: Discover competitor's website and recent news
bdata search "[competitor name]" --json

# Step 2: Scrape key pages (run in parallel)
bdata scrape [competitor-url]              # Homepage — positioning, messaging
bdata scrape [competitor-url]/pricing      # Pricing tiers and model
bdata scrape [competitor-url]/about        # Team, mission, history (try /about, /about-us, /company)

# Step 3: Structured data enrichment (if URLs available)
bdata pipelines crunchbase_company "[crunchbase-url]"       # Funding, investors, employee count
bdata pipelines linkedin_company_profile "[linkedin-url]"   # Employee count, growth, locations
Analysis: Synthesize into a structured profile. Identify positioning, target audience, key claims, strengths, and vulnerabilities. Compare to user's product if context is available.
Output: Use the Competitor Snapshot template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

2. Pricing Intelligence

When to use: User wants to compare pricing, understand pricing models, or find pricing positioning opportunities.
Data gathering:
bash
# Scrape pricing pages for each competitor (run in parallel)
bdata scrape [competitor-a-url]/pricing
bdata scrape [competitor-b-url]/pricing
bdata scrape [competitor-c-url]/pricing

# For e-commerce products
bdata pipelines amazon_product "[amazon-url]"
bdata pipelines walmart_product "[walmart-url]"

# Supplementary: third-party pricing breakdowns
bdata search "[competitor] pricing review" --json
Analysis: Extract plan names, prices, feature lists, and limits from each page. Normalize into a comparison matrix. Identify pricing model types (per-seat, usage-based, freemium, enterprise-only). Flag positioning signals and recommend opportunities.
Output: Use the Pricing Intelligence template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

3. Review Intelligence

When to use: User wants to understand customer sentiment, find competitor pain points, or identify exploitable gaps.
Data gathering:
bash
# Find review pages via search
bdata search "[competitor] site:g2.com" --json
bdata search "[competitor] site:capterra.com" --json

# Scrape review pages
bdata scrape [g2-url]
bdata scrape [capterra-url]

# Structured review data (use when direct URLs are available)
bdata pipelines google_maps_reviews "[google-maps-url]" 30
bdata pipelines amazon_product_reviews "[amazon-url]"
bdata pipelines google_play_store "[play-store-url]"
bdata pipelines apple_app_store "[app-store-url]"
Analysis: Categorize sentiment (positive/neutral/negative). Extract top praised features, top complaints, and feature requests. Identify comparison mentions ("switched from X", "better than Y"). Complaints are the user's positioning opportunity.
Output: Use the Review Intelligence template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

4. Hiring Signal Analysis

When to use: User wants to infer a competitor's strategic direction from their hiring patterns.
Data gathering:
bash
# Find LinkedIn company page
bdata search "[competitor] linkedin company" --json

# Get structured job listings
bdata pipelines linkedin_job_listings "[linkedin-company-url]"

# Fallback: scrape careers page directly
bdata search "[competitor] careers" --json
bdata scrape [careers-url]
Analysis: Categorize roles by department. Analyze hiring velocity (scaling vs. stable vs. contracting). Identify technology signals from job descriptions. Look for geographic expansion signals. Interpret seniority mix (hiring leaders = new initiative; hiring ICs = scaling existing).
Output: Use the Hiring Signal Analysis template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

5. Content & SEO Battle

When to use: User wants to understand competitors' content strategy or search positioning for specific keywords.
Data gathering:
bash
# Check SERP rankings for target keywords (run in parallel)
bdata search "[keyword 1]" --json
bdata search "[keyword 2]" --json
bdata search "[keyword 3]" --json

# Estimate competitor's indexed content
bdata search "site:[competitor.com]" --json

# Scrape blog/content pages
bdata scrape [competitor-url]/blog
bdata scrape [top-ranking-article-url]
Analysis: Map which competitors rank for which keywords. Estimate content volume and publishing frequency. Identify topic clusters each competitor invests in. Find content gaps — topics nobody covers well that the user could own.
Output: Use the Content & SEO Battle template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

6. Market Landscape Map

When to use: User wants to understand all players in a market, find white space, or map the competitive landscape.
Data gathering:
bash
# Discover players via multiple search queries (run in parallel)
bdata search "[industry] companies" --json
bdata search "best [product category] tools" --json
bdata search "[product category] alternatives" --json

# Scrape category/comparison pages
bdata scrape [g2-category-url]

# Quick snapshot of each discovered competitor
bdata scrape [competitor-1-url]
bdata scrape [competitor-2-url]
# ... for each key player (limit to top 8-10)

# Enrich key players with funding/size data
bdata pipelines crunchbase_company "[crunchbase-url]"
Analysis: Categorize players by tier (enterprise, mid-market, SMB, open-source). Build a positioning map (e.g., price vs. feature breadth). Identify white space — underserved segments or positioning no one owns. Note market trends, recent entrants, and consolidation signals.
Output: Use the Market Landscape Map template from references/output-templates.md [blocked].

Multi-Module Analysis

When the user asks for a comprehensive competitive analysis (e.g., "full battlecard", "deep dive", "board meeting prep"), combine multiple modules:
  1. Start with Competitor Snapshot for each competitor
  2. Add Pricing Intelligence for comparison
  3. Add Review Intelligence for customer sentiment
  4. Optionally add Hiring Signals and Content & SEO for strategic depth
  5. Wrap everything in the Executive Summary template from references/output-templates.md [blocked]
For full battlecards, use the Competitive Battlecard template.

Choosing the Right Module

User says...Module to use
"Analyze [competitor]", "Tell me about [company]"Competitor Snapshot
"Compare pricing", "How much does [X] cost"Pricing Intelligence
"What do customers think", "Reviews of [X]", "Pain points"Review Intelligence
"What are they hiring for", "Job postings", "Where are they expanding"Hiring Signal Analysis
"How do they rank", "Their content strategy", "SEO"Content & SEO Battle
"Who are the players", "Market landscape", "Competitive landscape"Market Landscape Map
"Full battlecard", "Deep competitive analysis", "Board prep"Multi-Module (combine all)

Output Quality Standards

  1. Every data point must have a source URL — no unattributed claims
  2. Separate facts from analysis — clearly distinguish scraped data from Claude's interpretation
  3. End with "So What?" — every report must have actionable strategic recommendations
  4. Be honest about gaps — if data is unavailable, say so. Never fill gaps with training knowledge presented as live data.
  5. Date-stamp the analysis — include "Data collected on [date]" so users know freshness

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