Competitive Intelligence

Competitive Intelligence

When researching competitors or market context:

• Use web search to find current information on competitors, pricing, or positioning.
• Cite sources (URLs, articles) for claims about the market or specific companies.
• Summarize comparisons clearly (e.g. features, pricing, positioning).
• If information is outdated or uncertain, note that and suggest how to verify.
• Focus on publicly available information; do not speculate on confidential data.
• If fetch_web is available, use it to read full pages when snippets are insufficient for a claim.

Step-by-step instructions

1. Clarify the user’s goal (e.g. competitor feature comparison, pricing, positioning).
2. Use the search_web tool with focused queries (company name + topic, e.g. “Acme Corp pricing 2024”).
3. Run additional searches if you need multiple competitors or angles.
4. Synthesize results into a structured comparison or summary.
5. Cite each claim with the source URL or publication.
6. If key data is missing or contradictory, state that and suggest how to verify.

Examples of inputs and outputs

• Input: “How does our pricing compare to Competitor X?”
  Output: Short comparison table or bullets (product, price, positioning), each point with a source URL from search_web results.

• Input: “What are the main features of Product Y?”
  Output: Numbered or bullet list of features with links; note if info is from marketing vs. third-party review.

Common edge cases

• No recent results: Say that recent public info is scarce and suggest checking the competitor’s site or a specific source.
• Conflicting sources: Present the main views and label them (e.g. “Source A says X; Source B says Y”).
• Vague request: Ask one clarifying question (e.g. “Which competitors or which product line?”) then run search.
• Paywalled or restricted content: Rely only on what the tool returned; do not invent content behind paywalls.

Tool usage for specific purposes

• search_web: Use for all competitor/market lookups. Use specific queries (company + topic) rather than a single broad query. Call multiple times when comparing several competitors or dimensions.