Analyze Competitors Without Expensive Tools

Open Claude (https://claude.ai) and start a new chat. Paste the block below and fill every bracket with your real details. --- MY OFFER (one sentence): [ ] WHO I SERVE — ICP (one sentence): [ ] PRICE BAND (examples: $50–200/mo, $2k projects, $97 courses): [ ] THE ONE DECISION THIS ANALYSIS WILL INFORM (pick one): homepage headline / pricing page structure / lead magnet topic / primary channel / offer packaging — say which: [ ] CANDIDATE COMPETITORS (names + URLs if you have them; or name one leader + "who else I see when I search …"): 1. 2. 3. --- Then send this instruction to Claude: "Using ONLY what I pasted above: (1) Remove any competitor that is not roughly the same buyer, buying motion, and price band as my offer—one short reason per removal. (2) Keep at most three competitors. (3) Do NOT create a matrix or full report. (4) Write one paragraph on why these three are the right comparison set. (5) For EACH competitor, give a checklist of pages to open: homepage, pricing or Plans, one content hub (blog/resources index OR main social profile—pick one), and one proof page (case studies, testimonials, customers)—use real paths from their site or write find via site nav if the URL is unknown. (6) Do NOT add companies I did not name. Do NOT invent URLs that are not on their public site—only suggest links you can verify from navigation." Wait for Claude to finish before opening competitor sites.

Keep this step human-only—do not paste into Claude yet. 1) Open https://sheets.google.com and create a blank sheet OR open Google Docs and insert a table. 2) Row 1 / headers must be exactly: Competitor | Positioning line (hero/subhead) | Primary CTA | Offer stack (product names) | Pricing signal | Proof | Channels | Gaps / confusion 3) Use the checklist from Step 1. For each competitor, open their pages (homepage, pricing/plans, content hub or social, proof page). Keep 3–5 tabs max per competitor so you do not drift. 4) Add one row per competitor. Copy short phrases only into cells—no full-page dumps. 5) Pricing signal must be either a short exact quote from the site OR the exact words: Not stated on site. Never guess a price. 6) Channels: only list what you actually saw (blog dates, newsletter mention, podcast links). 7) Spend about 8–12 minutes total across all competitors. Ethics: use public pages only (no paywalls, no logins you should not have, no scraping behind ToS).

Go back to the same Claude chat as Step 1. Paste your full table (header row + all competitor rows). Then send: "Below is my competitor capture table. Your job is cleanup only: - Fix typos and align column labels with the header names. - Do NOT add competitors, prices, metrics, or claims. - Do NOT add strategy, insights, or recommendations. - Output the same table again, then add a short Data quality note listing cells that are empty, ambiguous, or conflicting. If you add any fact that is not already in my pasted cells, you failed—reply 'FAILED: formatting only' and try again." If Claude adds insights, say: "Do not add strategy or new competitor facts—formatting and data-quality note only."

In the same Claude chat, send a new message: "Using ONLY my cleaned table and my offer/ICP from the top of this chat, produce four sections: 1) Positioning matrix — Rows: each competitor + my business. Columns: target buyer, primary outcome promised, tone, proof type. Every cell ends with [Observed], [Inferred], or [Unknown]. No dollar amounts unless they appear as quotes in my table with [Observed]. 2) Pricing / packaging summary — Bullets only. Any price must quote my table verbatim with [Observed]. If my table says Not stated on site, write Unknown — not stated on site and do not guess. 3) Content and messaging gaps — 5–7 bullets: what they omit or under-emphasize for buyers like mine (say the buyer problems in plain English). Each bullet ends with [Observed] or [Inferred] and ties to what we captured. 4) Three recommendations — Exactly three changes I can make on my site or offer this week. One sentence each, specific enough to execute. Hard rules: Do not invent traffic, revenue, headcount, social proof numbers, or prices. No paid SEO or spy tools—public information only. If you are unsure, tag [Unknown]." Read the output. If any price lacks an Observed quote, ask Claude to replace it with Unknown.

Open https://docs.google.com and create a document titled: Competitor snapshot — [your offer] — [today's date] Paste in this order: 1) Decision — two sentences: the one decision this analysis informs (from Step 1). 2) Evidence table — the cleaned table from Step 3. 3) Analysis — paste all sections from Step 4 (matrix, pricing summary, gaps, three recommendations). 4) Next 7 days — a small box with exactly three bullets taken from your three recommendations (one line each; rewrite only for clarity). Aim for about two printed pages or less. Optional: File → Download → PDF. Save the doc where you keep strategy notes.