Competitor analysis with AI: find the gaps your rivals leave

What is a competitor analysis, and how does AI help?

A competitor analysis is a side-by-side look at the businesses your buyers could choose instead of you. You compare what they sell, who they sell to, at what price, what they promise and what their customers praise or complain about. Then you look for gaps, meaning needs that nobody serves well and that you could serve better.

AI speeds up the slowest parts of this work. It can sort a pile of pages, ads and reviews into one table, spot patterns and suggest gaps worth testing. What it can't be trusted to do is know current facts about a rival on its own. So you collect the evidence and your AI organises it, with a source you can click for every claim in the table.

This guide gives you a five-step method, a competitor analysis template, two prompts and the rules for keeping your research fair and public.

Step 1: Pick the right competitors

Start from your buyer rather than from your industry, by asking what else someone considers when they need what you sell. The honest answer is usually a wider group than the shops that look like yours.

• Direct competitors sell much the same thing to the same buyers, so they are the ones you probably already watch.
• Indirect competitors solve the same problem in a different way, which is why a meal kit competes with a grocer and so does a takeaway.
• Doing nothing is a competitor too, since some buyers simply put up with the problem for a while.

Choose three to five competitors to study in depth. Any more than that makes the table too big to act on. To find the ones you might otherwise miss, ask five recent buyers what they looked at before choosing you, and read your notes on lost sales.

Step 2: Collect public evidence

Good competitor research is built on information anyone can see. Gather the following for each competitor, and save the link and the date for every item, so that you can check it again later.

How to see a competitor's ads

Two free ad libraries let you see the advertising that other businesses are currently running:

• The Meta Ad Library at facebook.com/ads/library lets you search ads running across Meta products, such as Facebook and Instagram. Meta says only ads about social issues, elections or politics stay searchable after they stop running (Meta Help Centre, as of November 2026).
• The Google Ads Transparency Center lets you search ads from verified advertisers by name or website (Ads Transparency Center). How much detail it shows varies by country.

An ad library shows what a rival is running, but not whether those ads work. An ad that has run for months suggests the advertiser is happy with it, yet that is still a guess rather than proof, so record it as a guess.

Reading reviews well

Reviews are the best source of what buyers want and don't get. Focus on the three-star reviews, which often say "I liked it, but...", because the part after "but" frequently points to a gap. Paraphrase or quote short lines, and keep the link to each one.

Step 3: Build a competitor analysis template

Put everything into one table, with one column per business and your own business in the first column. Keep each cell short and add a source link for every fact, so that anyone reading the table can check where a claim came from.

Fill in your own column honestly. If your reviews mention slow delivery, write it down. The point of the exercise is to see the market the way a buyer does, including your own weaknesses.

Next, let your AI turn your raw notes into this table by pasting everything you collected along with the prompt below.

You are a market researcher helping a small business compare itself with its competitors. Work only from the evidence I paste. Do not use what you remember about these businesses, because it may be out of date.

My business: [what you sell, who for, your prices].
Competitors: [names and websites].
Evidence: [paste notes, page text, ad text and review excerpts. Put the link and date after each item].

Steps:
1. Build a table with one column per business (mine first) and these rows: who it's for, main promise, main products and prices, where and how to buy, delivery and returns, repeated ad messages, what reviews praise, what reviews complain about, what they don't offer.
2. Put the source link after every fact. If a cell has no evidence, write "no evidence yet". Don't fill it in from memory.
3. Mark anything that is a guess, such as why a rival does something, with [GUESS].
4. Under the table, list the five most useful differences between my business and the others.
5. List what I should look up next to fill the biggest gaps in the table.

Keep cells short: ten words or fewer where you can.

Step 4: Find the gaps you can fill

A gap is something buyers want that no competitor does well and that you can do well. All three conditions matter, because a gap you can't serve isn't a gap for your business, however attractive it looks.

Look for gaps in these five places:

• Buyers: a group the others ignore, such as beginners, older buyers or small offices.
• Problems: a complaint that keeps appearing in rivals' reviews without being fixed.
• Ways to buy: options such as online ordering, delivery, subscription, bulk buying or ordering by phone.
• Promises: a fact nobody states even though they could, which is common because rivals often all say the same thing.
• Price points: an empty position in the market, such as a premium option or a smaller pack.

Treat every gap as an idea to test, not a sure thing. A gap can be empty simply because nobody wants it.

You are helping me find gaps in my market from a competitor comparison table. Be honest about what the evidence supports.

My comparison table: [paste the table from the previous prompt].
What I'm good at and can prove: [list strengths with proof, such as reviews, awards or delivery times].
What I can't or won't do: [limits, such as no delivery or no budget for ads].

Steps:
1. List up to six possible gaps. For each one, say which rows of the table point to it and quote the evidence.
2. For each gap, say whether my proven strengths let me fill it. Mark "yes", "maybe" or "no", with the reason.
3. For the gaps marked "yes" or "maybe", write one message I could use, built only on facts I can prove.
4. Suggest a small, cheap test for the top two gaps: what to try, for how long and the pass line.
5. List the risks: why the gap might be empty for a good reason.

Rules:
- Don't make claims about competitors that the evidence doesn't support.
- Don't suggest messages that attack a named competitor.

Once you have a gap and a fact to back it up, write the message. If you sell on Facebook and Instagram, our guide to writing Facebook ad copy with AI shows how to turn it into ads. Rival reviews are also a rich source of ad ideas, and our guide to turning reviews into ads explains how to use them.

Keep it public and fair

Competitor research is a normal and useful part of running a business. It should still pass a simple test: would you be comfortable if the competitor saw exactly how you did it?

• Use only public information: websites, ads, public reviews, published reports and emails you signed up for openly.
• Don't pretend to be someone else to get private information, such as posing as a buyer to get a custom quote you'll never use.
• Don't ask a rival's current or former staff for confidential details.
• Don't copy their words, photos or designs, but learn from the idea and then write your own version.
• Check facts carefully before you state them about a competitor in public, because comparisons in ads have their own rules in many countries.
• Date everything, since prices and policies change and an outdated fact can turn into an unfair claim.

Worked example: an independent grocer looks at Trader Joe's

Say you run an independent grocery shop and a Trader Joe's is opening nearby. Because Trader Joe's is a large US grocery chain, it's worth a careful look, and its own public pages say the following, as of November 2026:

• Its FAQ page says it doesn't sell any products online, including gift cards, and sells only in its physical stores.
• The same FAQ says it doesn't offer curbside pickup or delivery, and doesn't work with third-party delivery services.
• It publishes the Fearless Flyer, its own guide to its products, in print and online.

What goes in

You would collect the facts above along with their links, then add your own column covering your products, prices, delivery options and what your reviews say. Once the new store has public reviews, you would add those too, along with anything you find in the ad libraries, and then run prompt 1.

What comes out

The table would show a clear difference in the "where and how you can buy" row, because Trader Joe's says it sells only in store, without delivery or pickup. Prompt 2 might then suggest the following possible gaps, which are an example result written for this article and not advice about Trader Joe's:

• Delivery or click-and-collect for local buyers who can't easily get to a store, which you should mark "yes" only if you can already deliver reliably.
• Phone or online ordering for regular customers, such as nearby offices or older shoppers.
• A small test: offer local delivery for four weeks, with a pass line set in advance, such as a target number of repeat delivery orders.

Notice what the example avoids. It makes no claim about Trader Joe's prices, quality or plans beyond what its pages say, and it doesn't attack the chain by name. Instead it finds a real difference in how people can buy, then tests whether local buyers want what you can offer.

Common mistakes, and what to do instead

• Asking AI to "do a competitor analysis" from memory produces a mix of old facts, guesses and errors, so give it evidence you collected yourself, with links.
• Studying too many rivals turns a plan into a research project, because ten columns are too many to act on. Pick three to five.
• Ignoring indirect rivals and doing nothing leaves out real choices, since buyers don't sort the market the way you do. Ask them what else they considered.
• Copying the leader gives buyers no reason to switch, because you end up matching their every move. Use the table to find where you genuinely differ.
• Keeping a table you never update means your decisions rest on stale facts, so set a reminder to check prices, ads and reviews every month or quarter.
• Treating guesses as facts leads to bad decisions, and "their ad must be working" is a guess. Mark it clearly as one.

Where AI Blocks helps

All of these are free: download the skill or workflow, or copy the prompt, and use it in your own AI with your own research.

• Competitor profile writer: give it competitor links and your product to get a profile of each rival with positioning, pricing, features and sources for every claim.
• Competitor battle card builder: share your market and competitor names to get sourced battle cards, a pricing view and a feature comparison, with evidence gaps shown.
• Competitor store analyst: compare rival stores' public prices and messages, then list possible openings and evidence gaps.
• Competitor review insight finder: share competitor reviews grouped by rating to find unmet needs, trust problems and the words buyers use when they're ready to buy.
• Competitor ad swipe file builder: build a swipe file from Meta Ad Library ads, sorted into nine types with notes on what to study.
• Customer alternatives researcher: find every rival for your customer's job, including doing nothing.
• Competitor positioning message reviewer: a workflow that gives you a position map, possible wording gaps and sales-message drafts.
• Competitor ad change reviewer specialist: compares the rival ads you collected with last month's and finds the changes that matter.
• Michael Porter: think through your market using his recorded tools, such as industry forces and choosing a clear position.

Once you know where you stand, our guide on pricing with AI shows how to set a price against those rivals.

Questions people ask

How do I do a competitor analysis with AI?

Pick three to five competitors and collect public evidence with links and dates, then paste it into your AI with a clear prompt. Ask for a comparison table with a source after every fact, and then ask it to find gaps you can test.

What should a competitor analysis template include?

A useful template covers who each business serves, its main promise, products and prices, and how you can buy. It should also record delivery and returns, ad messages, what reviews praise and complain about, and what each business doesn't offer. Add the sources, and put your own business in the first column.

Is it legal to research competitors?

Studying public information, such as websites, ads and reviews, is normal business practice. Avoid deception, don't seek confidential information and don't copy their content, and check your local rules before you compare yourself with a named rival in advertising.

Can ChatGPT find my competitors for me?

It can suggest names to check, but treat that list as a starting point, because it may miss local or new rivals or include businesses that have closed. Your own buyers are the most reliable guide to who you really compete with.

How often should I update a competitor analysis?

Check prices, ads and reviews every month or quarter, and do a full review once a year. Update it straight away if a new rival opens nearby or a large one changes its prices.