# Competitive Intelligence Report in 30 Minutes: Prompts and Template > Build a CI report with Claude in 30 minutes: 7 sections, ready-made prompts, and a reusable template — from data to recommendations in one session. > Author: Roman Belov · Published: 2026-07-18 · Source: https://futurecraft.pro/blog/ci-report-30-minutes/ Most startups skip competitive intelligence reports: the value is obvious, but the entry cost is what stops them. A classic CI report takes 2–3 weeks of analyst work: gathering data, comparison tables, product analysis, pricing snapshot, strategic conclusions. LLMs change the economics. The same CI report — market overview, product comparison, pricing analysis, strategic recommendations — takes 30 minutes and comes out as a working draft at the depth of a finished document: tables, insights, concrete actions, still worth verifying before you act on it. This article describes the exact process: 7 report sections, a prompt for each, the order of execution, and a final template. ## What Goes into a CI Report: 7 Sections Every CI report has fixed blocks. Order matters: each section builds on data from the previous one. 1. **Market Landscape** — who's in the market, segments, positions 2. **Competitor Profiles** — detailed cards for each competitor 3. **Feature Matrix** — functionality comparison 4. **Pricing Analysis** — pricing tiers, monetization models, unit economics 5. **Positioning Map** — how competitors position themselves and who they target 6. **SWOT by Competitor** — strengths, weaknesses, threats, opportunities 7. **Strategic Recommendations** — concrete actions based on the analysis Total time: ~30 minutes (a ballpark — actual time depends on market complexity). Breakdown: ~5 minutes for preparing input data, ~20 minutes for generating sections, ~5 minutes for final assembly. ## Preparation: Input Data in 5 Minutes The quality of a CI report depends mainly on input data rather than prompt wording. Claude works with the context it receives. Garbage in, garbage out. Minimum set to get started: **Product description.** 3–5 sentences: what the product does, who it's for, the key differentiator. This is the anchor for the entire analysis. **Competitor list.** 5–8 companies. For each: name, URL, one sentence about the product. If the list is unknown, the first prompt will help build it. **Market context.** Target segment, geography, market size (if known). The more specific the context, the more relevant the analysis. Example input block: ``` PRODUCT: TaskFlow — a task tracker for distributed teams of up to 50 people. Focus on async work: built-in video updates, automated standups, timezone-aware deadlines. Price: $8/user/month. COMPETITORS: - Linear (linear.app) — fast issue tracker for engineering teams - Asana (asana.com) — project management for teams - ClickUp (clickup.com) — all-in-one productivity platform - Monday.com (monday.com) — work OS for teams - Shortcut (shortcut.com) — project management for software teams - Motion (usemotion.com) — AI-native project management with auto-scheduling MARKET: Project management SaaS, SMB segment (10–50 people), global, focus on remote/distributed teams. ``` Copy this block into the beginning of every prompt. Write it once — use it seven times. ## Section 1: Market Landscape (~3 minutes) The first section maps the market. Who's playing, in which segments, and which trends are driving the dynamics. ### Prompt ``` You are a competitive intelligence analyst. Build a market overview. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] TASK: 1. Divide the market into 3–4 segments by product type or target audience 2. Assign competitors to segments (one competitor can appear in multiple) 3. Identify 3 key trends currently shaping the market 4. State market size (TAM/SAM) and growth rate, if data is available 5. Name 2–3 adjacent markets from which competition could emerge FORMAT: - Segment table with players - Trend list: trend + impact on market + time horizon - Adjacent market map with probability of entry (High/Medium/Low) Facts and conclusions only. No filler phrases. ``` ### What to Check in the Output The output should have specific segments with clear boundaries, not vague categories. "Project management for enterprise" — good. "Tools for work" — too broad. Trends should be specific to the market. "AI is changing everything" — useless. "AI-powered task assignment based on workload reduces planning time by 40%" — actionable. ## Section 2: Competitor Profiles (~5 minutes) Detailed cards for each competitor. The heaviest section, and the most useful for day-to-day decisions. ### Prompt ``` Create detailed competitor profiles for a CI report. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] For each competitor, fill in this card: CARD TEMPLATE: ### [Name] - **Founded / Funding round / Team size** - **Target audience:** exactly who, company size, roles - **Value proposition:** one sentence - **Key features:** top 5, ranked by uniqueness - **Tech stack:** (if known) - **Recent significant updates:** past 6 months - **Key strength:** where they're objectively better than everyone else - **Vulnerability:** where they're weakest QUALITY CRITERIA: - "Target audience" — not "all companies," but "engineering teams at SaaS companies with 20–200 employees" - "Value proposition" — not a feature list, but one problem + one solution - "Vulnerability" — specific and exploitable. Not "high price," but "no free plan for teams under 5 people cuts off the PLG funnel" ``` ### Adding Data If public data is available — Crunchbase, LinkedIn, G2 Reviews — add it to the prompt. Claude works better with provided information than with what it generates from training data. Copy into the prompt: - Funding data from Crunchbase - Top-5 reviews from G2 (positive and negative) - Job postings from careers pages (reveals strategic direction) ## Section 3: Feature Matrix (~3 minutes) A functionality comparison table. The most visual part of the report for product decisions. ### Prompt ``` Build a feature matrix for competitive analysis. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] TASK: 1. Identify 15–20 key features for this market 2. Group by category (Core, Collaboration, AI/Automation, Integrations, Analytics) 3. For each competitor + our product, mark status: ✅ Yes | ⚠️ Partial | ❌ No | 🔜 Announced 4. Highlight 3 features where we're ahead (our advantage) 5. Highlight 3 features where we're behind (development areas) 6. Identify 2–3 features no competitor has (market opportunities) FORMAT: Markdown table. Columns: Feature | [Our product] | [Competitor 1] | ... | [Competitor N] After the table: a "Key Takeaways" section with three subsections (advantages, development areas, opportunities). ``` ### Working with the Output The feature matrix is a tool, not decoration. Three ways to use it: **For product roadmap.** The "development areas" column shows which features the market treats as table stakes. If 4 out of 6 competitors have a feature and you don't, that's a signal. **For sales.** The "advantages" column produces ready-made battle cards. "We have X, Linear doesn't" — a concrete sales argument. **For messaging.** "Unaddressed features" are potential USPs. If no competitor solves a specific problem, it's either a white space or a deliberate market decision. ## Section 4: Pricing Analysis (~3 minutes) Pricing analysis goes deeper than comparing tiers. The monetization model matters, not just the numbers. ### Prompt ``` Conduct a pricing analysis of the competitors. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] TASK: 1. For each competitor: model (per-seat, usage-based, flat-rate, hybrid), pricing tiers, free plan (limits) 2. Calculate cost for three scenarios: - 5-person team (startup) - 20-person team (scale-up) - 50-person team (SMB) 3. Identify pricing positioning for each (budget / mid-market / premium) 4. Find pricing patterns: what's included in the free plan, where is the paywall, which features are enterprise-only 5. Compare to our price ($8/user/month): where we sit in the spectrum FORMAT: - Summary table: Competitor | Model | Free tier | Starter | Pro | Enterprise - Cost-by-scenario table (5/20/50 people) - "Pricing insights" section: 3–5 takeaways on market pricing strategy - Recommendation on our pricing ``` ### What to Watch For Pricing models signal strategy. Per-seat at low price = betting on volume. Usage-based = monetizing power users. Flat-rate = simplicity as the differentiator. The free plan reveals PLG strategy. A generous free tier (like Linear's — up to 250 issues) signals a product-led growth bet. No free plan means sales-led. ## Section 5: Positioning Map (~3 minutes) How competitors position themselves: who they target, what language they use, which pain points they own. ### Prompt ``` Analyze competitor positioning. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] TASK: 1. For each competitor extract: - Main tagline / headline from homepage - Target persona (who they're selling to) - The key pain point they address - Top-3 words/phrases repeated in messaging 2. Build a 2D positioning map on these axes: - X axis: Simple ←→ Feature-rich - Y axis: Individual/Small team ←→ Enterprise 3. Identify unoccupied quadrants (white space) 4. Assess our current positioning and suggest adjustments FORMAT: - Positioning table (competitor | tagline | persona | pain point | key words) - Text description of the positioning map with coordinates for each player - "White space opportunities" section ``` ### Why Key Words Matter Recurring words in competitor messaging show which terms the market finds meaningful. If four competitors use "autonomous" in their descriptions, that's where the market is heading. If only one uses it — it's that player's differentiator. Keyword analysis also feeds SEO. The terms competitors put in H1s and meta descriptions are the keywords they're competing on. ## Section 6: SWOT by Competitor (~3 minutes) SWOT pulls data from previous sections and turns it into an actionable format. ### Prompt ``` Based on the data from the previous analysis, build a SWOT for each competitor RELATIVE to our product. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] CONTEXT FROM PREVIOUS SECTIONS: [Paste key findings from sections 1–5] TASK: For each competitor: - Strengths: where they're objectively stronger than us (facts, not opinions) - Weaknesses: where they're objectively weaker than us - Opportunities: what we can exploit in competition with them - Threats: how they can threaten our position RULES: - Every point must be specific and measurable, not abstract - Bad: "Strong brand". Good: "140K GitHub stars, top-of-mind in the developer segment, organic WOM reduces CAC" - Strengths and Threats → signal for defensive action - Weaknesses and Opportunities → signal for offensive action FORMAT: Table per competitor (S | W | O | T), maximum 3 points per quadrant. Prioritized by impact. ``` ### How to Use SWOT SWOT is useless as an artifact. It's useful as input for decisions. Opportunities become candidates for the product roadmap. Threats go into the risk register. Competitor weaknesses turn into sales battle card arguments. Revisit it every quarter. Competitors don't stand still — yesterday's weakness can become a strength after one funding round. ## Section 7: Strategic Recommendations (~3 minutes) The final section translates the analysis into concrete actions. Without it, the report is just an academic exercise. ### Prompt ``` Based on the complete competitive analysis, formulate strategic recommendations. [INSERT INPUT BLOCK] KEY FINDINGS FROM ANALYSIS: [Paste main findings from sections 1–6] TASK: 1. Identify 3 strategic priorities for the next 90 days 2. For each priority: - What to do (specific action) - Why (which competitive insight drives the decision) - Success metric (how to measure the result) - Resources and timeline (effort estimate) 3. Identify 2 defensive actions (protecting current positions) 4. Identify 2 offensive actions (capturing new positions) 5. List 3 signals that should trigger a strategy review (trigger events) FORMAT: - Priority table: # | Action | Insight | Metric | Effort | Deadline - "Defense" section with rationale - "Offense" section with rationale - Trigger events list ``` ### Prioritizing Recommendations Not all recommendations carry equal weight. A simple filter: **P1 (do now):** direct threat to the current position or a short-window opportunity. Example: a competitor cut prices by 40% in our segment. **P2 (schedule):** real opportunity, but no urgency. Example: an open quadrant on the positioning map worth moving into. **P3 (watch):** potential threat or opportunity, but not enough data to act yet. Example: a competitor is hiring AI engineers, but there's no product yet. ## Final Assembly: CI Report Template All seven sections go into a single document. A reusable template: ```markdown # Competitive Intelligence Report **Date:** [date] **Product:** [name] **Market:** [segment description] **Analysis period:** [month/quarter] --- ## 1. Executive Summary [3–5 sentences: key findings and critical actions] ## 2. Market Landscape [Segments, trends, adjacent markets] ## 3. Competitor Profiles [Cards for each competitor] ## 4. Feature Matrix [Comparison table + key takeaways] ## 5. Pricing Analysis [Tiers, models, cost by scenario] ## 6. Positioning Map [Positioning, messaging, white space] ## 7. SWOT Analysis [SWOT per competitor relative to us] ## 8. Strategic Recommendations ### 90-Day Priorities | # | Action | Insight | Metric | Effort | Deadline | |---|--------|---------|--------|--------|----------| ### Defense [Defensive actions] ### Offense [Offensive actions] ### Trigger Events [Signals to revisit strategy] --- ## Appendix - Data sources - Last updated date per competitor - Monitoring links ``` Store this as a reusable document. Each month or quarter, make a new copy. Accumulated reports build a base for trend analysis. ## Optimization: From 30 Minutes to 15 After the first report, the process speeds up. Three techniques. **Save the system prompt.** The input block — product description, competitor list, market context — doesn't change month to month. Save it as a text file and paste it at the start of each session. **Use Projects in Claude.** Upload the previous CI report to Project Knowledge. Claude treats it as a baseline and focuses on what changed. **Cascaded generation.** Instead of seven separate prompts, combine sections 1–3 into one request and sections 4–7 into another. Claude holds context within a conversation, so each subsequent section gets sharper. More on structuring context for analytical tasks is covered in the [context engineering guide](/blog/context-engineering-guide/). ## Limitations: What a CI Report with AI Doesn't Cover **Training data goes stale.** Claude's knowledge has a cutoff. For current prices and features, feed fresh data into the prompt: screenshots of pricing pages, landing page copy, changelogs. **No access to private data.** Competitor revenue, internal metrics, retention rates — AI doesn't know these. That data comes from public sources: SEC filings, press releases, founder interviews. **The report informs, the team decides.** A CI report feeds strategic decisions; the team makes them. Section 7 recommendations set direction for discussion, but they don't substitute for it. **False precision.** Tables and percentages create an illusion of accuracy. A competitor's positioning is an interpretation, not a fact. Verify critical conclusions against primary sources. ## Monthly CI Cycle Run a full CI report once per quarter. Between them — a short monthly update that captures only what changed. Prompt for the monthly update: ``` Here is the CI report from [last quarter]: [paste or attach file] Here is new data for [current month]: [paste changes: new features, pricing changes, news] TASK: 1. What changed since the last report (delta analysis) 2. Which conclusions from the previous report are now outdated 3. New threats or opportunities 4. Updated action list (what to add, what to remove) FORMAT: Brief update of 1 page, focused on changes. ``` The monthly update takes 10 minutes. Four full reports and eight updates per year give you continuous competitive awareness without the time drain. Collecting the raw changes that feed those updates is worth automating — here's [a free monitoring stack for tracking competitors](/blog/competitive-intelligence-ai/) that does exactly that. A CI report with AI turns hours of manual work into minutes of structured model interaction. The prompts in this article adapt to any market — B2B SaaS, e-commerce, mobile apps. The only real requirement: quality input data and a willingness to verify the output. --- *Need help building a competitive intelligence process with AI? I help startups build AI products and automate processes — [belov.works](https://belov.works).* ## FAQ **How do you handle competitors whose pricing or features are not publicly disclosed?** Treat incomplete data as a signal, not a blocker. For pricing, triangulate from public signals: check G2 and Capterra reviews (buyers often mention price ranges), look at job postings for "ACV" or "deal size" references in sales roles, and review any available press mentions of contract sizes. For features, examine job postings for engineering roles — required technologies and mentioned product areas reveal the roadmap direction. Mark the affected fields in the report with a confidence rating of "low" and note the inference method so future analysts can update with better data when it becomes available. **What is the right cadence for updating a CI report when the team is resource-constrained?** Full seven-section reports quarterly, lightweight delta updates monthly. The monthly update prompt in this article takes 10 minutes: paste the previous report and new observations, ask the model what changed, which conclusions are now outdated, and what the updated action list looks like. Prioritize monitoring Tier 1 competitors (direct, same segment) monthly and Tier 2 (indirect) quarterly. If even monthly is too frequent, focus the limited time on the two sections that change fastest: Pricing Analysis and Positioning & Messaging. **How should the CI report feed into product roadmap decisions without over-indexing on competitors?** Use the feature matrix to identify "table stakes" — features that 4 or more of 6 competitors have and you don't. These are defensive moves, not strategic ones; build them to stay competitive without letting them define your roadmap. Reserve offensive roadmap decisions for the "unaddressed features" category — problems no competitor solves. Treat competitor SWOT as one input among several: pair it with direct customer research and usage data before committing resources. The risk of over-indexing on CI is building a me-too product; the discipline is using CI to inform differentiation decisions, not copy them.