Competitive Intel Matrix

What this does

Produces a structured competitive intelligence document that organizes a brand's competitive field into concentric rings — from the rivals fighting for the same customer today out to the same-name entities polluting its search results — and then scores the field on the dimensions that actually decide modern wins: directory/aggregator coverage, AI-citation (GEO) authority, and emerging growth threats. The result tells a client exactly who they compete with, where they're losing ground they don't see, and the position they can defend.

When to use it

• Building competitive depth behind a research dossier or growth strategy.
• Sizing up a market before entering it or before pitching against incumbents.
• Finding positioning whitespace and messaging angles rivals haven't claimed.
• Reacting to a competitor's move (launch, funding, productized offer).
• Auditing why AI engines cite competitors and not the client.

This is the depth companion to client-research-dossier (which references it) and a key input to growth-strategy-playbook.

How to use it

1. Define the subject brand and the customer/job-to-be-done the field competes

on. Everything is ranked relative to "who is trying to win this customer."

1. Assign every competitor to a ring using the methodology in

references/ring-model.md: Ring A (direct/local), Ring B (adjacent), Ring C (national/category leaders), optional Ring D (aggregators/marketplaces), and the brand-confusion ring (same-name entities).

1. For each ring, build a competitor table: Name · Positioning · Strengths ·

Weaknesses · Edge vs. us. Profile the top players in prose where it earns its space; keep long-tail rings as compact tables or counts.

1. Build the aggregator/directory coverage scorecard — rows are

directories/marketplaces, columns are competitors + the client, cells are claimed/unclaimed/partial. See the column definitions in ring-model.md.

1. Build the GEO/AI-citation leaders matrix: who AI engines cite for the key

queries today, and the asset that earns the citation (structured content, calculators, FAQs, reviews, Wikipedia).

1. Compile a growth-threat watchlist: dated, specific moves likely in the next

12 months (a productized offer, an SME bundle, a hyperscaler push).

1. Close with a defensible-position summary: the wedge the client can own and a

phased read of the field (e.g. "2026 = ground game, 2027 = productization").

Inputs

• Subject brand and the customer/market it competes in.
• Geography and category scope.
• Any known competitors, prior research, or the dossier from

client-research-dossier.

Output

A single markdown file, typically competitive/01_<Brand>_Competitive_Intel_Matrix.md, ordered: ring overview → per-ring tables → aggregator scorecard → GEO leaders matrix → growth-threat watchlist → defensible-position summary.

Notes & constraints

• Rank by threat to the specific customer, not by company size. A 5-person local

rival can outrank a hyperscaler in Ring A.

• Always run the brand-confusion ring — same-name entities that own the SERP,

reviews, or social handles are real, involuntary competition.

• Cite the source for each claimed/unclaimed scorecard cell and each GEO

citation. Don't assert a competitor "owns" a query without evidence.

• Keep "edge vs. us" honest in both directions; note where the client is behind.
• Use forward-slash paths; tables for the matrices, prose only where it adds signal.