How to Use AI for Competitive Intelligence and Analysis
- Patricia de Hemricourt
- Aug 26
- 5 min read
Are you using AI for competitive intelligence? Of course, you are. The real question is: How do you integrate AI competitive intelligence into a broad competitive analysis framework? Are you extracting maximum value from the material you have access to? Are you equipping your teams with the right guidance so they know what information gathering to focus on when they go to events or are in direct contact with prospects or customers?
So many questions! We are going to break these down into four sections:
AI competitive intelligence from publicly available online sources
Human/AI intelligence from gated/paywalled content
Human intelligence
Integrating all intelligence into operational knowledge
These include prompt samples and results, template questionnaires, and more.
How to Gather AI Competitive Intelligence from Publicly Available Sources
AI rules the net, so, in theory, there is no need to tell it where to look for content. However, it does help to give it some pointers. As always, the more specific the prompt, the better the results!
The provided AI prompt and result samples are for the publicly traded companies Snowflake, CrowdStrike, and Datadog, randomly selected by ChatGPT 5, based, I guess, on my main interactions with it.
Whoever your competitors are, the process remains the same. A good starting point is to list important sources of information:
Websites & product pages
These are great to spot exactly what the competitors' core positioning and messaging are.
With a little luck, it will also provide some info on their pricing strategy, such as tiered pricing, product bundles, other industry-specific price points, or actual prices.
Press releases/articles/blogs
Unless you are looking at an emerging competitor or are just starting the competitive analysis process, TOFU and thought leadership content rarely contain any fresh competitive intelligence information. So it is better to focus your favorite AI's attention on more immediately relevant information, such as new feature rollouts, integrations, and strategic partnerships.
Social Media
Oh yes! Social media is a brilliant source of information on competitors. If you have dedicated social listening and monitoring tools, they will probably beat your AI, so best to skip that point and feed your AI with ready-made results it can incorporate into its analysis.
In case you haven’t, or those you have do not cover some relevant social media, you can input specific channels in the AI prompt.
In the prompt example below, we include LinkedIn, Twitter, Reddit, and forums. Reddit and forums are great sources of emerging trend identification, but they are harder to monitor. The prompt sample includes specific instructions for social media sources that can be fine-tuned to suit your needs.
Case studies & customer references
Your competitors probably publish case studies on their website. These are great to identify their target market (think enterprise vs. SMB), vertical focus, and proof points.
Definitely worth telling your AI to look at those!
Customer reviews
Best place to spot competitors' strengths and weaknesses. They provide direct product comparisons. Even better, they display customers’ feedback, both positive and negative, share of voice, and more. They can be found on sources such as G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Gartner Peer Insights, Peerspot, etc.
Job postings
Yes, competitors' active hiring is a window into the area they intend to expand. For example, hiring a:
Country Manager shows an upcoming expansion into a new geographic market.
AI/ML Engineer signals investment in data-driven products or emerging technologies.
Healthcare Solutions Architect points to a push into a specific vertical, in this case, regulated healthcare.
Head of Partnerships suggests a strategic shift toward ecosystem building, alliances, or channel sales.
Sustainability Program Manager shows prioritization of ESG goals, regulatory readiness, or green initiatives.
Based on the above, have a look at the AI prompt and results sample below.
Pro tip: Run at a temperature of 0.2-0.3. It avoids speculative filler and sticks closer to the scanned sources' info.
AI prompt sample
*Act as a competitive intelligence analyst. Review the official public content and defined social sources for [Company A], [Company B], [Company C].
Extract and compare the following information for each company:
Positioning & messaging (from company websites & product pages)
Pricing & packaging (tiered pricing, product bundles if disclosed)
Recent announcements (press releases/articles/blogs: new features, integrations, partnerships)
Social media signals (see explicit sources below)
Customer case studies (target segments: enterprise vs. SMB, verticals, customer logos, proof points)
Customer reviews (from G2, Capterra, TrustRadius, Gartner Peer Insights, Peerspot: recurring strengths/complaints, competitor comparisons)
Hiring signals (job postings: tech stack, GTM focus such as enterprise AEs vs. SMB reps, channel/partner roles)
Explicit Social Sources to scan:
LinkedIn (public only):
Company pages ([Company A], [Company B], [Company C]) — posts, updates, product highlights.
Executive posts — include only if they are explicitly public. If posts are restricted (connections-only, followers-only), state that access is required and exclude them from analysis.
Twitter/X: official corporate accounts (@CompanyA, @CompanyB, @CompanyC) + key hashtags (#Company A, #CompanyB, #CompanyC, #, #EDR).
Reddit:
r/dataengineering, r/bigdata, r/CompanyA
r/cybersecurity, r/blueteamsec, r/netsec, r/CompanyB
r/devops, r/sysadmin, r/observability, r/CompanyC
Tech forums & communities:
Spiceworks (IT community chatter on [Company A], [Company B], [Company C])
Stack Overflow tags: [Company A], [Company B], [Company C]
Output results in a structured Markdown table (rows = companies, columns = categories above) suitable for copy/paste into Excel or Google Sheets.
Only include facts explicitly mentioned in the listed sources. Do not infer or speculate. Provide citation links for each fact.
Provide a citation link for each point. Include the full citation and URL in the relevant cell.
Run this for Snowflake, CrowdStrike, and Datadog*
AI results sample
Note: This AI Competitive Intelligence report was generated by Gemini Deep Research, and the results are displayed raw, without modification or verification.
View the full Google Sheet on Sample AI Competitive Intelligence from Publicly Available Sources
Note: The selected hashtags and subreddits in this sample were manually selected. They need to be adapted to match your priorities.
The three sample companies are publicly traded, thus required by law to publicly disclose some material, so more public sources than for private companies are available.
Financial & Analyst Reports
Earnings calls / IPO filings (for public SaaS vendors) – revenue mix (ARR vs. services), churn, expansion strategy.
Equity analyst notes – competitive positioning, forecasted growth.
Market research firms (Gartner, Forrester, IDC) – Magic Quadrants, Waves, or MarketScapes comparing SaaS players in a given category.
AI Prompt sample
*Act as a competitive intelligence analyst. Review official company filings (S-1, 10-K, 10-Q), quarterly earnings call transcripts, and equity analyst reports for the following companies: [Competitor A], [Competitor B], [Competitor C].
Extract and compare the following information for each company: Revenue model & revenue mix (subscription/ARR vs. services/other)
Retention metrics (gross retention, NRR, churn)
Expansion strategy (new geographies, verticals, product lines)
Go-to-market focus (SMB vs. enterprise, sales motion)
Key risks & competitive pressures
Growth outlook (analyst forecasts, ARR growth rates)
Output results in a structured Markdown table (rows = companies, columns = the categories above) that can be copied directly into Excel or Google Sheets.
Only include facts explicitly mentioned in filings, transcripts, or analyst reports. Do not infer or speculate.
Provide a citation link for each point. Include the full citation and URL in the relevant cell.
Run this for Snowflake, CrowdStrike, and Datadog*
Pro Tip: Start at temperature 0.0. If the results look too brittle or clipped, try 0.2. Anything above that risks hallucination in this use case.
AI result sample
Note: This AI Competitive Intelligence report was generated by Gemini Deep Research, and results are displayed raw, without modification or verification.
See results on Google Sheet AI Competitive Intelligence from Financial & Analyst Reports
It is always a good idea to check the quoted sources. First, to verify that they actually exist, second, to check if the AI summarized information matches its source, and third, to spot relevant information that the AI missed. This concludes today’s post.
Next week: How to Blend Human Intel with AI Intelligence for Sharper Competitive Analysis
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