Generated banner for Competitive Analysis
Generated logo for Competitive Analysis

Competitive Analysis

AnthropicOfficialPublished by Anthropic

  • Skill
  • Content generator
  • Business and productivity
  • Apache-2.0
  • No issues found

From the author

Framework for building competitive landscape decks — market positioning, competitor deep-dives, comparative analysis, strategic synthesis. Use when the user asks for a competitive landscape, competitor analysis, peer comparison, market positioning assessment, strategic review, or investment memo deck. Also triggers on "who are the competitors to X", "benchmark X against peers", "build a market map", or any request to systematically evaluate competitive dynamics across an industry.
— the description by Anthropic

AutoGineer summary

Written by AutoGineer from the skill’s own files, not by the author

This skill provides a systematic framework for building competitive analysis decks, guiding the user through a two-phase process of scoping requirements and generating structured slide content. It emphasizes data fidelity, consistent metric application, and clear strategic synthesis. The workflow is designed to function within both PowerPoint add-ins and chat environments, ensuring that competitive dynamics, market positioning, and peer benchmarking are presented with standardized formatting and cited evidence.

What it does

  • Defines industry-specific metrics for consistent competitor benchmarking.
  • Facilitates the creation of market context, industry economics, and target company profiles.
  • Supports the generation of various visualizations including 2x2 matrices, radar charts, and tier diagrams.
  • Provides templates for competitor deep-dives, comparative analysis, and M&A transaction tracking.
  • Enforces strict data citation and formatting standards for professional slide production.
  • Guides the synthesis of strategic insights, including moat assessments and scenario planning.

When to use it

  • When you need to build a competitive landscape or market positioning assessment deck.
  • When performing a deep-dive analysis on specific competitors or peer groups.
  • When creating an investment memo that requires strategic review and scenario analysis.
  • When you need to map market dynamics or value chains within a specific industry.

Advantages

  • Ensures structural consistency across 10-20 slide decks through an approval-based workflow.
  • Maintains high data integrity by requiring explicit citations and standardized fiscal periods.
  • Reduces rework by requiring outline approval before generating full slide content.
  • Provides clear, industry-standard frameworks for comparing companies across various sectors.

Usage examples

“Who are the main competitors to Salesforce in the CRM space and how do they compare?”
The agent will initiate a scoping phase to define the competitor set, identify key SaaS metrics like ARR and CAC, and propose an outline for a comparative analysis deck.
“Build a market map for the embedded payments industry.”
The agent will structure a presentation covering market size, industry economics, and a visual map of industry participants based on the defined scope.
“Benchmark our company against our top 3 peers using a 2x2 matrix.”
The agent will gather the necessary financial data, define the axes for the 2x2 matrix, and generate a slide comparing the target company against its peers.

Install

  1. Download the skill as a ZIP:

    https://autogineer.com/agent-skills/anthropics/competitive-analysis/download
  2. Unzip it into the cross-client skills folder of your project:

    mkdir -p .agents/skills && unzip competitive-analysis.zip -d .agents/skills

Documentation by Anthropic

Competitive Landscape Mapping

Build a complete competitive analysis deck. This is a two-phase process: gather requirements and get outline approval first, then build.

Environment check

This skill works in both the PowerPoint add-in and chat. Identify which you're in before starting — the mechanics differ, the workflow doesn't:

  • Add-in — the deck is open live; build slides directly into it.

  • Chat — generate a .pptx file (or build into one the user uploaded).

Everything below applies in both.

Phase 1 — Scope the analysis

Competitive analysis means different things to different people. Before any research or slide-building, use ask_user_question to pin down what they actually want. Don't guess — a 20-slide peer benchmarking deck and a 5-slide market map are both "competitive analysis" and take completely different shapes.

Gather in one round if you can (the tool takes up to 4 questions):

  • Scope — Single target company with competitors around it? Or multi-company side-by-side with no protagonist?

  • Competitor set — Which companies are in scope? If the user names them, use exactly those. If they say "the usual suspects," propose a set and confirm.

  • Audience and depth — Quick read for someone already in the space, or a full primer? This drives whether you need market sizing, industry economics, and history — or can skip to the comparison.

  • Investment context — Do they need bull/base/bear scenarios and signposts? That's Step 9 below; skip it if this is a strategic review rather than an investment thesis.

If they've uploaded an Excel/CSV with competitor data, confirm which columns map to which metrics before you start pulling numbers. Source-file fidelity matters: use values exactly as given, don't recalculate or re-round.

Phase 2 — Outline, approve, then build

Do not create slides until the outline is approved. Propose slide titles and one-line content notes, present them to the user, get a yes. A competitive deck is 10-20 slides of interlocking content — rebuilding because slide 4 was wrong is expensive. The outline is the cheap iteration point.

When proposing the outline, ask_user_question works well for the structural decisions: which positioning visualization (2×2 matrix / radar / tier diagram — Step 5 below), how to group competitors (by business model / segment / posture — Step 4). These are taste calls the user likely has an opinion on.


Standards — apply throughout

Prompt fidelity

When the user specifies something, that's a requirement, not a suggestion:

  • Slide titles and section names — exact wording. If they say "Overview and Competitive Scope," don't swap in "FY2024 Competitive Landscape."

  • Chart vs. table — not interchangeable. "Embedded chart" means a real chart object with data labels on the bars/slices, not a formatted table.

  • Complete data series — if they list 7 competitors, include all 7. If they show 2015-2025, include every year.

  • Exact values and ratios — "surpasses DoorDash 4:1, Lyft 8:1" means those ratios, not "7.6x Lyft."

Source quality, when sources conflict
  1. 10-Ks / annual reports (audited)

  2. Earnings calls / investor presentations (management commentary)

  3. Sell-side research (analyst estimates, useful for private company sizing)

  4. Industry reports (McKinsey, Gartner — market sizing, trends)

  5. News (recent developments only; verify against primary sources)

Data comparability
  • All competitor metrics from the same fiscal year; flag exceptions explicitly ("FY24" vs "H1 2024")

  • Same metric definitions across competitors

  • Convert to USD for international; note the exchange rate and date

  • Missing data shows as "-" or "N/A" with an "[E]" flag for estimates — never blank

  • Every number has a citation: "[Company] [Document] ([Date])"

Design
  • Slide titles are insights, not labels. "Scale leaders pulling away from niche players" — not "Competitive Analysis."

  • Signposts are quantified. "Margin below 40%" — not "margins decline."

  • Ratings show the actual. "●●● $160B" — not just "●●●."

  • Charts are real chart objects — not text tables dressed up to look like charts.

Typography — set explicitly, don't rely on defaults:

  • Slide titles: 28-32pt bold

  • Section headers: 18-20pt bold

  • Body text: 14-16pt (never below 14pt)

  • Table text: 14pt

  • Sources/footnotes: 14pt, gray

  • Same element type = same size throughout the deck

Charts:

  • Legend inside the chart boundary, not floating over the plot area

  • Right-side legend for pies (≤6 slices), bottom legend for line/bar (≤4 series)

  • More than 6 series → split into multiple charts or use a table

  • Pie charts show percentages on slices, not just in the legend

Tables:

  • Light gray header row, bold

  • Right-align numbers, left-align text

  • Enough cell padding that text doesn't touch borders

Color: 2-3 colors max. Muted — navy, gray, one accent. Same color meanings throughout.

What's strict vs. flexible
AlwaysCase-by-case
Exact titles/sections when user specifiesCreative titles when they don't
Chart when user says chart; table when they say tableVisualization type when unspecified
Every competitor/data point they listNumber of competitors when unspecified
Exact values when specifiedRounding when precision unspecified
Titles fit without overflowNumber of competitor categories
No overlapping elementsWhich dimensions to compare

Analysis workflow

Step 0 — Industry-defining metrics

Before anything else: what 3-5 metrics does this industry actually run on? Use these consistently across every competitor.

IndustryKey metrics
SaaSARR, NRR, CAC payback, LTV/CAC, Rule of 40
PaymentsGPV, take rate, attach rate, transaction margin
MarketplacesGMV, take rate, buyer/seller ratio, repeat rate
RetailSame-store sales, inventory turns, sales per sq ft
LogisticsVolume, cost per unit, on-time delivery %, capacity utilization

Industry not listed — pick the metrics investors and operators benchmark on.

Step 1 — Market context

Size, growth, drivers, headwinds. With sources.

Correct: "Embedded payments is $80-100B in 2024, growing 20-25% CAGR (McKinsey 2024)" Wrong: "The market is large and growing rapidly"

Step 2 — Industry economics

Map how value flows. Approach depends on industry structure:

  • Vertically structured — value chain layers, typical margin at each

  • Platform/network — ecosystem participants, value flows between them

  • Fragmented — consolidation dynamics, margin differences by scale

Step 3 — Target company profile
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $4.96B |
| Growth | +26% YoY |
| Gross Margin | 45% |
| Profitability | $373M Adj. EBITDA |
| Customers | 134K |
| Retention | 92% |
| Market Share | ~15% |

Multi-segment companies add a breakdown:

| Segment | Revenue | Rev YoY | Rev % | EBITDA | EBITDA YoY | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seg A | $25.1B | +26% | 57% | $6.5B | +31% | 26% |
| Seg B | $13.8B | +31% | 31% | $2.5B | +64% | 18% |
| Seg C | $5.1B | -2% | 12% | -$74M | -16% | -1% |
| Total | $44.0B | +18% | 100% | $6.5B* | - | 15% |

*Note corporate costs if applicable

Step 4 — Competitor mapping

Group by whichever lens fits (this is a good ask_user_question decision if the user hasn't specified):

  • By business model — platform / vertical / horizontal

  • By segment — enterprise / SMB / consumer

  • By posture — direct / adjacent / emerging

  • By origin — incumbent / disruptor / new entrant

Step 5 — Positioning visualization
TypeWhen
2×2 matrixTwo dominant competitive factors
Radar/spiderMulti-factor comparison
Tier diagramNatural clustering into strategic groups
Value chain mapVertical industries
Ecosystem mapPlatform markets

See references/frameworks.md for 2×2 axis pairs by industry.

Step 6 — Competitor deep-dives

Two tables per competitor.

Metrics:

| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Revenue | $X.XB |
| Growth | +XX% YoY |
| Gross Margin | XX% |
| Market Cap | $X.XB |
| Profitability | $XXXM EBITDA |
| Customers | XXK |
| Retention | XX% |
| Market Share | ~XX% |

Qualitative:

| Category | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Business | What they do (1 sentence) |
| Strengths | 2-3 bullets |
| Weaknesses | 2-3 bullets |
| Strategy | Current priorities |
Step 7 — Comparative analysis
| Dimension | Company A | Company B | Company C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale | ●●● $160B | ●●○ $45B | ●○○ $8B |
| Growth | ●●○ +26% | ●●● +35% | ●●○ +22% |
| Margins | ●●○ 7.5% | ●○○ 3.2% | ●●● 15% |
Step 8 — Strategic context

M&A transactions (multiples, rationale), partnership trends, capital raising patterns, regulatory developments. See references/schemas.md for the M&A transaction table format.

Step 9 — Synthesis

Moat assessment — rate each competitor Strong / Moderate / Weak on:

MoatWhat to assess
Network effectsUser/supplier flywheel strength; cross-side vs same-side
Switching costsTechnical integration depth, contractual lock-in, behavioral habits
Scale economiesUnit cost advantages at volume; minimum efficient scale
Intangible assetsBrand, proprietary data, regulatory licenses, patents

Required synthesis elements:

  • Durable advantages (hard to replicate) — map to moat categories

  • Structural vulnerabilities (hard to fix)

  • Current state vs. trajectory

For investment contexts (skip if the Phase 1 scoping said no):

| Scenario | Probability | Key driver |
|---|---|---|
| Bull | 30% | Market share gains, margin expansion |
| Base | 50% | Current trajectory continues |
| Bear | 20% | Competitive pressure, margin compression |

Quality checklist

Before finishing:

Prompt fidelity

  • Slide titles match what the user specified, verbatim

  • Charts where they said chart; tables where they said table

  • Every competitor/year/data point they listed is present

  • Exact values and formats as specified

Data consistency

  • Source-file values extracted directly, not recalculated

  • Same metric shows the same value on every slide it appears

  • Same decimal precision as the source

Layout

  • Titles fit without overflow

  • No overlapping elements

  • All text within containers, no clipping

Content

  • Every number has a citation

  • All metrics from the same fiscal period (or flagged)

  • Slide titles state insights, not topics

  • Charts are real chart objects

Run standard visual verification checks on every slide — this catches overlaps, overflow, and low-contrast text that don't show up when you're reading back the XML.

Files

LICENSE


                                 Apache License
                           Version 2.0, January 2004
                        http://www.apache.org/licenses/

   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR USE, REPRODUCTION, AND DISTRIBUTION

   1. Definitions.

      "License" shall mean the terms and conditions for use, reproduction,
      and distribution as defined by Sections 1 through 9 of this document.

      "Licensor" shall mean the copyright owner or entity authorized by
      the copyright owner that is granting the License.

      "Legal Entity" shall mean the union of the acting entity and all
      other entities that control, are controlled by, or are under common
      control with that entity. For the purposes of this definition,
      "control" means (i) the power, direct or indirect, to cause the
      direction or management of such entity, whether by contract or
      otherwise, or (ii) ownership of fifty percent (50%) or more of the
      outstanding shares, or (iii) beneficial ownership of such entity.

      "You" (or "Your") shall mean an individual or Legal Entity
      exercising permissions granted by this License.

      "Source" form shall mean the preferred form for making modifications,
      including but not limited to software source code, documentation
      source, and configuration files.

      "Object" form shall mean any form resulting from mechanical
      transformation or translation of a Source form, including but
      not limited to compiled object code, generated documentation,
      and conversions to other media types.

      "Work" shall mean the work of authorship, whether in Source or
      Object form, made available under the License, as indicated by a
      copyright notice that is included in or attached to the work
      (an example is provided in the Appendix below).

      "Derivative Works" shall mean any work, whether in Source or Object
      form, that is based on (or derived from) the Work and for which the
      editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications
      represent, as a whole, an original work of authorship. For the purposes
      of this License, Derivative Works shall not include works that remain
      separable from, or merely link (or bind by name) to the interfaces of,
      the Work and Derivative Works thereof.

      "Contribution" shall mean any work of authorship, including
      the original version of the Work and any modifications or additions
      to that Work or Derivative Works thereof, that is intentionally
      submitted to Licensor for inclusion in the Work by the copyright owner
      or by an individual or Legal Entity authorized to submit on behalf of
      the copyright owner. For the purposes of this definition, "submitted"
      means any form of electronic, verbal, or written communication sent
      to the Licensor or its representatives, including but not limited to
      communication on electronic mailing lists, source code control systems,
      and issue tracking systems that are managed by, or on behalf of, the
      Licensor for the purpose of discussing and improving the Work, but
      excluding communication that is conspicuously marked or otherwise
      designated in writing by the copyright owner as "Not a Contribution."

      "Contributor" shall mean Licensor and any individual or Legal Entity
      on behalf of whom a Contribution has been received by Licensor and
      subsequently incorporated within the Work.

   2. Grant of Copyright License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      copyright license to reproduce, prepare Derivative Works of,
      publicly display, publicly perform, sublicense, and distribute the
      Work and such Derivative Works in Source or Object form.

   3. Grant of Patent License. Subject to the terms and conditions of
      this License, each Contributor hereby grants to You a perpetual,
      worldwide, non-exclusive, no-charge, royalty-free, irrevocable
      (except as stated in this section) patent license to make, have made,
      use, offer to sell, sell, import, and otherwise transfer the Work,
      where such license applies only to those patent claims licensable
      by such Contributor that are necessarily infringed by their
      Contribution(s) alone or by combination of their Contribution(s)
      with the Work to which such Contribution(s) was submitted. If You
      institute patent litigation against any entity (including a
      cross-claim or counterclaim in a lawsuit) alleging that the Work
      or a Contribution incorporated within the Work constitutes direct
      or contributory patent infringement, then any patent licenses
      granted to You under this License for that Work shall terminate
      as of the date such litigation is filed.

   4. Redistribution. You may reproduce and distribute copies of the
      Work or Derivative Works thereof in any medium, with or without
      modifications, and in Source or Object form, provided that You
      meet the following conditions:

      (a) You must give any other recipients of the Work or
          Derivative Works a copy of this License; and

      (b) You must cause any modified files to carry prominent notices
          stating that You changed the files; and

      (c) You must retain, in the Source form of any Derivative Works
          that You distribute, all copyright, patent, trademark, and
          attribution notices from the Source form of the Work,
          excluding those notices that do not pertain to any part of
          the Derivative Works; and

      (d) If the Work includes a "NOTICE" text file as part of its
          distribution, then any Derivative Works that You distribute must
          include a readable copy of the attribution notices contained
          within such NOTICE file, excluding those notices that do not
          pertain to any part of the Derivative Works, in at least one
          of the following places: within a NOTICE text file distributed
          as part of the Derivative Works; within the Source form or
          documentation, if provided along with the Derivative Works; or,
          within a display generated by the Derivative Works, if and
          wherever such third-party notices normally appear. The contents
          of the NOTICE file are for informational purposes only and
          do not modify the License. You may add Your own attribution
          notices within Derivative Works that You distribute, alongside
          or as an addendum to the NOTICE text from the Work, provided
          that such additional attribution notices cannot be construed
          as modifying the License.

      You may add Your own copyright statement to Your modifications and
      may provide additional or different license terms and conditions
      for use, reproduction, or distribution of Your modifications, or
      for any such Derivative Works as a whole, provided Your use,
      reproduction, and distribution of the Work otherwise complies with
      the conditions stated in this License.

   5. Submission of Contributions. Unless You explicitly state otherwise,
      any Contribution intentionally submitted for inclusion in the Work
      by You to the Licensor shall be under the terms and conditions of
      this License, without any additional terms or conditions.
      Notwithstanding the above, nothing herein shall supersede or modify
      the terms of any separate license agreement you may have executed
      with Licensor regarding such Contributions.

   6. Trademarks. This License does not grant permission to use the trade
      names, trademarks, service marks, or product names of the Licensor,
      except as required for reasonable and customary use in describing the
      origin of the Work and reproducing the content of the NOTICE file.

   7. Disclaimer of Warranty. Unless required by applicable law or
      agreed to in writing, Licensor provides the Work (and each
      Contributor provides its Contributions) on an "AS IS" BASIS,
      WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or
      implied, including, without limitation, any warranties or conditions
      of TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, or FITNESS FOR A
      PARTICULAR PURPOSE. You are solely responsible for determining the
      appropriateness of using or redistributing the Work and assume any
      risks associated with Your exercise of permissions under this License.

   8. Limitation of Liability. In no event and under no legal theory,
      whether in tort (including negligence), contract, or otherwise,
      unless required by applicable law (such as deliberate and grossly
      negligent acts) or agreed to in writing, shall any Contributor be
      liable to You for damages, including any direct, indirect, special,
      incidental, or consequential damages of any character arising as a
      result of this License or out of the use or inability to use the
      Work (including but not limited to damages for loss of goodwill,
      work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any and all
      other commercial damages or losses), even if such Contributor
      has been advised of the possibility of such damages.

   9. Accepting Warranty or Additional Liability. While redistributing
      the Work or Derivative Works thereof, You may choose to offer,
      and charge a fee for, acceptance of support, warranty, indemnity,
      or other liability obligations and/or rights consistent with this
      License. However, in accepting such obligations, You may act only
      on Your own behalf and on Your sole responsibility, not on behalf
      of any other Contributor, and only if You agree to indemnify,
      defend, and hold each Contributor harmless for any liability
      incurred by, or claims asserted against, such Contributor by reason
      of your accepting any such warranty or additional liability.

   END OF TERMS AND CONDITIONS

   APPENDIX: How to apply the Apache License to your work.

      To apply the Apache License to your work, attach the following
      boilerplate notice, with the fields enclosed by brackets "[]"
      replaced with your own identifying information. (Don't include
      the brackets!)  The text should be enclosed in the appropriate
      comment syntax for the file format. We also recommend that a
      file or class name and description of purpose be included on the
      same "printed page" as the copyright notice for easier
      identification within third-party archives.

   Copyright [yyyy] [name of copyright owner]

   Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
   you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
   You may obtain a copy of the License at

       http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

   Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
   distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
   WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
   See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
   limitations under the License.

Requirements and compatibility

Written for: Claude Code, Claude apps

Works with: Claude Code, Claude apps, OpenAI Codex, GitHub Copilot, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Kiro, OpenCode, Goose, Amp, Roo Code, JetBrains Junie, Factory Droid, Devin (ex-Windsurf), Mistral Vibe, OpenHands, Letta

“Works with” means the tool reads the open Agent Skills format; a skill written for one tool may use features others lack.

Security

No issues found by our static scan· No issues found

A static scan is not a guarantee. Skills are third-party content: review a skill before you let an agent use it.

Attribution and licence

Published by
Anthropic
Publisher
Anthropic (Official)
Source
anthropics/financial-services · plugins/agent-plugins/market-researcher/skills/competitive-analysis · commit 6056506
Licence
Apache License 2.0 (redistribution allowed)
  • LICENSE (added by AutoGineer from LICENSE)
  • ATTRIBUTION.md (written by AutoGineer)
Synced
Also distributed in
anthropics/financial-services

AutoGineer is not affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic or Anthropic.

Download ZIP

The ZIP holds the skill’s files, its licence files and an ATTRIBUTION.md. Download competitive-analysis.zip