User Guide

Competitor Tracking & Analysis

The Competitors tool lets you monitor competitors continuously — tracking website changes, pricing moves, product launches, messaging shifts, and strategic positioning. Get AI-powered analysis that tells you what changed and what it means for your business.

Explain Like I'm 5
Imagine you're in a race and you want to know what the other racers are doing. Are they getting faster? Did they change their shoes? Are they practicing a new technique? The Competitors tool is like having binoculars that watch all the other racers for you and tell you when something important changes — so you can adjust your own strategy.

What Does It Do?

Competitor tracking works in two modes. Continuous monitoring: add a competitor's website and MarketGeist checks it every 6 hours for changes — new pages, pricing updates, product launches, job postings, messaging shifts. On-demand analysis: run a deep competitor analysis that evaluates their entire digital presence, including website content, SEO performance, social media activity, and news coverage.

Why It Matters

Never be surprised — know about competitor moves within hours, not weeks
Strategic context — AI explains what changes mean, not just what changed
Pricing intelligence — track competitor pricing pages to detect adjustments before they announce them publicly
Hiring signals — new job postings reveal strategic direction (e.g., hiring AI engineers = building AI features)
Win/loss preparation — sales teams can reference the latest competitive intel before prospect meetings

How to Track a Competitor

1

Go to Dashboard → Competitors

The Competitors page shows your tracked competitors and recent activity.

2

Click "Add Competitor"

Enter the competitor's website URL and optional name. MarketGeist begins its first scan immediately.

3

Review initial analysis

The first scan produces a snapshot: company overview, key pages detected, pricing information found, and initial competitive assessment.

4

Monitor ongoing changes

MarketGeist checks the competitor's site every 6 hours. Changes appear in your competitor timeline — with AI analysis of what changed and why it matters.

Analysis Types

Beyond continuous monitoring, you can run specialized competitor analyses:

Competitor Analysis Types
Analysis TypeWhat It EvaluatesTime to Complete
Quick DiscoveryCompany overview, key offerings, market position from public data15–30 seconds
Full Website AnalysisComplete website scan — every page, pricing, messaging, features, job postings2–5 minutes
Digital Presence AuditWebsite + SEO + social media + news + review sites combined3–5 minutes
Competitive PositioningHow the competitor positions vs. alternatives, their value proposition, and messaging strategy1–2 minutes
Competitor Change Event — Example
{
  "competitor": "Acme Corp",
  "event_type": "pricing_change",
  "detected_at": "2026-04-14T08:15:00Z",
  "summary": "Acme Corp reduced Enterprise tier pricing from $299/mo to $199/mo and added a new 'Startup' tier at $49/mo",
  "analysis": "This 33% price reduction on Enterprise suggests Acme is facing churn pressure from lower-cost alternatives. The new Startup tier indicates expansion into SMB — a segment they previously ignored. This may affect your mid-market positioning.",
  "affected_pages": [
    "https://acme.com/pricing",
    "https://acme.com/enterprise"
  ],
  "recommended_action": "Review your mid-market pricing and consider whether a competitive response is needed within 30 days."
}
Pro Tip
Track at least your top 3 competitors and one or two indirect competitors (companies in adjacent markets that could enter your space). Indirect competitors are often the ones that blindside you — they have existing distribution and can pivot quickly.