Competitor Intelligence
Competitor Intelligence Report: What to Include + Free Template
A competitor intelligence report turns raw competitor data into decisions. Here's exactly what to include, plus a free template you can use today.
Most competitor research dies in a tab somewhere.
You spend an hour clicking through competitor websites, take a few notes, maybe drop something into a Slack message — and then it all disappears. No record, no action, no way to track how things have changed over time.
A competitor intelligence report fixes this. It's a structured document that captures what you know about your competitors at a given point in time, what's changed since last time, and what your business should do about it. Done consistently, it becomes one of the most useful strategic documents you have.
This guide covers what to include in a competitor intelligence report, how often to run one, and a free template you can use starting today.
What Is a Competitor Intelligence Report?
A competitor intelligence report is a structured summary of what your competitors are doing — covering pricing, positioning, product, content, and customer sentiment — along with an assessment of what those things mean for your business.
It's different from a one-time competitive analysis (which is a snapshot for a specific decision) and different from a battle card (which is a sales tool for handling specific objections). A competitive intelligence report is an ongoing, recurring document that tracks changes over time.
The best ones are short, opinionated, and action-oriented. They don't just describe what competitors are doing — they tell you what to do about it.
Who Uses Competitor Intelligence Reports?
Founders and operators — to stay informed about the competitive landscape without spending hours on manual research
Sales teams — to update their competitive talking points and handle objections accurately
Marketing teams — to track competitor messaging and content strategy
Product teams — to understand what competitors are shipping and what customers are asking for
For small businesses, one person often covers all of these roles. A good report serves all of them at once.
What to Include in a Competitor Intelligence Report
1. Report Header
Keep it simple: date, reporting period, who prepared it, and a one-line summary of the most important thing that happened this period.
Example:
- Date: May 4, 2026
- Period: April 21 – May 4, 2026
- Prepared by: Marketing / OSA Radar
- Top finding: Competitor X dropped their entry-level price by 25% — sales team needs updated objection handling immediately.
The top finding is the most important field. It forces you to identify the single most actionable piece of intelligence from the period, so anyone who reads nothing else knows what matters.
2. Competitor Snapshot Table
A quick-reference table showing each competitor's current state. Update this every report.
| Competitor | Pricing | Main Value Prop | Target Market | Key Changes This Period |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitor A | $149/mo | Automated CI platform | Mid-market | Dropped Starter plan |
| Competitor B | $299/mo | Real-time alerts | Enterprise | Launched Salesforce integration |
| Competitor C | Free–$79/mo | DIY monitoring | SMB | New blog post series targeting your keywords |
This table gives you the state of play at a glance. Over time, it becomes a historical record of how the competitive landscape has shifted.
3. Changes This Period
The core of the report. For each meaningful change you've observed, include:
What changed — specific, factual description
Where you found it — pricing page, homepage, job posting, review site, etc.
Why it matters — your assessment of the strategic significance
Recommended response — what, if anything, your business should do
Example entry:
Competitor A — Pricing change
Removed their $49/month Starter plan. Entry point is now $149/month.
Source: Pricing page (detected May 2)
Why it matters: Their cheapest customers now have nowhere to go. Potential opportunity to capture switchers.
Response: Add a comparison page targeting "Competitor A alternative." Brief sales on the positioning opportunity.
Not every change warrants a response. The value of having the "recommended response" field is that it forces you to think about whether action is needed — and if not, to explicitly decide to monitor and move on.
4. Pricing Summary
A dedicated section for the current pricing of every competitor you track. Include plan names, prices, and any notable inclusions or restrictions. Update this every report, even if nothing changed. Having a dated pricing record is valuable when you need to reconstruct what the market looked like at a specific point in time.
5. Messaging and Positioning
Current homepage headline
Primary value proposition (what problem do they say they solve?)
Target customer (who do they say they're for?)
Notable messaging changes since last report
This section is especially useful for marketing and sales. If a competitor has pivoted their messaging toward a specific segment or pain point, your team needs to know.
6. Product and Feature Updates
Any new features, integrations, or product changes observed during the period.
Feature name / description
Where announced (changelog, blog post, email, product page update)
Relevance to your roadmap or customers
7. Content and SEO Activity
New content published by competitors during the period.
Article or page title
Target keyword or topic
Estimated strategic intent (is this going after a keyword you own? Targeting a new segment?)
Even a brief note here helps your content team see what the competitive content landscape looks like.
8. Customer Sentiment
New reviews from G2, Capterra, Google, or other relevant review sites. Note recurring themes — both positive and negative. Pay special attention to negative reviews, which often reveal gaps you can address in your own positioning.
Competitor B — G2 reviews (3 new this period)
Recurring complaint: "Setup takes too long, support is slow to respond."
Opportunity: Emphasize OSA Radar's 5-minute setup and immediate briefing in sales materials.
9. Hiring and Signals
Notable job postings or company announcements that suggest strategic direction. A company hiring heavily in enterprise sales is moving upmarket. A company hiring ML engineers is building AI features. Note these even if the implications aren't immediately obvious.
10. Action Items
A clean list of specific actions that came out of this report, with owners and due dates. This is the most important section — it's what turns intelligence into outcomes.
| Action | Owner | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Add "Competitor A alternative" comparison page | Marketing | May 11 |
| Update sales one-pager with new competitive pricing | Sales | May 7 |
| Monitor Competitor B's new Salesforce integration — assess if customers ask about it | Product | Ongoing |
How Often to Run a Competitor Intelligence Report
The right cadence for most small businesses in competitive markets. A weekly report covers pricing and website changes (which can affect pipeline immediately), new content (which compounds over time), and review activity (which reflects recent customer experience).
Works if your market moves slowly or you have fewer than three active competitors. Monthly reports are better for synthesis and trend-spotting than for catching fast-moving changes.
Too slow for most businesses. By the time you write a quarterly report, the pricing change you missed two months ago has already cost you deals.
The key is consistency. A mediocre report done weekly is worth more than a thorough report done twice a year.
Free Competitor Intelligence Report Template
Copy this template into a Google Doc, Notion page, or wherever you manage internal documents. Update it weekly.
COMPETITOR INTELLIGENCE REPORT
Date: ___________
Period: ___________ to ___________
Top finding: ___________
COMPETITOR SNAPSHOT
Competitor | Pricing | Value Prop | Target Market | Changes This Period
CHANGES THIS PERIOD
What changed:
Source:
Why it matters:
Recommended response:
PRICING SUMMARY
(Current pricing for all tracked competitors — update every report)
MESSAGING SNAPSHOT
(Current headline + value prop for each competitor)
PRODUCT UPDATES
(New features, integrations, or product page changes)
CONTENT ACTIVITY
(New blog posts, guides, or landing pages)
CUSTOMER SENTIMENT
(New reviews — recurring themes, positive and negative)
HIRING SIGNALS
(Notable job postings and what they suggest)
ACTION ITEMS
Action | Owner | Due
Automating Your Competitor Intelligence Report
Building this report manually is better than nothing, but it has a ceiling. Manual monitoring misses changes between check-ins, has no historical record unless you maintain it carefully, and requires someone to remember to do it.
OSA Radar automates the detection and delivery layer — monitoring competitor websites on a weekly cadence and surfacing what changed, so you can focus on the assessment and action sections rather than the research. Your report becomes: read the briefing, fill in the analysis, set the action items. The watching is handled for you.
Free during beta. Paid plans from $99/month.
Stop checking competitor websites manually. Get a structured briefing every week.
Start automating your competitor intelligence →Summary
A competitor intelligence report is a structured, recurring document that tracks what your competitors are doing and what your business should do about it. The key sections are: a snapshot table, a changes log with recommended responses, pricing, messaging, product updates, content activity, customer sentiment, hiring signals, and action items.
Run it weekly. Keep it short and opinionated. Focus the action items section — that's where the ROI lives.