An agent at work · Competitive intelligence
How strong are younext to your competitors?
Competitive intelligence is one of the agents in Zaela. It maps your competitors, proposes new ones and measures every player on six pillars, each metric from the source that fits it best. You get one Competitive Strength Index, and opportunities you can act on.
The film
Competitive intelligence
The method
This is how Competitive intelligence works.
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01Starting point
It starts from what is already known.
It reads the known competitors in your memory, with their type and status, your core keywords and region, and the previous run if there is one. Nothing there yet? Then it builds the starting list with you: your domain, your region, 10 to 20 core keywords and the competitors you already know.
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02Discovery
Four routes to who you really compete with.
Who ranks on the same keywords, which physical players sit in your region, who fills the top 10 for your core searches, and who shows up in AI answers. Each candidate gets a reason, a relevance score and a type: direct, direct abroad, indirect, channel partner or inspiration. You confirm the set before any costly measurement starts. By default, up to 15 direct competitors are measured in depth.
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03Bulk screening
First a quick, low-cost scan of the whole set.
One call per metric for every domain at once: estimated traffic, domain rank, referring domains and brand search volume. That gives a first ranking and shows who in the broad list is bigger than expected.
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04Deep measurement
Six pillars, one source per metric.
For the direct set it measures traffic, search visibility, website strength, social reach, reputation and firepower: SE Ranking and DataForSEO for search and websites, Lighthouse for speed, Google reviews, Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and active ads in the Meta Ad Library. Annual accounts or Similarweb figures only count when you supply them. Before every paid scraping run it estimates the cost and tells you.
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05Scoring
One Competitive Strength Index.
Every value carries its source and date. Volumes go on a log scale, you are index 100, and by default the pillars weigh in as traffic 25, search visibility 20, website, social and reputation 15 each, firepower 10, or follow a profile for your sector. Every sum runs through a calculator, never from memory. Missing data stays empty with a reason, never zero.
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06Interpretation
From scores to what you can do.
Per competitor: where it beats you and where it lags, what explains that, and one concrete action you can test, only when the data supports it. For you: a five-point summary, up to three opportunities per pillar and, from the second run, who moved 15 points or more, and why.
This page is based on the agent's instructions and knowledge in Zaela. The drawings are illustrations.
What it pays attention to
What it pays attention to.
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One source per metric
Traffic from SE Ranking and from DataForSEO are two metrics, not two guesses at one number. It ranks within one source and labels every absolute figure.
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Measured, not remembered
Every value has a tool action and a date. Revenue, founding years or sentiment never come from an AI's memory.
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Missing is not zero
A metric that could not be measured stays empty, with the reason. A gap is never filled with zero.
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You confirm first
No costly calls before you have confirmed the set and seen the estimated cost. Above 15 euros it asks for your explicit approval.
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Brand and location apart
For a brand with several locations, domain figures count at brand level and reviews and local figures per location, clearly marked.
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Dated data
Every deliverable carries a line with sources and dates. Data older than 90 days is marked as a snapshot.
Teamwork
Who it works with.
Presentation builder
On request, turns the run into a deck, from the market to the opportunities, with a sources slide that is never left out.
Dashboard expert
Its method shapes the interactive dashboard.
Sentiment analyst
For deeper sentiment on reviews and social comments.
Tool engineer
When a new data tool or connection is needed.
AI visibility analyst
Reuses the competitor picture and speed measurements in its AI visibility analysis.
Tools it uses
- DataForSEO
- SE Ranking
- Instagram and TikTok via Apify
- Facebook and LinkedIn via Apify
- Meta Ad Library
- Google reviews via Apify
- Calculator for every sum
- Excel exports you supply
What it never does.
- Mix two sources in one column.
- Use an AI's memory as a source. No invented revenue, founding year or sentiment.
- Fill a gap with zero or a guess.
- Start costly measurements before you have confirmed the set and seen the cost.
- Rank channel partners or inspiration players against you. They show where you can be visible, not whom to beat.
What you get
What you get.
dashboard.htmlThe interactive dashboard
Your position, the six pillars, a sortable comparison matrix and a scorecard per competitor, with one pillar choice that steers every section.
data.xlsxThe Excel
One tab per pillar with value, client index and score, plus competitors, sources and opportunities, with source and date under every column.
presentation.pptxThe deck, on request
The market, your position, the six pillars, the top 5 competitors and the opportunities, with a slide on the sources.
runs/The run in memory
Summary, table, opportunities and what is missing, so the next run can show what changed.
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