/apify-competitor-intelligence

name: apify-competitor-intelligence
description: Analyze competitor strategies, content, pricing, ads, and market positioning across Google Maps, Booking.com, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.
risk: critical
source: community

Competitor Intelligence

Analyze competitors using Apify Actors to extract data from multiple platforms.

When to Use

• You need competitor benchmarks for content, reviews, pricing, ads, audience, or channel performance.
• The task involves selecting Apify Actors to compare competitors across maps, booking, social, or video platforms.
• You need structured competitor data plus synthesized takeaways for strategy or positioning.

Prerequisites

(No need to check it upfront)

• `.env` file with `APIFY_TOKEN`
• Node.js 20.6+ (for native `--env-file` support)
• `mcpc` CLI tool: `npm install -g @apify/mcpc`

Workflow

Copy this checklist and track progress:

Task Progress:
- [ ] Step 1: Identify competitor analysis type (select Actor)
- [ ] Step 2: Fetch Actor schema via mcpc
- [ ] Step 3: Ask user preferences (format, filename)
- [ ] Step 4: Run the analysis script
- [ ] Step 5: Summarize findings

Step 1: Identify Competitor Analysis Type

Select the appropriate Actor based on analysis needs:

| User Need | Actor ID | Best For | |-----------|----------|----------| | Competitor business data | `compass/crawler-google-places` | Location analysis | | Competitor contact discovery | `poidata/google-maps-email-extractor` | Email extraction | | Feature benchmarking | `compass/google-maps-extractor` | Detailed business data | | Competitor review analysis | `compass/Google-Maps-Reviews-Scraper` | Review comparison | | Hotel competitor data | `voyager/booking-scraper` | Hotel benchmarking | | Hotel review comparison | `voyager/booking-reviews-scraper` | Review analysis | | Competitor ad strategies | `apify/facebook-ads-scraper` | Ad creative analysis | | Competitor page metrics | `apify/facebook-pages-scraper` | Page performance | | Competitor content analysis | `apify/facebook-posts-scraper` | Post strategies | | Competitor reels performance | `apify/facebook-reels-scraper` | Reels analysis | | Competitor audience analysis | `apify/facebook-comments-scraper` | Comment sentiment | | Competitor event monitoring | `apify/facebook-events-scraper` | Event tracking | | Competitor audience overlap | `apify/facebook-followers-following-scraper` | Follower analysis | | Competitor review benchmarking | `apify/facebook-reviews-scraper` | Review comparison | | Competitor ad monitoring | `apify/facebook-search-scraper` | Ad discovery | | Competitor profile metrics | `apify/instagram-profile-scraper` | Profile analysis | | Competitor content monitoring | `apify/instagram-post-scraper` | Post tracking | | Competitor engagement analysis | `apify/instagram-comment-scraper` | Comment analysis | | Competitor reel performance | `apify/instagram-reel-scraper` | Reel metrics | | Competitor growth tracking | `apify/instagram-followers-count-scraper` | Follower tracking | | Comprehensive competitor data | `apify/instagram-scraper` | Full analysis | | API-based competitor analysis | `apify/instagram-api-scraper` | API access | | Competitor video analysis | `streamers/youtube-scraper` | Video metrics | | Competitor sentiment analysis | `streamers/youtube-comments-scraper` | Comment sentiment | | Competitor channel metrics | `streamers/youtube-channel-scraper` | Channel analysis | | TikTok competitor analysis | `clockworks/tiktok-scraper` | TikTok data | | Competitor video strategies | `clockworks/tiktok-video-scraper` | Video analysis | | Competitor TikTok profiles | `clockworks/tiktok-profile-scraper` | Profile data |

Step 2: Fetch Actor Schema

Fetch the Actor's input schema and details dynamically using mcpc:

export $(grep APIFY_TOKEN .env | xargs) && mcpc --json mcp.apify.com --header "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" tools-call fetch-actor-details actor:="ACTOR_ID" | jq -r ".content"

Replace `ACTOR_ID` with the selected Actor (e.g., `compass/crawler-google-places`).

This returns:

• Actor description and README
• Required and optional input parameters
• Output fields (if available)

Step 3: Ask User Preferences

Before running, ask: 1. **Output format**:

• **Quick answer** - Display top few results in chat (no file saved)
• **CSV** - Full export with all fields
• **JSON** - Full export in JSON format

2. **Number of results**: Based on character of use case

Step 4: Run the Script

**Quick answer (display in chat, no file):**

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT'

**CSV:**

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.csv \
  --format csv

**JSON:**

node --env-file=.env ${CLAUDE_PLUGIN_ROOT}/reference/scripts/run_actor.js \
  --actor "ACTOR_ID" \
  --input 'JSON_INPUT' \
  --output YYYY-MM-DD_OUTPUT_FILE.json \
  --format json

Step 5: Summarize Findings

After completion, report:

• Number of competitors analyzed
• File location and name
• Key competitive insights
• Suggested next steps (deeper analysis, benchmarking)

Error Handling

`APIFY_TOKEN not found` - Ask user to create `.env` with `APIFY_TOKEN=your_token` `mcpc not found` - Ask user to install `npm install -g @apify/mcpc` `Actor not found` - Check Actor ID spelling `Run FAILED` - Ask user to check Apify console link in error output `Timeout` - Reduce input size or increase `--timeout`

Limitations

• Use this skill only when the task clearly matches the scope described above.
• Do not treat the output as a substitute for environment-specific validation, testing, or expert review.
• Stop and ask for clarification if required inputs, permissions, safety boundaries, or success criteria are missing.