apify-competitor-intelligence

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:
2. Quick answer - Display top few results in chat (no file saved)
3. CSV - Full export with all fields
4. JSON - Full export in JSON format
5. 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.