Guide · updated 28 September 2026
How to do competitor analysis for an agency pitch
A method for the evening before the meeting: five free sources, one table, three findings. Then how to get the same page from Claude in a few minutes.
1. Find the rivals the customer actually sees
Search Google the way their customers would: the service and the town, for example “dentist didsbury” or “emergency plumber leith”. The three businesses in the map pack are the rivals that matter. Skip directories and national chains. Note whether your prospect appears at all.
2. Compare reviews, not only the rating
For each business, write down the Google rating, the number of reviews and roughly how many arrived in the last three months. A 4.8 with 400 reviews and ten a month beats a 4.9 with 30. Check how many reviews the owner answers; it is often the quickest win to propose.
3. Look at their ads
- Google Ads Transparency Center: search the rival’s name or domain and set the country.
- Meta Ad Library: the website shows every active ad in any country. Only ads delivered in the EU or UK stay visible after they stop, and only those are available through Meta’s API.
What you are looking for: who advertises, on which service, and whether your prospect runs nothing.
4. List the searches the rivals win
Take the services on the prospect’s site and search each with the town. Where a rival ranks on page one and the prospect does not, you have a line for the pitch. A keyword tool adds monthly volume; without one, the list of searches is still useful.
5. Test the site
Run the prospect’s home page and the leading rival’s through PageSpeed Insights on mobile. Look at the page source for Google Analytics, Tag Manager or a Meta pixel. No tracking means no one can show the owner what their marketing returns.
6. Turn it into three findings and a plan
Put the four businesses in one table: map pack position, rating, reviews, reviews a month, ads running, mobile speed. Pick the three gaps with the biggest number behind them. Give each a step for the first, second and third month. Keep every step tied to a number from the table; that is what makes it credible.
Or ask Claude to build it
With the Versusbrief connector, the same review is one request:
Build a pitch for theirbusiness.co.uk in Didsbury, GB.
It picks the rivals from the map pack, pulls reviews, rankings, ads and speed, and returns the table, a 90-day plan and draft search ads, on a page you can send under your agency’s name. It costs 60 credits; the free plan includes 75 a month. See the sample.
Try it on a real prospect
Send the website of a business you want to win. You get the review by email, usually within a few minutes, on the free plan. No card, no call.