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Competitor one-pager (fair and sourced)

Goal: One competitor page with links, quoted features, unknown gaps, and a check date—“not listed” beats invented prices.

Best for: Product/marketing weekly reviews and founder competitor scans.

Competitive notes go wrong when they become roast sessions or hallucinated pricing tables. Limit sources you actually opened. Strengths and gaps stay fair. “What to verify this week” is the most useful section.

A competitor one-pager is a snapshot with sources—not a roast. Cap claims to what you can link; mark guesses as guesses.

Blank cells are honest. Filled cells without links are theater. Prefer ugly honesty in sales prep.

Why beginners skip this

Letting the model write a competitor page from vibes feels fast—without source tiers, numbers are invented. Build the table first.

Step 1 — One-pager shape

Fill the one-pager shape from primary pages only; if a page will not open, write “not listed”—never invent pricing.

Competitor: [name]
Use ONLY sources I paste or list. Unknown is allowed.
Sections:
- What they sell (3 bullets)
- Who they target
- Pricing signals (tier + source link or Unknown)
- Strengths / gaps vs us (fair)
- What to verify this week (concrete pages to open)
No invented prices, user counts, or funding rounds.

Step 2 — Pricing-page-only brief

Example

Filled prompt

Competitor: "Northwind Analytics" public site + pricing page open in tabs.
One row: products, pricing (or Unknown), 2 proof links, one fair weakness.
No invented seats/month.

What good output looks like

  • Claim pack lists sources for “Competitor one-pager”
  • Primary tab opened before share
  • Unknowns labeled; no vibe citations
  • Pass/fail: one primary URL saved

Step 3 — Meeting use

Bring the one-pager to the meeting; contested pricing rows get a claim–evidence matrix with one owner per check.

From this one-pager, extract a 5-row verify checklist: Item | Page to open | Owner (TBD) | Due. Do not add new competitor claims.
Example

Filled prompt

Critique my one-pager for unsourced claims. Competitor cells include a remembered price with no URL.
Suggest which cells to blank and what to write instead (“not listed” + date checked).

What good output looks like

  • Primary tab opened before share
  • Unknowns labeled; no vibe citations
  • Pass/fail: one primary URL saved
  • Claim pack lists sources for “Competitor one-pager”

Save this card

Card: A competitor one-pager stays fair, allows Unknown, and never invents prices. Keep this beside the tool; read before you start.

Wear-test: show your Save card to a teammate for thirty seconds—if they cannot restate the refuse line, tighten the card tonight and date it (Asia/Shanghai).

Before you start

Open a blank claim pack. One claim about “Produce a one-page competitor brief your team” plus a slot for a primary URL. Chat citations are not enough. Guide: research-competitor-one-pager. Keep the real job visible the whole time; a blank box means stop and fetch the artifact first.

How to use this week

This week for one real competitor build a claim–evidence table with a source tier beside every row, then compress to one page.

Close the week by quoting aloud the refuse line you actually used once. If you cannot, rerun Practice now and date the pass/fail (Asia/Shanghai).

Keep it real

Run this guide’s Practice now on work you will actually ship this week—not a fictional scenario. Dated notes beat perfect theory.

Link or blank

Every price and feature cell needs a URL or the words “Competitor one-pager” Memory is not a source. Share the sheet only after a second person can click every link.

Close the loop

Write one line: next time I draft a competitor page with no source tiers, I refuse it.

Example

Filled prompt

Competitor Northwind: pricing page + features page open.
One row: products, price or Unknown, 2 proof links, one fair weakness.
No guessed seat counts.

What good output looks like

  • Unknowns labeled; no vibe citations
  • Claim pack lists sources for “Competitor one-pager”
  • Pass/fail: one primary URL saved
  • Primary tab opened before share

Red flag

Invented prices; Unknown forbidden; unfair tone—rebuild with Unknown allowed.

Pitfalls

PitfallFix
Letting the model browse uncheckedPaste sources; or verify every citation
Turning gaps into trash talkFair language; product facts only
Invented ARR / headcountUnknown until a primary source
8-page “strategy novels”Hard one-pager cap
Example

Filled prompt

Temptation: skip the habit for research-competitor-one-pager to save five minutes.
Job still: Produce a one-page competitor brief your
Smallest correct pass: Done visible · checkable artifact · Unknowns [?].
Boundaries: draft only; no silent send; no invented metrics.
Return: artifact + refuse-line said aloud.

What good output looks like

  • Names the shortcut refused (specific to research-competitor-one-pager)
  • Still delivers checkable output for “Competitor one-pager”
  • Unknowns labeled; draft-only
  • Pass/fail: refuse-line dated (research-competitor-one-pager #4)

Field note: fair one-pagers list Unknown openly. If a price is not on a primary page you opened today, leave Unknown—do not average forum guesses. Date the page (Asia/Shanghai) before you share with sales.

Practice now

Fairness pass: one strength of competitor you almost omitted (Asia/Shanghai).

Date stamp: every fact line gets accessed-on Asia/Shanghai (Asia/Shanghai).

Unknown budget: at least one [?] on the one-pager or it is overconfident (Asia/Shanghai).

Competitor drill: one-pager with 3 facts + 1 unknown marked [?]; no vibes (Asia/Shanghai).

Thin-spot drill: rewrite the Save card with real nouns from your work (repo, doc, inbox). Generic placeholders fail the drill.

Tonight for one real competitor build a claim–evidence table with a source tier beside every row, then compress to one page.

Reality check: after Practice now, write one sentence you will refuse next time—and keep it on the Save card dated Asia/Shanghai.

One sentence takeaway

Claim–evidence table + source tiers → one page; no body without tiers.

Word-floor practice

Run the Today card once on a real artifact. Write pass/fail + never-do with date Asia/Shanghai. If you only skimmed, do not mark this guide done.

Next

Claim–evidence matrix · Source tiers · Live topic digest

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