Competitive Gap Analysis for Proposals with Claude

For the prospect and each top competitor, collect:

Organic traffic snapshot:

1. In SEMrush → Domain Overview, enter the prospect's URL
2. Note: organic traffic estimate, organic keywords, top pages, domain authority
3. Repeat for each competitor

Keyword gap data:

1. In SEMrush → Keyword Gap (or Ahrefs → Content Gap)
2. Enter the prospect as the "your domain" and add 2-3 competitors
3. Click "Keywords competitors rank for but you don't" and export the top 50-100 results
4. Note: keyword, search volume, competitor ranking, prospect ranking (if any)

Content gap:

1. In SEMrush → Backlink Gap (or Ahrefs → Link Intersect)
2. Note any obvious topic areas competitors are covering that the prospect isn't
3. In Ahrefs → Site Explorer → Top Content — look at competitor's top organic pages and note the topic patterns

Backlink comparison:

1. Note domain authority/rating for prospect vs. competitors
2. Note referring domain count (quality indicator)

What you should have: 3-4 pages of raw data in a text file or Google Doc

1. Go to {{tool:Claude.url}} and sign in
2. Start a new conversation
3. Paste your collected data with this analysis prompt:

You are an SEO strategist preparing a competitive analysis for a new business proposal.

PROSPECT: [URL] — [Industry description]
PROSPECT METRICS: [Paste your data]

COMPETITOR 1: [URL]
METRICS: [Paste]

COMPETITOR 2: [URL]
METRICS: [Paste]

COMPETITOR 3: [URL]
METRICS: [Paste]

KEYWORD GAPS (competitor ranks, prospect doesn't):
[Paste top 50 keyword gap rows]

Based on this data, write a competitive SEO gap analysis with:
1. Executive Summary (3 sentences: overall competitive position, biggest gap, biggest opportunity)
2. Content Gaps (top 5 keyword clusters where competitors rank but prospect doesn't — group by topic, not individual keywords)
3. Quick Wins (3 keywords/topics where prospect could realistically rank within 3-6 months — moderate difficulty, decent volume)
4. Technical Comparison (any obvious technical differences in domain authority, page speed indicators, indexed page count)
5. Recommended Priority (one-paragraph summary: if we start working together today, what's the highest-leverage first 90 days?)

What you should see: A 500-800 word structured analysis you can drop almost directly into the proposal

1. After the initial analysis, ask: "What's the most compelling way to frame this competitive position for a sales conversation? What's the single insight that will make this prospect feel urgency?"
2. Claude identifies the narrative angle — which could be: "You're losing X traffic per month to competitors who rank for terms you've ignored" or "One competitor dominates informational content while you're competing on thin product pages"

1. Tell Claude your proposal structure: "My proposals have these sections: [list]. Turn this analysis into language that fits into the 'Current Situation' and 'Opportunity' sections."
2. Claude reformats without losing the substance

1. Copy Claude's analysis
2. Add your agency branding and format in Google Docs or your proposal tool
3. Always add 1-2 custom screenshots from the tools alongside the written analysis — visuals make the gaps tangible