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competitor-analysis

appeeky/aso-skills

Analyze competitors' App Store strategies, identify keyword gaps, and find positioning opportunities.

What is competitor-analysis?

Competitor Analysis helps you understand how rival apps are positioned, what keywords they rank for, and where you have advantages. Use it when you need to benchmark your app against competitors, find untapped keyword opportunities, or refine your creative strategy based on market leaders.

  • Compare metadata (titles, subtitles, descriptions) across your app and 3-5 competitors
  • Identify keyword gaps: keywords competitors rank for that you don't, and vice versa
  • Analyze creative strategy including screenshots, preview videos, icons, and design approaches
  • Review ratings, user feedback, and top complaints to spot feature opportunities
  • Track growth signals like chart position, download estimates, update frequency, and ASA activity
  • Compare monetization models including pricing, subscription length, IAP count, and paywall timing

How to install competitor-analysis

npx skills add https://github.com/appeeky/aso-skills --skill competitor-analysis
Prerequisites
  • Your app's App ID
  • Competitor App IDs (or willingness to identify them via category charts and keyword overlap)
  • Target country for analysis (defaults to US)
Claude Code
Cursor
Windsurf
Cline

How to use competitor-analysis

  1. 1.Provide your app ID and identify 3-5 competitors (direct, aspirational, and emerging)
  2. 2.Specify what you want to learn: keyword gaps, creative strategy, positioning, or comprehensive analysis
  3. 3.Review the metadata comparison table to see how competitors balance brand vs. keywords in titles and subtitles
  4. 4.Examine the keyword gap analysis to find high-priority keywords to target
  5. 5.Analyze the creative strategy section to identify screenshot, video, and icon improvements
  6. 6.Review ratings and reviews to spot user pain points competitors aren't solving
  7. 7.Use the competitive position map and top opportunities to prioritize your next ASO moves

Use cases

Good for
  • Find high-volume keywords your competitors rank for but you don't, to prioritize your ASO roadmap
  • Discover what features users praise in competitor apps to identify gaps in your own offering
  • Benchmark your app's visibility and ratings against direct and aspirational competitors
  • Analyze competitor screenshots and preview videos to improve your own creative assets
  • Identify underserved market segments or countries where competitors have weak presence
Who it's for
  • App marketers and ASO specialists optimizing for App Store visibility
  • Product managers evaluating feature priorities based on competitive gaps
  • Mobile app founders benchmarking their position in crowded categories
  • Growth teams planning keyword targeting and creative refresh strategies

competitor-analysis FAQ

How do I identify my competitors if I don't know them?

The skill helps you find competitors through category charts (top apps in your category), keyword overlap (apps ranking for your target keywords), Apple's 'You Might Also Like' section, and user perception (asking what users would use if your app didn't exist).

How many competitors should I analyze?

Analyze 3-5 competitors: 2 direct competitors at your level, 1-2 aspirational competitors (larger/more successful), and 1 emerging competitor to watch.

What's the difference between competitor analysis and keyword research?

Competitor analysis gives you the full competitive landscape and strategic positioning; keyword research dives deeper into specific keyword opportunities. Use keyword-research after identifying gaps here.

Can this help me improve my screenshots and preview video?

Yes—the creative strategy section analyzes competitors' screenshots, videos, icons, and design approaches. Use screenshot-optimization skill to implement improvements based on findings.

How often should I re-run competitor analysis?

Run it quarterly or when competitors make major updates. Monitor growth signals (chart position, update frequency, ASA activity) monthly to catch shifts early.

Full instructions (SKILL.md)

Source of truth, from appeeky/aso-skills.


name: competitor-analysis description: When the user wants to analyze competitors' App Store strategy, find keyword gaps, or understand competitive positioning. Also use when the user mentions "competitor analysis", "competitive research", "keyword gap", "what are my competitors doing", or "compare my app to". For keyword-specific research, see keyword-research. For metadata writing, see metadata-optimization. metadata: version: 1.0.0

Competitor Analysis

You are an expert in competitive intelligence for mobile apps. Your goal is to perform a thorough analysis of the user's competitors and identify actionable opportunities to outperform them.

Initial Assessment

  1. Check for app-marketing-context.md — read it for known competitors
  2. Ask for the user's App ID
  3. Ask for competitor App IDs (or help identify competitors)
  4. Ask for target country (default: US)
  5. Ask what they want to learn: keyword gaps, creative strategy, positioning, or all

Competitor Identification

If the user doesn't know their competitors, find them through:

  1. Category chart — Top apps in the same category
  2. Keyword overlap — Apps ranking for the same keywords
  3. Similar apps — Apple's "You Might Also Like" section
  4. User perception — Ask "What would your users use if your app didn't exist?"

Recommend analyzing 3-5 competitors: 2 direct competitors, 1-2 aspirational (larger), 1 emerging.

Analysis Framework

1. Metadata Comparison

ElementYour AppCompetitor 1Competitor 2Competitor 3
Title
Subtitle
Title keywords
Char usage (title)/30/30/30/30
Char usage (subtitle)/30/30/30/30
Description hook

Analyze:

  • What keywords do competitors prioritize in their title?
  • How do they balance brand vs keywords?
  • What positioning angle does each take?
  • What's their description hook strategy?

2. Keyword Gap Analysis

Keywords only competitors rank for (you don't):

KeywordVolumeDifficultyComp 1 RankComp 2 RankYour RankPriority

Keywords you rank for but competitors don't:

These are your unique advantages — protect them.

Keywords where you're outranked:

KeywordYour RankBest Competitor RankGapEffort to Close

3. Creative Strategy

Screenshots:

  • How many do they use? (target: 10)
  • What's their first screenshot? (hook)
  • Do they use text overlays?
  • What features do they highlight first?
  • Design style: dark/light, device frames, lifestyle?
  • Do they use portrait or landscape?

App Preview Video:

  • Do they have one?
  • What's the hook?
  • How long is it?

Icon:

  • Color scheme and style
  • How does it stand out in search results?

4. Ratings & Reviews

MetricYour AppComp 1Comp 2Comp 3
Rating
Total reviews
Recent trend
Top complaint
Top praise
Dev responds?

Analyze:

  • What do users love about competitors? (feature opportunities)
  • What do users hate? (your advantage if you solve it)
  • How do competitors handle negative reviews?

5. Growth Signals

SignalYour AppComp 1Comp 2Comp 3
Chart position
Downloads/mo (est)
Revenue/mo (est)
Update frequency
In-app events?
Custom pages?
Apple Search Ads?

6. Monetization Comparison

AspectYour AppComp 1Comp 2Comp 3
Price model
Subscription price
Free trial length
IAP count
Paywall timing

Output Format

Executive Summary

2-3 paragraphs summarizing the competitive landscape, your position, and the biggest opportunities.

Competitive Position Map

                    HIGH VISIBILITY
                         │
            Comp 1 ●     │     ● Comp 2
                         │
   LOW ──────────────────┼────────────────── HIGH
   RATINGS               │               RATINGS
                         │
                  You ●  │
                         │
                    LOW VISIBILITY

Top Opportunities

  1. Quick Win: [something you can do this week]
  2. Keyword Gap: [specific keywords to target]
  3. Creative Edge: [screenshot/video improvement]
  4. Feature Gap: [what users want that competitors don't offer]
  5. Market Gap: [underserved segment or country]

Threats to Monitor

  • [competitor moves to watch]
  • [market trends that could shift dynamics]

Related Skills

  • keyword-research — Deep dive into keyword gaps identified
  • metadata-optimization — Implement competitive insights into your metadata
  • screenshot-optimization — Redesign based on competitive creative analysis
  • aso-audit — Audit your own listing with competitive context
  • ua-campaign — Competitive paid acquisition strategy