Competitor Analysis with AI: How to Do It (with a Prompt Pack)

In 2026, the challenge of launching a new digital product is no longer about finding the right idea or shipping something in just a few months. Thanks to artificial intelligence, software development is becoming increasingly fast and efficient.

The real difficulty today lies in validating the product in all its aspects. We’ve discussed how to do this in this article. In practice, it means conducting research that answers a key question: is it truly worth building this product?

One aspect of validation that is often overlooked is competitor analysis. Many founders stumble here: they either don’t analyze existing products on the market—or don’t do it properly—and end up wasting time and resources on a digital tool that no one uses.

But why is competitor analysis so important in today’s market? Let’s take a look at what it’s for and how artificial intelligence can help us gain a complete overview.

Why Competitor Analysis is Overlooked (and Why that’s a Mistake)

The process is often the same. A founder falls in love with their idea, already imagining it as finished, polished, and used by thousands of users. They see the opportunity but ignore the competitive landscape.

Then the application launches, but it fails to resonate with users as expected. This often happens because:

• The market is already saturated
• The problem has already been solved
• Competitors offer more accessible pricing
• The product lacks any truly distinctive feature.

In some cases, competitor analysis is carried out, but it doesn’t take all aspects into account. The first step of validation is ensuring that the product solves a problem experienced by users. Even assuming that it does, other solutions to that same problem are often overlooked.

For example, imagine an app designed to showcase recipe videos. Even if it wasn’t built with the same purpose, a platform like YouTube can absolutely be considered a competitor, since users can easily find similar content there.

That’s why competitor analysis needs to be thorough. It should include indirect competitors and consider all the alternatives a user might choose to solve the same problem, even if they are very different from your product.

Does an App Idea have to be Completely Original?

Conducting competitor analysis doesn’t mean stopping just because an idea has “already been done.” Many successful apps today were launched in markets where similar solutions already existed.

Take Duolingo as an example. Launched in 2011, it is now a leading platform for language learning and currently ranks fourth in the “Education” category on Apple’s App Store. And yet, when it launched, another well-known app—Babbel, released in 2007—was already offering similar services and still ranks twenty-sixth in the same category. So how did Duolingo manage to carve out its space?

The key lies in finding a Unique Value Proposition (UVP), meaning the distinctive feature that sets your product apart from competitors and makes it truly unique.

Returning to our example, Duolingo offered users something Babbel didn’t: 

• Free access to learning 
• A wide range of less common languages—including unusual ones like Scottish Gaelic, Navajo, and even Klingon from the Star Trek universe
• A gamified experience that increases user retention

But this isn’t the only well-known case. SoundHound, a popular app for identifying songs, entered a market where its major competitor, Shazam, was already thriving.

Once again, what made the difference was uniqueness. SoundHound introduced the ability to hum melodies, offering a feature that competitors didn’t have. Ultimately, standing out doesn’t mean being the only one solving a problem, but solving it better—or in ways that matter to users and are overlooked by others.

What to Look at in a Competitor Analysis

Once you understand the importance of considering what competitors offer, a natural question arises: what exactly should we know about our competitors?

The answer can be summarized in four areas, representing all the perspectives from which a product can be evaluated.

The first area is the value proposition. This involves asking:

• What problem do they promise to solve?
• Who is their target audience?
• How do they present the product?

Understanding the values that competitors communicate helps determine how to differentiate. For example, an app offering vegetarian recipes is very different from one offering recipes for everyone.

The second area is monetization. Asking about competitors’ pricing allows you to understand the market cost, which can sometimes be the differentiating factor, as in the previously mentioned case of Duolingo.

Funnels and go-to-market strategies are also aspects that should be considered: competitors may leave segments of the market untapped due to poorly optimized SEO or the way they promote their product.

Extremely valuable insights can also be obtained from analyzing competitor reviews:

• Which features do users love most?
• What complaints do users raise?
• Where do competitors fail to deliver on their promises?

Knowing the answers to these questions allows you to understand what users truly value in digital products within this space, as well as identifying unmet needs, creating potential opportunities in the market.

What Is the Expected Output of the Analysis

The final result should be identifying at least three strengths and three weaknesses of competitors. Strengths represent risks for the new product—areas where it might be more difficult to excel and stand out.

Conversely, weaknesses are opportunities: the chance to address needs that competitors neglect due to missing or poorly executed features.

At Mabiloft, we don’t perform competitor analysis for our clients out of curiosity. We don’t do it to spy on others or copy features. We do it to help product creators find their space and carve out the niche where they can enter the market.

At the end of this article, you’ll find our free prompt pack to help you start analyzing your product with AI. But if you’re thinking of building a particularly complex product, or if you want a more in-depth analysis by someone who has done this for dozens of products, feel free to contact us—no obligation.

How AI Changes the Game

By now, you might be thinking: “Yes, okay, but can’t I just ask ChatGPT and get everything I need effortlessly?” And that’s true, but only to a certain extent.

Artificial intelligence can cover a large part of the work required for competitor analysis. In particular, it can help clarify what your business does, identify competitors, and summarize opportunities and risks.

But a generic prompt is not enough. AI searches, calculates, and synthesizes, but it needs to follow a guided flow to produce useful results. In simple terms, you need to know how to ask the right questions to get good answers.

Our prompt pack does exactly this, in four steps. The first step helps you clarify what your business does. It identifies the problem it solves, the target audience, and the usage scenarios, while also pinpointing your UVP.

The second step defines the killer features—those that truly drive users to adopt your product over your competitors’. Essentially, it establishes what makes your product superior, but also where it still resembles others too closely.

The third step is deep research on competitors, both direct and indirect. With our prompt pack, you won’t just discover who they are—you’ll be able to compare various aspects, such as business model and positioning.

Finally, the analysis concludes with a summary of opportunities and risks. You’ll discover which areas still need work, what requires further validation, and where you have the chance to enter the market easily.

Curious to try our prompt pack? Don’t wait any longer; you can find it below. All we ask is your email—and don’t worry, we won’t use it to send annoying ads.

Artificial Intelligence Doesn’t Do All the Work

Not everything can be delegated to AI. AI cannot ask the right questions on its own: human input is largely necessary to achieve meaningful results. Moreover, it doesn’t know your market as well as you do. No matter how much data it has access to, it cannot capture the sentiment of your audience.

A concrete example: if you’re thinking of an app to book hairdresser appointments, AI might suggest some competitors, like Treatwell. What it will hardly capture, however, is that in real situations users might prefer a more direct and faster contact, such as a WhatsApp message.

AI, therefore, does not relieve the founder from making decisions: that will always be the founder’s sole responsibility. It can provide information to help you decide, but the final choice remains in your hands.

Additionally, a prompt pack does not replace real market validation. With Mabiloft’s prompts, you can take the first step, but all subsequent steps remain, such as:

• Developing a landing page
• Collecting a waitlist
• Conducting outreach
• Setting up ads

If all this seems overwhelming, don’t worry: you don’t have to do it alone. Schedule a call with us, and we’ll help you interpret the results of your competitor analysis and provide personalized guidance on how to proceed.