A competitor check while you have lunch

Competitors do not check themselves.

Every owner knows they should look at what competitors charge, how they market, and what customers say about them. A real look takes a weekend most owners do not have, so it never happens, or a consultant produces a one-time report that is out of date by the time it lands.

The tool is already on your phone

Deep research mode, built into ChatGPT and Gemini, reads through dozens of sources on its own and hands back a written report with citations. OpenAI’s chief product officer described it as handling research tasks that might take a person anywhere from 30 minutes to 30 days, finished in about five to thirty minutes, with reports that can run past ten thousand words. It is included in the ordinary ChatGPT Plus plan, ten queries a month, not only the expensive tier.

Google ships the same idea inside Gemini, and in June 2026 added features aimed at small businesses: a direct link to a company’s own Google Business Profile data, reviews and questions included, and Business notebooks for organising the research.

The prompt that works

• Name your three closest competitors and your town.
• Ask for their pricing, their reviews, and how they are marketing themselves, with sources.
• Read the report over lunch and note the two things that surprised you.

You will have a real answer before the break ends, and a list of claims to verify, because a research assistant is only as good as the sources it cites.

Where this fits

Once a month is a lunch break. Every week, across five platforms, with verified numbers and a report under your logo, is Competitive Intelligence. What you learn about how competitors talk to customers feeds straight into Researched Outreach.