How to Automate Competitor Research Using AI and No-code

Why Automated Competitive Research Matters

Traditional competitive intelligence gathering often involves:

• Hours spent manually searching through social media

• Inconsistent monitoring schedules leading to missed announcements

• Difficulty separating signal from noise in industry discussions

• Challenges in sharing insights across your organization

BuildShip's automated workflow solves these problems by creating a structured, repeatable process that delivers only the most relevant competitive insights directly to your team's inbox.

How BuildShip's Competitive Intelligence Workflow Works

Before we get started, you can clone the tool here. The workflow we'll build searches Reddit and X for discussions about your specified competitors, extracts the most valuable insights, and compiles them into a structured report - all without requiring any coding knowledge.

Here's what you'll need to get started:

• A Reddit account

• A Gmail account

• 15 minutes to set up the workflow

Setting Up Your Competitive Research Automation

1. Start with a template: Begin by remixing the Research Competitor Activity template

   

2. Schedule your reports: Choose between on-demand reports or automated weekly/bi-weekly delivery using BuildShip's cron job functionality

3. Define your competitors: Input the companies you want to track (e.g., "Uber, Lyft, Waymo, Tesla")

   

4. Add context: Specify what aspects you're interested in (e.g., "self-driving initiatives")

   

5. Connect your accounts: Authorize your Reddit and Gmail accounts to enable searching and report delivery

How the Workflow Gathers Intelligence

Once set up, the workflow:

1. Parses your list of competitors into a structured format

   

2. Searches Reddit for relevant posts about each competitor

3. Identifies the top three posts most likely to contain valuable insights

   

4. Extracts the most informative comments from those posts

5. Searches X (formerly Twitter) for recent discussions and news about each competitor

   

6. Synthesizes all findings into a comprehensive competitive intelligence report

   

7. Delivers the report to your specified email addresses

   

Customizing Your Competitive Intelligence Workflow

Unlike rigid dashboard tools, BuildShip allows for extensive customization of your competitive intelligence gathering:

Adjust Your Search Parameters

• Time frame: Change from weekly to daily, bi-weekly, or monthly monitoring

• Search depth: Modify how many posts and comments are analyzed

• Source prioritization: Weight certain platforms more heavily based on your industry

Expand Your Intelligence Sources

While Reddit and X provide excellent real-time intelligence, you can enhance your workflow by adding:

• Industry-specific forums

• News aggregators

• Company blogs

• Product launch sites

• GitHub repositories for technical intelligence

Refine Your Report Format

The default report includes:

• An executive summary highlighting key findings

• Competitor-specific sections with direct quotes and insights

• Hyperlinks to original sources for deeper investigation

You can customize this format to match your organization's reporting standards or to highlight specific types of competitive activities. For a step by step video guide, click on the video below:

Beyond Competitor Tracking: Other Applications

This workflow isn't limited to tracking competitors. You can adapt it to monitor:

• Industry trends: Track emerging technologies or methodologies in your field

• Market sentiment: Gauge public reaction to industry developments

• Investment opportunities: Monitor discussions about potential investment targets

• Regulatory changes: Stay informed about policy shifts affecting your industry

• Customer feedback: Track what users are saying about products in your space

How BuildShip Compares to Traditional Competitive Intelligence Tools

While platforms like Kompyte, Whatagraph, and Domo offer competitive intelligence features, BuildShip provides unique advantages:

• No-code workflow customization: Build exactly the intelligence pipeline you need without coding

• AI-powered analysis: Leverage advanced language models to extract meaningful insights

• Flexible data sources: Connect to virtually any platform where discussions about your industry take place

• Cost-effective automation: Eliminate manual research time while maintaining high-quality intelligence

• Seamless integration: Connect your competitive intelligence workflow with other business processes

Real-World Example: What Your Report Will Look Like

Here's a sample of what you might see in your weekly competitive intelligence report:

WEEKLY COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY

Executive Summary: This week saw significant developments in self-driving technology across our monitored competitors. Waymo expanded its rider-only service to new neighborhoods in San Francisco, while Tesla released FSD Beta v12.3.1 with improved city street navigation. Uber announced a new partnership for autonomous delivery pilots in three additional markets.
Competitor Insights:

Waymo
Expanded rider-only service to the Richmond and Sunset districts in San Francisco
User reports indicate a 23% reduction in disengagements compared to previous service areas
Regulatory filing suggests plans for expansion to Seattle by Q3

Tesla
Released FSD Beta v12.3.1 with specific improvements to unprotected left turns
Community testing shows mixed results, with 68% of users reporting better performance in dense urban environments
Elon Musk tweeted about upcoming "revolutionary" perception system update expected next month

Start Building Your Competitive Research System

Don't let valuable competitive insights slip through the cracks. With BuildShip's automated workflow, you'll have a consistent stream of relevant intelligence delivered directly to your inbox.

Try the competitive intelligence workflow today and transform how your organization stays informed about market movements.

Stay ahead of the competition - not just by reacting to their moves, but by anticipating them through better intelligence gathering.