# competitor-alternatives

> A Claude Code skill that builds competitor comparison and alternative pages across four formats — singular alternative, plural alternatives, you-vs-competitor, competitor-vs-competitor — that rank for high-intent terms.

**Use case**: Build comparison pages that actually rank

**Canonical URL**: https://agentcookbooks.com/skills/competitor-alternatives/

**Topics**: claude-code, skills, marketing, gtm, positioning

**Trigger phrases**: "alternative page", "vs page", "competitor comparison", "[Product] alternative", "battle card"

**Source**: [Corey Haines](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/competitor-alternatives)

**License**: MIT

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## What it does

`competitor-alternatives` is a Claude Code skill from Corey Haines's [marketing-skills repo](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills). It turns Claude into a comparison-page specialist who builds four distinct page formats — singular alternative ("[Product] alternative"), plural alternatives ("Best [Product] alternatives"), you-vs-competitor, and competitor-vs-competitor — each tuned for the search intent behind the query. The skill activates when you mention "alternative page", "vs page", "comparison page", or "[Product] vs [Product]".

The output of a session is a structured comparison page: positioning hook, balanced feature table, criteria-based scoring, pricing transparency, and the genuine "we're not the right fit if..." section that prevents the page from reading like a hatchet job.

## When to use it

Reach for it when:

- You're being compared to a clear named competitor and want to own that SERP
- You're in a category leader's shadow and need "Best [leader] alternatives" pages
- Sales keeps asking for comparison content they can send to evaluators

When *not* to reach for it:

- You don't have a real differentiation story — the page can't manufacture one
- You're targeting a competitor whose lawyers are aggressive about trademark claims

## Install

The skill is distributed via Corey Haines's [marketing-skills repo](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills). Install via the repo's recommended path — copy the [`competitor-alternatives` SKILL.md](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/competitor-alternatives) into your project's `.claude/skills/competitor-alternatives/` directory, or use the repo's plugin install if you've set it up.

Once installed, the skill activates on the trigger phrases above. The first time it runs, it will check for `.agents/product-marketing-context.md` (or `.claude/product-marketing-context.md`) — populating that file with your product context first dramatically improves output quality across all of Haines's marketing skills.

## What a session looks like

A typical session has three phases:

1. **Format selection.** "[Product] alternative" (one competitor, replacement intent), "Best alternatives" (listicle), "You vs competitor" (head-to-head), or "Competitor vs competitor" (referee position to capture both queries).
2. **Comparison table.** Specific criteria, balanced scoring, real pricing, honest tradeoffs. The skill refuses to mark you as "winner" on every row — that's a credibility killer.
3. **Hook + close.** The "we're better when..." and "they're better when..." sections, schema markup for rich results, and internal-link suggestions to feature pages.

The discipline that makes it work: AI Overviews and human evaluators both penalize obviously biased comparisons. The skill optimizes for citation by being fair, not by being flattering.

## Receipts

Honest reporting on what `competitor-alternatives` produces and where it has limits:

**Where it works well:**
- The four-format taxonomy maps cleanly to four distinct searcher intents — most teams pick one and miss three
- Balanced scoring earns AI citations that biased pages don't
- The "they're better when" section is what makes the page believable

**Where it backfires:**
- If the competitor has more features than you, the skill won't pretend otherwise — you're forced to compete on dimension, not depth
- Trademark-sensitive industries (legal, finance) need a legal pass before publishing

**Pattern that works:** ship the "[Leader] alternative" page first if you're in the leader's shadow — it captures evaluators who already know they're churning. Build the "you vs them" page second, once the alternative page is ranking.

## Source and attribution

Originally written by [Corey Haines](https://corey.co). The canonical SKILL.md and any supporting files live in the [`competitor-alternatives` folder](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/competitor-alternatives) of his [marketing-skills repository](https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills).

License: MIT. You can install, adapt, and redistribute the skill, with attribution preserved.

This page documents the skill from a practitioner's perspective. For the formal spec and any updates, defer to the source repo.