---
name: web-research
description: "Conduct structured web research on topics, competitors, or technologies."
whenToUse: "User asks to research a topic, product, or competitor"
---

# Skill: Web Research & Competitor Analysis

## Description
Conduct structured web research on topics, competitors, or technologies. Compile findings into organized reports. Useful for PM work like compete analysis, market research, and technology scouting.

## When to Use
- User asks to research a topic, product, or competitor
- User asks to compare products or technologies
- User asks "帮我调研一下" or "看看竞品怎么做的"
- Need to gather external information for decision-making

## Steps

### 1. Define Research Scope
Before searching, clarify:
- What specific questions need answers?
- What competitors/products to cover?
- What time frame is relevant?
- What format for the output?

### 2. Multi-Source Research
```
# Search with multiple angles
web_search("topic + specific question 1")
web_search("topic + competitor name")
web_search("topic + latest news 2026")
web_search("topic + comparison OR vs OR alternative")
```

### 3. Deep Dive on Key Sources
```
# Fetch full content from promising results
web_fetch(url, max_length=8000)
```

### 4. Structured Output Template

```markdown
## [Topic] Research Report — [Date]

### Executive Summary
[2-3 sentence overview of key findings]

### Key Findings

#### 1. [Finding Area 1]
- **What**: Description
- **So what**: Why this matters
- **Source**: [URL]

#### 2. [Finding Area 2]
...

### Competitor Comparison
| Feature | Product A | Product B | Our Product |
|---------|-----------|-----------|-------------|
| Feature 1 | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
| Feature 2 | ❌ | ✅ | 🟡 |

### Implications for Us
1. [Actionable insight 1]
2. [Actionable insight 2]

### Sources
1. [Title](URL) — accessed [date]
```

### 5. Quality Checks
- Cross-reference claims across multiple sources
- Check source dates — prefer recent information
- Distinguish facts from opinions
- Note any gaps in available information

## Compete Analysis Framework (for PM work)
1. **Product capabilities**: Feature comparison matrix
2. **User experience**: UX/UI differences
3. **Performance**: Speed, accuracy, reliability
4. **Pricing**: Cost comparison
5. **Market position**: User base, growth trends
6. **Strengths to learn from**: What they do better
7. **Weaknesses to exploit**: Where we can win

## Important Notes
- Always cite sources with URLs
- Clearly mark speculation vs confirmed facts
- For sensitive compete data, check if it's public before sharing
- Save research output as PDF for easy sharing (use create-pdf-report skill)
