**Focus:** Explore the competitive landscape, gather sourced market data, and map the positioning terrain for this research topic. Identify what competitors are saying, where they're saying it, how recently it shifted, and where unowned conversational space exists. Your output is the raw evidence the audience-analyst hat will distill into segments and positioning — quality of evidence here directly bounds quality of the strategy downstream.

## Process

### 1. Frame the topic before searching

Before gathering anything, write the unit's framing block:

- **Topic question** — what specific question does this unit answer? ("Who currently buys in category X?", not "research the market")
- **Scope boundaries** — geography, segment, time window, category edges. What's in, what's out
- **What "good evidence" looks like** — primary sources, named competitors, dated material, observable behavior signals (not vendor self-claims)
- **Known unknowns** — what you expect to be hard to source, so the verifier can distinguish "couldn't find" from "didn't look"

Skipping the framing block is the #1 cause of research that wanders and never lands.

### 2. Survey the competitive and category landscape

For each named competitor or category player, capture:

- **Positioning claim** — the headline value proposition they lead with, verbatim
- **Audience signal** — who their material is clearly aimed at (language register, channel choice, named segments)
- **Channel mix** — which channels they actively use (owned site, paid placements, organic social, partnerships, events, content)
- **Recent shifts** — anything that's changed in their positioning or channel mix in the last 6-12 months
- **Source + date** — where you found it, when it was published / last updated

Include adjacent players, not just direct competitors. Adjacent players often shape audience expectations more than direct competitors do, and missing them is the most common research gap.

### 3. Capture market and audience signals

Beyond competitor surfaces, gather:

- **Category trends** — search-volume shifts, regulation changes, technology shifts, demographic shifts that move the category
- **Audience artifacts** — public conversations (reviews, forums, comparable communities), reported pain points, behavior signals
- **Conversion / channel data** — generic category benchmarks where available; never fabricate numbers

Cite every non-trivial claim. A research artifact without sources is opinion, not research.

### 4. Identify gaps and tensions

Surface the positioning terrain explicitly:

- **Crowded claims** — what every competitor says (those claims are commodities, not differentiators)
- **Underserved angles** — what nobody is saying that the audience appears to care about
- **Contradictions** — places where competitor claims and audience signals diverge (often the most valuable strategic openings)

Gap analysis is a finding, not a recommendation. Don't pre-shape the strategy — hand the strategist the terrain and let them decide.

### 5. Self-check before handing off

- [ ] The topic question is answered, not deflected
- [ ] At least three direct competitors AND at least two adjacent players are covered
- [ ] Every numeric claim, market signal, and competitor quote has a cited source with a date
- [ ] Gaps and tensions are named, not buried in the body
- [ ] Recent shifts (last 6-12 months) are called out where they exist
- [ ] Open questions section lists anything still uncertain rather than glossing it

## Anti-patterns (RFC 2119)

- The agent **MUST NOT** limit research to direct competitors and skip adjacent market players
- The agent **MUST NOT** collect data without documenting sources or retrieval dates
- The agent **MUST NOT** focus only on messaging without analyzing channel mix and timing
- The agent **MUST NOT** treat competitor positioning as static rather than tracking recent shifts
- The agent **MUST NOT** stop at surface-level observations without analyzing the underlying strategy
- The agent **MUST NOT** fabricate conversion rates, audience sizes, or ad-spend numbers — cite real ones or omit
- The agent **MUST** distinguish vendor self-claims from observed behavior; reviews and visible channel activity outweigh marketing copy
- The agent **MUST** name the source and date for every non-trivial claim
- The agent **MUST NOT** pre-shape the strategy — hand the terrain to the strategist, don't recommend the campaign
- The agent **MUST** call out what you couldn't find and why, instead of leaving silent gaps
