For local and service businesses
Competitor monitoring for small business done for you
Competitor monitoring means knowing when the businesses around you change something: a price, a special, a service, their Google listing, their reviews, their hiring, or a new shop opening down the road. MyIntelBrief watches them every night and sends you a short brief of only what changed, with where it was seen and one suggested move.
What owners watch on their competitors
The same handful of things, whatever the trade. Each is public; the hard part is noticing when it changes.
Prices and offers
A price cut, a new special, a package that changes what is included. See competitor price monitoring.
Their Google listing
Hours, categories, photos, posts, and where they show up in the map results for your main searches.
Reviews
New reviews, a rating that moves, and what their customers keep complaining about. See competitor reviews.
Job posts
Who is hiring, and for what: a second crew, a new service, a new location.
New openings
A new business in your category nearby, or a rival opening a second location.
Their own website
New service pages, dropped services, a changed pitch on the homepage.
Doing it by hand, with tools, or done for you
| By hand | Alerts and page-change tools | MyIntelBrief | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who does the checking | You, every week | The tool, on the pages and words you set up | Done for you, every night |
| Finds new competitors | Only if you search | No: it watches what you told it to | Yes, new openings nearby are reported |
| Prices and specials | If you remember last week's | Page-change tools flag that something changed | The before and the after |
| Reviews and Google listing | One listing at a time | Usually not covered | Each rival's, beside yours |
| What to do about it | Your call | Your call | One suggested move per change |
| Time from you | About an hour a week | Setup, then reading alerts | A few minutes to read the brief |
Alerts are good at news mentions; see competitor alerts and keeping up with competitors. For how the nightly check works, see how our competitor monitoring works.
A sample brief
One page, ranked by what matters, a source on every claim, one suggested move each. Quiet days stay short. This one is for an illustrative plumbing contractor in Anaheim; there are sample briefs for other trades too.
What it costs to start
Start with four free weekly briefs: just your email, no card. Plans are on the pricing page when you want to keep them coming. Not sure who your competitors are yet? Start with finding your local competitors.
Frequently asked questions
What is competitor monitoring for a small business?
Keeping a regular eye on the businesses your customers compare you with: their prices and offers, the services they add or drop, their Google listing and reviews, who they are hiring, and new businesses opening nearby. Done by hand it is a weekly hour most owners never find; done for you it arrives as a short brief of what changed.
How can I monitor my competitors for free?
Pick your three to five real competitors, then once a week read their websites, specials pages and Google listings, and keep notes so you can spot what changed. A Google Alert on each name catches news mentions. Or start with our four free weekly briefs: just your email, no card.
What does MyIntelBrief watch?
The competitors around you, every night: price and offer changes with the before and after, new or dropped services on their own sites, their Google listing and new reviews, hiring, and new competitors opening nearby. Each change comes with where it was seen and one suggested move.
How is this different from a Google Alert?
A Google Alert matches words someone publishes. It does not read a competitor's own pages, so a price change, a new special or a quiet change to a services page never triggers it. We keep a dated copy of those pages and report the difference.
Who counts as my competitor?
The businesses a customer would actually choose instead of you: same kind of work, similar size, close enough to matter. That is often not the list you would write from memory. See how to find your local competitors.
What does it cost?
Start with four free weekly briefs: just your email, no card. Plans are on the pricing page when you want to keep them coming.