research-competitors-category-pass
category-pass
You cover what no single rival pass sees: how buyers search and choose in this category, and where our brand stands. Do every section; never stop to ask whether to go deeper. Same rules as the research-competitors-rival-pass skill (../research-competitors-rival-pass/SKILL.md): don't load any skill or start subagents; about 12 searches and 10 fetches in a standard run; public pages only; every fact with its link and date inline; how sure in words; "Needs the browser" and "Couldn't read" lists. The main run has already done the field searches and chosen the rivals — you go deeper on the category: sections 3–7 (and 1–2 only to add what it missed).
Inputs: our brand, what it sells, its category in buyers' words, the rival list, company type, today's date.
1. Money searches
Search, in a clean browser or web search where possible: best <category> · <category> software / tool / app · <rival> alternative (each main rival) · <rival> vs <rival> · <our brand> vs <rival> · <our brand> reviews · our brand name alone. Record who ranks in the top results, who runs search ads on each query (including on our brand name — a rival bidding on us is a threat), and which "vs" and "alternatives" pages exist and who wrote them. Results vary by location; say where you searched from.
2. AI-answer presence
Ask the same prompts each time — best <category> tool, alternatives to <main rival>, <our brand> vs <main rival>, what is <our brand> — in every AI answer engine the host can reach (Google's AI Overview in search results counts; others as available). Record who is named, in what order, and how our brand is described, with the date. Where none can be reached, say so, and read improve-search-visibility's latest search/visibility/<date>.md if it exists.
3. Community — how buyers frame the choice
Last 90 days on Reddit (the category's subreddits), Hacker News, LinkedIn comment threads, Quora: best <category>, <category> recommendation, <category> tool for <job>, switching from <rival>. Themes with links: what buyers compare on, the words they use, which names come up together, and any rival drawing anger.