Local competitor analysis: template and worked example

What a local competitor analysis is for

A local competitor analysis answers one question: when a customer compares us with the others, what do they see? You are not studying the whole market. You are studying the three or four businesses that appear next to you on Google, in Maps and in a friend’s text message.

The US Small Business Administration describes competitive analysis as a way to find a competitive advantage. It suggests identifying competitors by product or service and by market segment, and including indirect competitors who could affect you. It also suggests asking what successful competitors do, why it works, and whether you can do it better.

This article gives you a template you can fill in during one sitting, a worked example, and a way to read the result. If you would rather have it done for you, our free website demo includes a side-by-side view of 3-4 competitors. It starts with a short call by phone or video, and it is free with no obligation.

Step 1: choose three or four competitors

Search for your main service the way a customer would. Use the words they use, add your town, and look at the Google results and the map results. Write down the businesses that appear in both.

Add them to your list in this order:

1. Two or three direct competitors. Same service, same area, same kind of customer.
2. One alternative. A larger company, a franchise, a marketplace or a do-it-yourself option. Customers compare you with this too.
3. One you admire, if you have one. A business in another town that does the same work well. It shows what good looks like.

Google says local results are based mainly on relevance, distance and prominence. You cannot change how far you are from a customer, but you can compare how complete each profile is and how many reviews each has. That is why those rows are in the template.

Step 2: the template

Copy this table into a spreadsheet. Keep each cell to a few words. Write “not stated” when you cannot find the information. A blank is not the same thing as “no”.

Two rows deserve a note.

Reviews. In BrightLocal’s 2026 survey of 1,002 US adults, 97% of consumers said they read reviews for local businesses, 68% would only use a business rated four stars or higher, and 47% would not use a business with fewer than 20 reviews. If a competitor has a gap here, it is a gap customers notice.

The contact path. Fill these rows from what each competitor publishes: the reply time on the contact page, what the form or booking page says happens next, and whether chat, text or online booking is offered outside business hours. We do not recommend posing as a customer to a competitor. It takes their time under a false pretense, and the public facts are what your customers compare anyway. Save real test calls and forms for your own business, where you can fix what you find.

A worked example (illustrative)

This example is fictional. The business, the competitors and every cell below are made up to show the method. They are not data about any real company.

Imagine a small bathroom remodeler in a mid-sized US town, compared with three nearby remodelers and a national home-improvement chain.

How to read the result

Do not add up the cells to get a score. Read the table in three passes.

Pass 1: gaps nobody fills. Look for rows where most columns say “not stated”. In the example, three of four competitors give no reply time and no written estimate, and only one shows any price. Those are openings where the fictional business can say something true that most customers will not see elsewhere.

Pass 2: rows where you are behind. In the example, Competitor B has far more reviews. That is not fixed by copy. It is fixed by asking every customer for a review right after the job. Fix weak rows before you advertise anything else.

Pass 3: pick one or two to lead with. In the example, the fictional business specializes in bathrooms, states a reply time, shows a typical price range and lists its guarantee. It could say: “Bathroom remodels only. Written estimate, and a reply by the next business day.” A competitor could not copy that sentence tomorrow unless it changed how it works.

Then run the sentence through the tests in our guide to how to differentiate your business: can a customer check it, can a competitor say the same, and can you deliver it every time?

Mistakes to avoid

• Comparing everything. Twenty rows that matter beat sixty that do not. Cut rows customers do not use to decide.
• Copying what a competitor says. If you copy their claim, you are not different. Use the table to find what they leave out.
• Judging by looks. A polished site with no price, no reply time and no booking step is weaker for a customer than a plain site with all three.
• Guessing. Write “not stated” rather than assuming. If you cannot find a fact, a customer cannot either.
• Doing it once. Markets move. Schedule a review twice a year.

Next steps

1. Fill in the “Us” column first, honestly, before you look at anyone else.
2. Add three or four competitors, using only what they publish.
3. Mark the rows where you are behind and the rows where nobody is saying anything.
4. Write one sentence from the best gap, and put it at the top of your home page and your Google Business Profile.
5. Review the table again in three months.

To see a comparison like this for your own business, ask for a free demo. Our prices for the work that follows are on the pricing page.

Published October 26, 2026. Updated October 26, 2026.