Prompts that do real GTM work.

The Shortlist Matrix Prompt

A deep-research prompt that maps your category onto a 2×2 of Day One shortlist presence against buyer confidence — adapted from Likelihood to Buy logic for enterprise SaaS.

Use it before a positioning refresh, a competitive teardown, or any board conversation about why you aren't making the shortlist.

Input company: insert company name / insert primary domain here

I want to identify a company's top 10 competitors and produce a competitive positioning report using a Boston Matrix built on adapted "Likelihood to Buy" / Day One list logic for enterprise SaaS. I'll provide the company's web domain when I use this prompt. Act as a competitive intelligence analyst specializing in enterprise SaaS markets. Use web search, Apify, Reddit APIs, and analyst data where available; fall back to manual search for gaps. Ground every claim in current, real public data — this analysis is only useful if the positioning is defensible, not guessed. Flag sources and confidence levels for all findings, especially where public data is thin or unverifiable.

Step 1: Identify Competitors

From the company web domain I provide, identify the top 10 direct competitors in the same enterprise SaaS category. Base identification on a combination of these signals:

- Overlapping ICP and buyer segments — target customer profiles, company size, industry verticals, use cases
- Feature set and product positioning — core capabilities, product category, functionality overlap
- Market positioning — how competitors describe themselves, shared messaging pillars, competitive keywords
- Analyst mentions and reports — Gartner, IDC, Forrester, Omdia category placement
- Review platform presence — G2, Capterra, TrustRadius category classification
- Do not include companies that merely mention similar keywords; focus on true functional and go-to-market overlap. Document your rationale for each competitor included.

Step 2: Score Each of the 11 Companies on Two Axes

Score all 10 competitors plus the original company on the following two dimensions. For each company, cite specific sources and data points; flag where public data is unavailable or unverifiable rather than filling gaps with assumption.

X-Axis — Day 1 List / Shortlist Presence

Approximate shortlist inclusion using:

- Category share of voice — mentions in industry news, analyst reports, thought leadership
- Branded search volume and interest trends — Google Trends, search query data
- Direct traffic estimates — relative web traffic indicators
- Review-platform visibility — number and recency of reviews on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius; rating distribution
- Analyst mentions — Gartner Magic Quadrant, IDC MarketScape, Forrester Wave positioning; frequency and recency
- Social share of voice — LinkedIn, X, Instagram post volume, engagement, follower growth
- Presence in comparison and listicle content — "best of," competitor comparison, category roundup articles

Y-Axis — Confidence in Buying the Vendor

Approximate using five underlying factors, each backed by public signals:

- Need fit — feature coverage vs. category requirements, published roadmap signals, product announcements, use-case language frequency in marketing and customer testimonials
- Value / total cost — pricing page transparency, packaging and contract complexity signals, implementation cost indicators, competitor price-positioning language
- Safe choice — security certifications (ISO27001, SOC2, etc.), compliance badges (DORA, NIS2, etc.), customer logos and case studies, awards, financial stability signals, third-party validation and analyst positioning
- Implementation confidence — onboarding documentation depth, professional services availability, implementation case studies, integration ecosystem breadth, published support SLAs, public complaints or sentiment about deployment on Reddit, review platforms, or Twitter
- Ease of working with — customer support ratings and responsiveness sentiment, review platform sentiment on support quality, community activity, renewal and retention signals, account management quality indicators; pull practitioner and user sentiment from Reddit natively or via Apify Reddit connector where available

Step 3: Build the Boston Matrix

Plot all 11 companies (10 competitors plus the original) on a 2×2 matrix with Day 1 presence (low → high) on the horizontal axis and buyer confidence (low → high) on the vertical axis. Classify each into one of the four quadrants:

- Low presence / low confidence — invisible and weak
- Low presence / high confidence — hidden strength
- High presence / low confidence — shortlisted but not winning
- High presence / high confidence — strongest position

Provide the matrix as an embedded visualization or clear textual representation showing all 11 companies plotted by quadrant.

Step 4: Report

Produce a written report that covers:

- Competitor list with rationale — the 10 competitors identified and why each qualifies as a direct competitor
- Scoring methodology and evidence — explain how you scored each axis; for each company, document the specific data points and sources used to justify its X and Y placement
- Matrix visualization and quadrant analysis — show the 2×2 matrix and classify each company into its quadrant
- Strategic synthesis — for each company, interpret what its matrix position implies about its competitive strategy, market positioning, and vulnerabilities; include where the original company sits relative to the field
- Data transparency — where public data is thin, unavailable, or difficult to verify, flag it explicitly rather than filling gaps with inference; note the recency and reliability of sources used

Output format: Written report with embedded 2×2 matrix visualization and a data table summarizing scores and sources for each company.