Reverse-engineer how competitors do programmatic SEO. Detects URL pattern clusters (vs/, integrations/, for-{industry}/), estimates page count per pattern, analyzes template quality, infers which patterns actually drive traffic, and identifies gaps you can exploit. Outputs a competitive pSEO landscape report.
SkillScore65Maintained
Automatic
◆Marketing & Content pack
Last verified 8/16/2026
What it changes
Passed 15 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 6 of 23 without it.
Without skill26%
With skill65%
Checks it passed that the model alone missed
Specifies JSON output formatting using the --output json flag
Limits competitor intake to 1 to 5 target competitor URLs per run
Excludes auto-generated tag pages from deep template quality assessment
and 10 more in the full report
9 fixed6 passed either way8 still failing0 broke
Pass-rate lift
+39 pp
Tokens
+81%
Agent turns
0%
Response time
-24%
Model gemini-3.6-flashMeasured 8/16/2026v115 of 23 cases passed with skill
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
See it in action
One of 9 test cases the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
1 of 9
Prompt
Which API token environment variable must be present to support sitemap cataloging tools when analyzing competitor domains?
What was checked, without and with the skill
Checked
Without skill
With skill
Requires APIFY_API_TOKEN as the environment variable for crawling tools
Missed
Passed
case-20 · gemini-3.6-flash · 8/16/2026 · answers are capped and redacted
What's inside
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
SKILL.md273 linessingle file
Programmatic SEO Competitor Spy
Before building your own programmatic SEO pages, know what your competitors are already doing. This skill crawls competitor sitemaps, detects which URL patterns are programmatic, estimates which ones actually drive traffic, assesses template quality, and finds the gaps they're missing.
Core principle: The best pSEO strategy starts with competitive intelligence. If 3 competitors have /vs/ pages and none have /for-{industry}/ pages, that's a signal. This skill turns competitor site structures into strategic intelligence.
When to Use
"What programmatic SEO are competitors doing?"
"Reverse-engineer competitor SEO pages"
"Which pSEO patterns actually work in our space?"
"Find pSEO gaps our competitors are missing"
"Analyze competitor URL structure for SEO patterns"
Tool Enhancement (Optional)
This skill works with existing capabilities but is dramatically better with domain analytics data that shows actual traffic per URL pattern.
Agent Prompt to User
"I can analyze competitor site structures with our existing crawling tools. For the most accurate results — especially knowing which patterns actually drive traffic vs. just existing — I'd recommend connecting a domain analytics API."
Recommended: DataForSEO (pay-per-use, ~$0.02-0.05 per domain analysis)
Sign up at dataforseo.com → get API login + password
Set DATAFORSEO_LOGIN and DATAFORSEO_PASSWORD env vars
Alternatives that also work:
SEMrush API (if you have a subscription) → set SEMRUSH_API_KEY
Ahrefs API (if you have a subscription) → set AHREFS_API_TOKEN
SimilarWeb API (if you have access) → set SIMILARWEB_API_KEY
"Want to use one of these, or should I proceed with baseline mode? Baseline will detect patterns and assess template quality, but traffic estimates will be inferred rather than measured."
Mode Selection
Enhanced mode — Domain analytics API provides organic keywords and estimated traffic per URL. Enables confident "this pattern drives X traffic" conclusions. Can show which specific pages within a pattern rank well.
Baseline mode — Uses site-content-catalog for URL crawling, seo-domain-analyzer for domain-level metrics, web_search for spot-checking rankings. Pattern detection is equally good. Traffic attribution is directional, based on page count × domain authority × keyword indicators.