Competitor Tracking
You set up and run ongoing competitor surveillance — catching metadata changes, keyword shifts, rating drops, and new feature launches before they impact your rankings.
One-Time Analysis vs Ongoing Tracking
|
competitor-analysis skill |
This skill (competitor-tracking) |
| Frequency |
One-time deep dive |
Weekly/monthly recurring |
| Output |
Strategy document |
Change log + alerts |
| Focus |
Gap analysis, positioning |
What changed and why it matters |
| Data |
Snapshot |
Delta (before vs after) |
Setup: Define Your Watchlist
- Check for
app-marketing-context.md
- Ask: Who are your top 3–5 competitors? (get App IDs if possible)
- Ask: How often do you want to review? (weekly recommended)
- Ask: What are you most concerned about? (keywords, ratings, creative, pricing)
Use Appeeky to identify competitors if unknown:
GET /v1/keywords/ranks?keyword=meditation&country=us&limit=10
GET /v1/apps/:id/intelligence
What to Track
Metadata Changes
Check weekly using Appeeky:
GET /v1/apps/:id
Watch for:
- Title changes — new keyword being targeted, repositioning
- Subtitle changes — testing new hooks or keywords
- Description changes — messaging strategy shift (Google Play especially)
- Screenshot updates — new creative direction or A/B test winner shipped
Keyword Ranking Changes
GET /v1/apps/:id/keywords
GET /v1/keywords/ranks?keyword=[shared keyword]
Watch for:
- Keywords they're newly ranking for (they optimized for this — should you?)
- Keywords they dropped (opportunity to capture)
- A competitor jumping above you for a shared keyword
Ratings and Reviews
GET /v1/apps/:id/reviews?sort=recent&limit=20
GET /v1/apps/:id
Watch for:
- Rating drop (they shipped a bad update — opportunity to highlight your stability)
- Surge of 1-stars around a specific complaint (user pain point you could solve)
- New positive reviews praising a feature you don't have
Chart Positions
GET /v1/market/movers?genre=[genre_id]&country=us
GET /v1/categories/:id/top?country=us&limit=25
Watch for:
- A competitor entering or exiting top 10 in your category
- New competitor entering your space from a chart rise
Pricing and Paywall
Manually check every 4–6 weeks:
- Trial length changes
- Price changes (lower = aggressive growth; higher = LTV optimization)
- New paywall format or plans
Weekly Competitive Report Template
Run this analysis every Monday:
Competitive Update — Week of [Date]
Apps tracked: [list names]
CHANGES DETECTED:
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
[Competitor Name]
Metadata: [changed / no change]
→ [specific change if any]
Top keywords: [gained X / lost Y / stable]
Rating: [X.X → X.X] ([+/-N] ratings this week)
Chart position: [#N → #N in category]
New reviews theme: [if notable]
[Repeat per competitor]
OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFIED:
1. [Competitor X dropped keyword Y — consider targeting it]
2. [Competitor X has surge of complaints about Z — your strength]
3. [Competitor X raised price — positioning opportunity]
THREATS:
1. [Competitor X now ranks #3 for [keyword] — we're at #8]
2. [New entrant spotted: [name] — check their metadata]
ACTION ITEMS:
1. [Specific response to a change]
2. [Keyword to target based on competitor gap]
Monthly Deep-Dive Triggers
Run a full competitor-analysis when:
- A competitor jumps 10+ positions in the category chart
- A competitor changes their title (signals major repositioning)
- A new competitor enters the top 10 in your category
- Your ranking drops on a keyword a competitor recently targeted
Automation Options
Manual (recommended for small teams)
Set a calendar reminder. Run the Appeeky API calls above. Fill the template.
Semi-automated
Build a script that calls Appeeky weekly and diffs results:
#!/bin/bash
APPS=("6759740679" "987654321" "111222333")
KEY="apk_your_key"
for APP_ID in "${APPS[@]}"; do
echo "=== $APP_ID ==="
curl -s "https://api.appeeky.com/v1/apps/$APP_ID" \
-H "X-API-Key: $KEY" | jq '.data | {title, subtitle, rating, reviewCount}'
done
Store results weekly and diff with the previous week's output.
Appeeky MCP (in Claude/Cursor)
Ask your agent each Monday:
"Run a competitor check on apps [ID1], [ID2], [ID3] and
compare their metadata and top keywords to last week."
The agent will use get_app, get_app_keywords, get_app_reviews to produce the report.
Competitive Response Playbook
| What changed |
Response |
| Competitor targets your #1 keyword in title |
Defend: check your metadata is fully optimized; consider increasing ASA bids |
| Competitor drops a keyword you share |
Opportunity: double down, increase bid in ASA |
| Competitor upgrades screenshots |
Audit yours — are they still best in category? |
| Competitor rating drops below 4.0 |
Mention your rating in promotional text while gap is visible |
| Competitor launches a feature you don't have |
Note for roadmap; meanwhile highlight your differentiating strengths |
| New competitor enters top 10 |
Run full competitor-analysis on them |
Related Skills
competitor-analysis — Deep one-time competitive strategykeyword-research — Act on the keyword gaps you findmarket-movers — Catch chart-level competitor movements automaticallyapple-search-ads — Respond to competitor keyword moves with ASA bidsaso-audit — Run on yourself after finding competitive gaps
