---
title: "Competitive Intelligence: Definition and Examples"
description: "Competitive intelligence is the practice of legally and ethically gathering and analyzing information about competitors, customers and the market, then..."
path: /glossary/competitive-intelligence
family: glossary
updated: 2026-10-17
html: /glossary/competitive-intelligence
sources:
  - "https://ischool.sjsu.edu/post/competitive-intelligence"
  - "https://www.quirks.com/glossary/competitive-intelligence-ci"
facts:
  term: "Competitive intelligence"
  also_called: "CI, competitor intelligence, competitive analysis, market intelligence"
  category: "Marketing"
---

# Competitive intelligence

Competitive intelligence is the practice of legally and ethically gathering and analyzing information about competitors, customers and the market, then turning it into insight that sales, marketing, product and leadership use to make decisions.

## What Is Competitive Intelligence?

**In short:** CI teams collect from open sources: competitor websites, pricing pages, release notes, job posts, reviews, filings, analyst reports and win-loss interviews with your own buyers.

The work is turning that pile into something usable, like a pricing comparison, a list of where each rival wins and loses, or an alert when a competitor ships a feature.

Sales is often the biggest consumer. Battlecards, objection guides and competitive talk tracks all come out of CI, and win-loss data shows which competitors you actually lose to, which is often not the one leadership worries about.

## Competitive Intelligence Example

Example: a product marketing manager reviews 60 lost deals and finds that 24 of them went to one competitor on price, not features. The team builds a battlecard with a 3-year cost comparison that includes admin time, and sales uses it in every deal where that rival appears.

## Competitive Intelligence in Practice

Outbound teams use CI in targeting and messaging. Companies using a competitor's product can be a list of their own, and a reply like 'we already use X' is first-hand intelligence worth recording. The ethical line is clear: public information and honest interviews, never misrepresentation or stolen data. Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP), the main association for the field, publishes a code of ethics its members follow.

## FAQ

### What is an example of competitive intelligence?

Tracking a rival's pricing page and release notes, interviewing buyers who chose them over you, and turning the findings into a battlecard your sales team uses on calls.

### Is competitive intelligence legal?

Yes, when it relies on public information and honest research. Misrepresenting who you are, taking confidential data or inducing someone to break an agreement crosses legal and ethical lines.

### What is the difference between competitive intelligence and market research?

Market research studies customers and demand in a market. Competitive intelligence focuses on competitors and the moves you can make against them, though the two often share sources.

### Who uses competitive intelligence?

Sales and product marketing most often, plus product management for roadmap decisions and executives for strategy, pricing and acquisitions.

## Do this in Ken

### Do This in Ken

Read the objections in Inbox: replies like 'we already use X' tell you which competitors your target accounts actually run, straight from the buyers.

- Link: [Do This in Ken](/features)

## Related

- [GTM Glossary](/glossary): Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- [Battlecard](/glossary/battlecard)
- [Objection handling](/glossary/objection-handling)
- [Sales intelligence](/glossary/sales-intelligence)
- [Unique selling proposition (USP)](/glossary/unique-selling-proposition)
- [Sales enablement](/glossary/sales-enablement)
- [Ken features](/features)

## Sources

| Source | URL | Checked |
| --- | --- | --- |
| San Jose State University School of Information: Competitive intelligence | https://ischool.sjsu.edu/post/competitive-intelligence | 2026-10-17 |
| Quirk's: Competitive intelligence (CI) glossary entry | https://www.quirks.com/glossary/competitive-intelligence-ci | 2026-10-17 |

## Changelog

- 2026-10-17: Page published.