4 stations · 14 tools

AI tools for desk research and competitor analysis

Tools for discovering, collecting and analysing publicly available information. Explore markets, compare competitors and gather evidence for your research.

Search Demand & Competitor Traffic

How many people search for a topic or product (Google Trends), where competitors get traffic and which keywords they target (Similarweb, Semrush).

Unlike Media Monitoring: search demand and site traffic, not media mentions.

Ahrefs

Analyzes competitor sites: which Google keywords they rank for, who links to them and how much search traffic they get. Brand Radar tracks brand mentions in AI chatbot answers.

Website
Search Demand & Competitor TrafficYesOfficial
Google Trends

Shows how Google search interest changes over time and across regions, lets you compare several queries and see what people are searching for right now.

Website
Search Demand & Competitor TrafficYesCommunity
Semrush

Shows competitor site traffic and where it comes from (search, ads, social, direct), which keywords they rank for and which ads they run. Tracks brand mentions in AI chatbot answers.

Website
Search Demand & Competitor TrafficYesOfficial
Similarweb

Estimates traffic for any website: visitors, countries, channels, similar sites. Its AI module shows traffic from AI chatbots and brand mentions in their answers.

Website
Search Demand & Competitor TrafficYesOfficial
Ahrefs

Analyzes competitor sites: which Google keywords they rank for, who links to them and how much search traffic they get. Brand Radar tracks brand mentions in AI chatbot answers.

Free planMCP server

Search Demand & Competitor Traffic

Free · paid from $29/mo

Website
Google Trends

Shows how Google search interest changes over time and across regions, lets you compare several queries and see what people are searching for right now.

Free planNo AI

Search Demand & Competitor Traffic

Free

Website
Semrush

Shows competitor site traffic and where it comes from (search, ads, social, direct), which keywords they rank for and which ads they run. Tracks brand mentions in AI chatbot answers.

Free planMCP server

Search Demand & Competitor Traffic

Free · paid from $117/mo

Website
Similarweb

Estimates traffic for any website: visitors, countries, channels, similar sites. Its AI module shows traffic from AI chatbots and brand mentions in their answers.

Free planMCP server

Search Demand & Competitor Traffic

Free · paid from $125/mo

Website

Questions and answers

Which AI search engine cites its sources for market research?

AI search engines that search the web in real time and link every answer to its sources are the safest choice for market research, because each claim can be checked. Perplexity links every claim to a source, offers a Deep Research mode for long-form topic overviews, has a free tier and an official MCP server. ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude can also search the web and have free tiers, and work well for summarizing uploaded reports, but always check AI output.

How can I estimate a competitor's website traffic and top keywords?

Use a traffic estimation tool: it shows approximate visits and ranking keywords for any domain, without access to the competitor's own analytics. Similarweb shows total visitors, countries and channels (search, ads, social, direct). Semrush combines traffic by channel with SEO and ad data and has a limited free account. Ahrefs focuses on Google keywords and backlinks and shows search traffic only. Google Trends is free for comparing search interest over time.

How do I monitor brand mentions across social media, news and AI chatbots?

Social listening tools collect mentions of your brand and competitors and use AI to score sentiment (always check AI output), while SEO suites now also track how often AI chatbots mention a brand. Brand24 covers social media, news, blogs and forums, measures reach and sentiment, and has an official MCP server. For mentions in chatbot answers, Ahrefs offers Brand Radar, and both Semrush and Similarweb track brand mentions in AI responses.

Can I scrape competitor prices and product data without coding?

Yes, several no-code scrapers turn web pages into tables without writing code. Thunderbit is a Chrome extension: click a button and page data goes to Excel, Google Sheets, Airtable or Notion; it has a free tier with a monthly page limit. Browse AI lets you train a robot that collects prices and tracks changes, with a free tier. Kadoa takes a plain-language description and scrapes on a schedule. Firecrawl and Diffbot are APIs that need a developer.

Other research lines