Strategic Briefing
What it is
The Strategic Briefing is the analyzed layer that sits on top of your monitoring. Where a dashboard shows you one number moving, the briefing reads across all 13 dimensions at once — the five CompetLab monitors continuously, plus eight more it researches specifically for the briefing — and turns weeks of raw runs into a decision document: a headline thesis, the moves worth making, and a plain read on why the field looks the way it does.
It’s not another dashboard and it’s not a raw export. It’s the one place your competitive picture is pulled together and prioritized, so you can act on it without stitching the dimensions together yourself. The full registry of the 13 dimensions — which are monitored and which are researched — lives on Core concepts.
Monitoring is the raw layer; the briefing is the analyzed one
The two halves of CompetLab answer different questions. Monitoring tells you what’s happening as it happens. The briefing tells you what to do about it, once a month. They draw on the same underlying runs, so they never disagree about the facts.
| Monitoring | Strategic Briefing |
|---|---|
| Raw, continuous — checked on a schedule you set | Analyzed, monthly — synthesized for you |
| Five monitored dimensions, each on its own cadence | All 13 dimensions, read together |
| Dashboards, run history, and alerts between briefings | A narrative: thesis, actions, competitor read |
| Answers “what moved this week?” | Answers “what should I do this month?” |
If you want the continuous side — how a check works, the five dimensions, alerts, and setting each cadence — start at Monitoring. This page is about the synthesis on top.
Who it’s for
The briefing is written to be read by a person making a call, not parsed by a script. It’s aimed at whoever owns the competitive picture and has to decide where the next month’s effort goes:
Everything in it is framed as a decision: a ranked list of what to do, each competitor sized up by the threat it poses, and a single recommended call on where to point your resources. You can read the whole thing in a sitting, or open just the dimension you care about.
What’s inside, at a glance
Every edition opens with an executive hub — a one-sentence thesis, the top moves to make, and a one-line verdict for each dimension — that answers most questions at a glance. From there you can go as deep as you want:
| What you see | What it means |
|---|---|
| Executive hub | The headline read: thesis, the few claims that matter most, and a verdict per dimension. |
| Ranked actions | A prioritized “what to do next” list — each action carries an impact rating and a rough effort estimate. |
| Deep-dive per dimension | Open any of the 13 for the full sub-report, with its own charts and watch list. |
| Competitor board | Each rival sized up by the threat it poses, with an analyst note — including newcomers worth adding. |
| Coverage note | An honest account of what could and couldn’t be compiled this edition, so a thin cycle never reads as an empty finding. |
Here’s roughly what the hub looks like — the headline layer you land on:
That’s the front page. For the full structure — every section, in the order you read it, and how the deep-dives and the actions list work — see Reading a briefing.
Cadence, and the edition you read
The briefing regenerates on its own rhythm — roughly every 30 days — independent of how often the monitored dimensions run. Each regeneration compiles the eight researched dimensions fresh and re-reads the accumulated monitoring history, so a new edition reflects everything that has moved since the last one.
What you open is always the latest finished edition — the most recent complete read for your project.
CompetLab keeps the current briefing, not a shelf of past ones. There’s no archive to browse and no way to pull up last quarter’s edition — you always read the newest finished one. If a newer edition is being generated while you’re reading, you still see the last complete edition until the new one is ready, so you’re never handed a half-written briefing.
How you get it
The briefing is generated automatically for every project — you don’t request it. There are three ways to read it:
In the app, it’s the Strategic Briefing view for your project — the full narrative, the
deep-dives, and a separate actions list you can sort by impact, effort, or time. From an AI
assistant, the get_briefing MCP tool returns the same synthesized read so an agent can work
from it. And over HTTPS, the REST API returns the edition as structured JSON — including the
availability state, so you can tell a ready briefing from one that’s still being prepared.
Work with it in code
The same synthesized edition the dashboard renders is available to your tools and your scripts.
FAQ
What is the Strategic Briefing?
The Strategic Briefing is CompetLab's monthly deliverable — a synthesized, prioritized read across all 13 dimensions of your competitive position. It's the analyzed layer on top of the raw monitoring: rather than showing you numbers to interpret, it says what changed, what it means, and what to do about it. Each edition opens with an executive hub — a one-sentence thesis, the top moves to make, and a verdict for every dimension — then lets you drill into a deep-dive per dimension, a ranked list of actions, and a competitor-by-competitor read. It's a decision document, not another dashboard, and it's generated automatically for each project rather than requested.
How is the briefing different from monitoring?
Monitoring is the raw, continuous layer — five dimensions checked on a schedule you set, each with its own dashboard, run history, and alerts between briefings. The Strategic Briefing is the analyzed layer on top: a monthly synthesis that reads across all of that, plus eight further dimensions it researches specifically for the briefing, and turns it into a narrative. Put simply, monitoring tells you what's happening as it happens; the briefing tells you what to do about it, once a month. Both draw on the same underlying runs, so they never disagree about the facts — the briefing just adds the judgment a stream of numbers can't give you on its own.
How often is it refreshed?
Roughly every 30 days. The briefing regenerates on its own monthly rhythm, independent of how often the individual monitored dimensions run — you might check AI Visibility weekly, but the synthesis that ties everything together arrives about once a month. Each regeneration researches the eight briefing-only dimensions fresh and re-reads the accumulated monitoring history, so a new edition reflects everything that has shifted since the last one. Between editions, the monitored dimensions keep updating on their own schedules and alerts keep firing, so you're never blind while you wait — the briefing is the periodic step back, not your only source of signal.
Can I read past editions or browse an archive?
No — CompetLab keeps the current briefing, not a shelf of past ones. When you open the briefing, you always get the latest finished edition for your project; there's no archive to page through and no way to pull up an earlier month's edition. If a newer edition is being generated while you're reading, you still see the last complete one until the new one is ready, so you never land on a half-written briefing. If you need to track how a specific figure moved over time, that's what the monitored dimensions are for — they keep full run history you can page through and chart, while the briefing is always an as-of read.
Who is the briefing for?
It's written for the person who owns the competitive picture and has to decide where next month's effort goes — typically a founder, a CMO or marketing lead, or a competitive-intelligence lead. Everything in it is framed as a decision rather than a data dump: a ranked list of what to do, each with an impact rating and a rough effort estimate; each competitor sized up by the threat it poses; and a single recommended call on where to point your resources. It's meant to be read by a person in one sitting, not parsed by a script — though the same edition is available over the API and MCP when you do want it in a tool.
How do I get the briefing?
Three ways, all reading the same edition. In the CompetLab app, it's the Strategic Briefing view for your project — the full narrative, a deep-dive for each dimension, and a separate actions list you can sort by impact, effort, or time. From an AI assistant, the get_briefing MCP tool returns the synthesized read so an agent can work from it. And over HTTPS, the REST API returns the edition as structured JSON, including an availability state that tells a ready briefing apart from one still being prepared. You don't request a briefing — it's generated automatically for every project and refreshed on its monthly cadence; these are just the three surfaces you read it through.