How to Research Your Competitors with OpenClaw

You can ask your OpenClaw bot to run a full competitive research pass without leaving chat. With AgentPatch connected, it has access to Google Search, Google News, and Google Trends — enough to tell you what your competitors are doing and whether you should care.

Why This Matters

Small business owners and sales teams rarely have time for structured competitive research. You know you should be tracking what competitors are up to, but opening a dozen browser tabs and taking notes isn’t how you want to spend your morning.

An OpenClaw bot with the right tools can do this on demand. Message it, get a briefing, move on with your day.

Setup

Add AgentPatch to ~/.openclaw/openclaw.json:

{
  "mcp": {
    "servers": {
      "agentpatch": {
        "transport": "streamable-http",
        "url": "https://agentpatch.ai/mcp",
        "headers": {
          "Authorization": "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY"
        }
      }
    }
  }
}

Replace YOUR_API_KEY with your actual key from the AgentPatch dashboard. Restart OpenClaw and it discovers all AgentPatch tools automatically.

The Workflow

Step 1: Check Competitor Websites

Message your OpenClaw bot:

“Search Google for ‘Green Clean Austin’ and ‘Sparkle Maids Austin’. Find their websites, check if they’re running any promotions, and tell me what services they’re pushing right now.”

The bot calls Google Search for each competitor and gives you a quick comparison.

Step 2: Check the News

“Search Google News for both of those companies. Anything in the last month?”

The bot surfaces recent press, reviews, or local coverage.

“Compare Google Trends for ‘Green Clean Austin’ vs ‘Sparkle Maids Austin’ over the past year. Who’s getting more search interest?”

The bot returns the trend comparison so you can see who’s gaining ground in your market.

Putting It All Together

Or do it all at once:

“Run a competitive check on my three main competitors: Green Clean, Sparkle Maids, and Fresh Start Cleaning, all in Austin. Google each one, check the news, compare them on Trends, and give me the highlights.”

Green Clean Austin:
  Website active, running a "spring cleaning 20% off" promo. No news mentions.
  Trends: Flat over 12 months.

Sparkle Maids Austin:
  Website redesigned recently. Blog post about eco-friendly products (Feb 2026).
  Featured in Austin Chronicle "local business spotlight."
  Trends: Growing steadily since November.

Fresh Start Cleaning Austin:
  Website looks outdated, last updated mid-2025. No news.
  Trends: Declining since August.

Bottom line: Sparkle Maids is investing in visibility and it's working. Fresh Start
is fading — their customers might be looking for alternatives. Green Clean is holding
steady but not growing.

That’s a five-minute competitive briefing from a chat message.

Wrapping Up

With AgentPatch connected, your OpenClaw bot can run competitive research on demand — no browser tabs, no manual Googling. Search, News, and Trends are three tools on the marketplace, and the same connection unlocks everything else. Try it at agentpatch.ai.

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