Know what your competitors publish before they do
Monitor competitor YouTube channels, compare their title strategies against yours, and find the content gaps they keep ignoring. Structured JSON from a single API call.
The problem
Competitive analysis shouldn't live in a Slack thread
Manual monitoring
Someone on your team watches competitor channels and drops screenshots in Slack. No structure, no scoring, no way to compare week over week. By Friday the thread is buried.
Surface-level metrics
Subscriber counts tell you what happened, not why. View totals show outcomes but hide the title patterns, posting cadence, and content strategy behind them.
With BrightBean
Benchmark any channel against its niche. Track their title patterns, compare posting cadence, and find the content gaps they're leaving open for you.
See it in action
How a marketing team monitors 5 competitor channels
A mid-size marketing agency tracks 5 competitors in the digital marketing niche. Here is the workflow they run every Monday morning.
Benchmark a competitor channel
Start with your biggest competitor. The /benchmark endpoint returns their channel tier, engagement ratio vs. the niche average, posting frequency, average title score, and their biggest weakness.
This competitor posts half as often as the niche average and their views-per-subscriber ratio sits below the median. Their titles score slightly above average, but inconsistent publishing is costing them reach.
That is information you can act on today.
{
"channel": "@MarketingMike",
"channel_tier": "mid",
"subscribers": 87400,
"views_per_sub_ratio": 0.05,
"niche_avg_ratio": 0.08,
"posting_frequency": "1.1x/week",
"niche_avg_frequency": "2.3x/week",
"title_score_avg": 59,
"niche_title_score_avg": 55,
"top_performing_pattern": "number_list + authority",
"weakness": "Low posting frequency, 52% below niche average"
}Compare title strategies
Your channel: avg score 67
Top patterns: curiosity gaps, personal pronouns, specificity
You consistently use first-person framing and specific numbers. Your titles outperform the marketing niche average by 12 points. The personal angle is your strongest differentiator.
Strength: personal experience framing and concrete details in every title.
@MarketingMike: avg score 59
Top patterns: number lists, authority framing
They rely on listicle formats and expert positioning. No curiosity gaps, no personal pronouns. Titles are functional but predictable. Their audience knows what to expect, which limits upside on any single video.
Opportunity: they never use first-person or story-driven titles. You already own that angle.
Find gaps they're missing
The /content-gaps endpoint scans the marketing niche for topics where search demand is high but few quality videos exist. These are the topics none of your 5 competitors have covered well.
Each result includes a demand score, the count of competing videos with 10k+ views, and an opportunity rating. Topics with high demand and few quality videos are the ones worth filming first.
Sustainable packaging, brand storytelling, and YouTube ads for small business all show strong demand with minimal competition. Publish before your competitors notice.
{
"content_gaps": [
{
"topic": "sustainable packaging for small brands",
"demand_score": 76,
"competing_videos_above_10k_views": 2,
"opportunity_rating": "very_high"
},
{
"topic": "brand storytelling on youtube",
"demand_score": 68,
"competing_videos_above_10k_views": 5,
"opportunity_rating": "high"
},
{
"topic": "youtube ads for small business under $500",
"demand_score": 82,
"competing_videos_above_10k_views": 3,
"opportunity_rating": "very_high"
}
],
"niche": "marketing",
"videos_analyzed": 22100
}Build an automated tracking dashboard
Once you know what to track, automate it. This Python script benchmarks 5 competitor channels and stores the results as timestamped JSON. Run it weekly via cron or any task scheduler.
Over time you build a dataset of competitor performance. Spot when a rival shifts strategy, increases their posting cadence, or starts scoring higher on titles. You see the change the week it happens, not months later.
import requests, json, datetime
API_KEY = "YOUR_API_KEY"
COMPETITORS = [
"@MarketingMike",
"@GrowthLab",
"@ContentClub",
"@SEMRushYT",
"@DigitalDave",
]
results = []
for channel in COMPETITORS:
r = requests.post(
"https://api.brightbean.xyz/v1/benchmark",
headers={"Authorization": f"Bearer {API_KEY}"},
json={"channel": channel}
)
results.append(r.json())
# Store with timestamp
filename = f"benchmarks_{datetime.date.today()}.json"
with open(filename, "w") as f:
json.dump(results, f, indent=2)
print(f"Benchmarked {len(results)} channels")Getting started
Two ways to use BrightBean
Pick whichever fits your workflow. Both use the same data, same scoring, same intelligence.
Option A: No code required
Use BrightBean through Claude Desktop
Add one config block to Claude Desktop and ask Claude to benchmark competitors in plain English. No scripts to write, no API keys to manage manually.
"Benchmark @MarketingMike against the marketing niche and tell me their biggest weakness."Claude calls the API, reads the response, and gives you a plain-English summary of where each competitor is strong and where they are falling behind.
Full MCP setup guide →Option B: REST API
Call the API directly
If you're comfortable with curl or Python, call the benchmark endpoint directly. Build your own competitive dashboard, pipe results into your BI tools, or schedule weekly reports via cron.
curl -X POST https://api.brightbean.xyz/v1/benchmark \
-H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" \
-d '{"channel": "@MarketingMike"}'Response in under 500ms. JSON you can pipe into any tool.
See all endpoints →Why teams use BrightBean
Competitive data you can act on
Unlimited channels
One API key, as many competitors as you need. Benchmark 5 channels or 50 with no per-channel fees.
Niche-calibrated
Every competitor is scored against real niche averages, not vanity metrics or global benchmarks.
Structured JSON
Pipe results directly into your BI tools, dashboards, or internal reporting. No CSV exports or manual cleanup.
Common questions about competitive intelligence
Can I monitor multiple competitor channels? +
Yes. Each /benchmark call analyzes one channel, so you call it once per competitor. One API key covers unlimited channels with no per-channel pricing. Most teams benchmark 3 to 10 competitors on a weekly schedule.
How often should I run competitive benchmarks? +
Weekly works well for most teams. Channel metrics shift gradually, so daily monitoring adds noise without much signal. If a competitor launches a new series or pivots their strategy, weekly benchmarks catch it within days.
Does BrightBean track historical data? +
Each benchmark is a point-in-time snapshot. For trend analysis, store the JSON responses in your own database and compare over time. The Python script in step 4 above shows this pattern: save timestamped results, then query them to spot changes week over week.
Can I automate competitor monitoring? +
Yes. Schedule API calls via cron, GitHub Actions, Zapier, or any automation tool you already use. The API returns JSON, so you can feed results into Slack alerts, email digests, or internal dashboards without any manual steps.
How do I compare my channel against competitors? +
Run /benchmark on your own channel and on each competitor. Compare the title_score_avg, views_per_sub_ratio, and posting_frequency fields side by side. The niche averages in each response give you a shared baseline for comparison.
What data does the benchmark endpoint return? +
Channel tier, subscriber count, views-per-subscriber ratio (with niche average), posting frequency (with niche average), average title score (with niche average), top-performing title pattern, and the channel's biggest weakness. Everything is calibrated against the niche, not global YouTube averages.
What niches does BrightBean cover? +
All YouTube niches. Scoring and benchmarks are calibrated per niche, including marketing, tech, fitness, finance, gaming, beauty, education, cooking, and hundreds more. If competitors exist in a niche on YouTube, BrightBean can benchmark them.
Know what your competitors are missing.
Free tier: 500 API calls, no credit card required.