Why Does Every Question in Your Battle Map Matter?

This is the anchor of your entire report. Claude uses your business name in every section — the Executive Brief headline, Head-to-Head comparisons ("Maple Plumbing vs River City Plumbing"), the Domination Plan, and every social bio template. It also populates the PDF cover page and JSON-LD code snippets in the Implementation Guide.

Controls which industry playbook Claude writes for you. A plumber gets different strategy than a SaaS company. This also drives the "People Also Ask" keyword — we scrape Google for [niche] + [city] questions, and Claude uses those to build the Voice of Your Customer section. Without a niche, Claude can't benchmark you against industry norms.

This is the richest text input in the brief. Claude reads your elevator pitch to understand your core value proposition, who you serve, and what makes you different — then reflects that understanding in the Executive Brief, the Unique Value Proposition analysis, and the social bio templates. A good pitch means a more accurate report. A vague one means more guessing.

Local businesses need map-pack strategies. National brands need content authority. SaaS companies need programmatic SEO. E-commerce needs product schema. Claude uses this to decide which competitive levers matter most — a single-location plumber doesn't need advice about international SEO, and a global SaaS company doesn't need Google Business Profile tips.

A startup needs faster, scrappier tactics. An established business needs to protect and expand. Claude tailors the 90-Day Domination Plan timeline based on your maturity — startups get "build foundation" tasks in Phase 1, while 10+ year businesses get "leverage existing authority" recommendations. This also affects ROI projections (established businesses see faster results from optimization).

Claude writes the entire content strategy around who you're trying to reach. "Homeowners aged 30-55 in Edmonton" produces completely different recommendations than "Enterprise CTOs at Fortune 500 companies." This field drives the Voice of Customer analysis (which PAA questions your audience actually asks), the content topics in the Domination Plan, and the social bio templates.

This is critical for two reasons: (1) It sets the geographic scope of the People Also Ask scrape — we query Google for your niche in your specific city, not a generic search. (2) Claude replaces any vague "in your area" language with your actual city name throughout the report. A Battle Map for "Edmonton, AB" is fundamentally different from one for "Toronto" or "Global."

Claude uses these to write service-specific recommendations. Instead of generic "add FAQ schema," you'll get "add FAQ schema answering 'How much does drain repair cost in Edmonton?'" These also populate the JSON-LD code snippets in the Implementation Guide and inform which content gaps matter most in the Hidden Opportunities section.

What makes you different is what makes you winnable. Claude uses your UVP to identify which competitive advantages to amplify in the strategy — "24/7 emergency service" means Claude will recommend schema for openingHoursSpecification and content about after-hours availability. It also shapes the social bio templates and the Identity Conflict Resolution section.

This is the compass for the entire Domination Plan. Claude doesn't just list best-practice fixes — it reorders and prioritizes them based on your stated goals. "Get more leads from Google" means schema and GBP optimization go to Phase 1. "Show up in AI search" means bot access and llms.txt become the priority. Without goals, you get generic advice. With goals, you get a roadmap.

Frustration reveals the real problem. "I spend $2k/mo on ads but can't get organic traffic" tells Claude to focus on organic search over paid. "Competitors outrank me everywhere" triggers deeper Head-to-Head analysis. This field often reveals insights that goals alone miss — Claude will proactively address the frustration with specific solutions in the Implementation Guide.

Even though you provide competitor URLs in the scan section above, this field tells Claude which competitor you perceive as the biggest threat. Claude will give this rival extra attention in the Head-to-Head section and specifically explain how to overtake them. If the URL is in your competitor scan list, Claude has both the scan data AND your perspective — making the analysis dramatically more useful.

Your perception of competitor strengths gives Claude qualitative intelligence that scan data can't capture. "More reviews" tells Claude to recommend review generation strategies. "Better website" leads to UX recommendations. "Higher Google ranking" shifts focus to SEO and schema authority. This is the only field where Claude gets your subjective competitive intelligence — and it often produces the most actionable output.

If you're already running Google Ads, Claude won't waste your report telling you to "try Google Ads." Instead, it'll show you how to reduce ad spend by improving organic visibility. If you're doing nothing, the Domination Plan starts with foundational steps. Checking the boxes you're already using lets Claude focus on what's missing rather than repeating what you already know.

Budget calibrates the ambition of recommendations. "$0" means Claude focuses on free, DIY wins (schema fixes, content, bot access). "$5k+" means Claude can suggest professional tools, paid link-building, and advanced technical SEO. The ROI Projection section uses your budget to calculate potential savings from shifting spend to organic. Without this, Claude defaults to mid-range recommendations.

A $500 LTV business and a $50,000 LTV business need completely different ROI math. Claude uses your LTV to calculate the actual dollar impact of score improvements — "Increasing your AI visibility score from 45 to 85 is projected to capture 15 additional leads/month at $5,000 LTV = $75,000/month in revenue." This makes the ROI Projection section tangible and presentation-ready for stakeholders.

This is the most impactful technical field. Claude writes platform-specific implementation instructions. WordPress users get plugin recommendations (Yoast, Rank Math, WP-JSON). Shopify users get Liquid template code. Wix users get the Velo API approach. Custom-coded sites get raw HTML/JSON-LD snippets. Every code block in the Implementation Guide is tailored to your platform — not generic copy-paste that won't work.

If you have full code access, Claude gives you raw code to deploy. If you can only use a CMS admin panel, Claude gives you plugin-based solutions and settings screenshots. If your developer handles it, Claude writes instructions formatted for you to forward to them. "I don't know how" triggers the simplest possible instructions with more explanation. This one field changes the entire difficulty calibration of the report.

For local businesses, GBP is the #1 ranking factor. If you already have a fully optimized profile, Claude skips the "set up GBP" basics and focuses on advanced tactics (review velocity, Q&A optimization, service area expansion). If you don't have one, GBP setup becomes a top-priority Phase 1 task. "Not sure" triggers Claude to check your scan data for GBP signals and advise accordingly.

This is the "north star" that shapes the Bottom Line section. Claude works backward from your perfect outcome to determine which actions have the highest impact. "Rank #1 for 'emergency plumber Edmonton'" means Claude will calculate what score you need, what gaps to close, and exactly how long it will take — then build the 90-day timeline to get there. This makes the report feel like a personal consultant who understands your ambition.

The wildcard. Use this for context that doesn't fit elsewhere — "We just rebranded," "New location opening next month," "We were penalized by Google in 2023," "Our main competitor was acquired." Claude reads this as critical context and weaves it into recommendations. A rebrand means identity consistency becomes priority. A new location means multi-location schema. A Google penalty means recovery strategy Phase 1. This field has produced some of the best tailored advice in Battle Maps.