8gnc — Brand Growth Diagnostic

Execute the AI Agent-Readiness audit and sprint playbook (PLAY-004). Use when making a site usable by agentic browsers, AI shopping assistants, or chat-led SERPs. Triggers on "agent readiness," "agentic browser," "selector contract," "structured data parity," "feed completeness," "task URLs," "Playwright testing," "INP," "TBT," "modal friction," "agent readiness score," or when a client needs their site to work with AI-powered browsing agents. Includes audit checklists, 15-day sprint plan, selector contract specs, test harnesses, and scoring rubric.

Simulate a focus group of audience archetypes to test marketing creative, messaging, and brand assets. Use when the user wants audience feedback, creative testing, or message validation without real user research. Triggers on "focus group," "audience feedback," "test this creative," "what would they think," "simulate audience," "creative testing," "message testing," "would this resonate," "audience reaction," or any request to pressure-test copy, design, headlines, taglines, brand names, or campaign concepts against a defined audience. Pairs well with brand strategy and creative direction skills for richer audience profiles and psychological response frameworks. Outputs can feed into brand audits as message-testing evidence.

Use when the user wants to know who the AI engines cite — brand mentions and citations inside Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT answers, AI search volume for a query set, or a competitor comparison of AI-answer presence. Triggers on "who does ChatGPT cite," "AI mentions," "LLM citations," "AI visibility," "are we showing up in AI Overviews," "AI share of voice," "track our brand in AI answers," or any AEO/GEO measurement task. Wraps the DataForSEO LLM Mentions API through the shared dataforseo client.

Use when a brand is stale, broken, or invisible and needs resurrection, repositioning, or reinvention after losing cultural relevance. Triggers on "stale brand," "brand revival," "rebrand," "brand refresh," "legacy brand," "brand turnaround," "partnership strategy," "brand resurrection," "brand has lost relevance," "nobody cares about this brand anymore," "brand went quiet," "how do we bring this back," or when a client has a brand with dormant equity that needs reactivation.

Use when all Brandprint layers (Core Human Truth through Competitive Audit) are complete and the user needs the final client-ready deliverable — Layer 6 of the Brandprint research stack. Trigger when the user asks to compile the Brandprint into a final report, create a client deliverable, generate a strategy document, or produce a consulting-grade brand report. Also trigger on "compile report," "final deliverable," "client report," "strategy document," "consulting report." If the competitive-positioning-audit skill has just completed with a PROCEED decision, move directly into this skill.

Use when starting a new Brandprint engagement, when a user needs instructions on how to use the skill package, or when the user asks "how do I run Brandprint," "what order do I use these skills," or "where do I start" with the Brand Strategy Engine. Orientation skill for the six-layer Brandprint chain and its two-pass workflow.

Use when the user asks for a Brandprint, brand strategy research, Tier-A elements, brand architecture, competitive analysis paired with brand positioning, equity ladder, signature offers mapping, economic engine modeling, or any comprehensive brand strategy deliverable — Layer 2 of the Brandprint research stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-A," "brandprint research," "full brand audit," "brand sprint," or when the user wants audience segments, JTBD outcomes, competitive set, and positioning in one pass. Use immediately when the core-human-truth skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Use when the user asks for Tier-B brand elements — brand activator, brand platform word, tone and manner guidelines, moat statement, brand no-no's, brand guardrails, brand voice, or brand behavior testing — Layer 3 of the Brandprint research stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-B," "brand activation," "brand tone," "competitive moat," "brand rules," or when the user wants practical, testable brand outputs derived from existing strategy research. Use immediately when the brandprint-tier-a skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Use when the user asks for Tier-C brand elements — brand mantra, brand personification, translation line, features-to-benefits mapping, brand style elements, brand personality vignette, or brand copy finalization — Layer 4 of the Brandprint research stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-C," "brand mantra," "brand personality," "header line," "features list," or when the user wants ready-to-deploy brand style outputs derived from existing strategy. Use immediately when the brandprint-tier-b skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Use when the user wants to validate positioning against named competitors, test differentiation, run a competitive audit, check for brand collision, or stress-test a Brandprint against real market players — Layer 5 of the Brandprint research stack. Also trigger on "competitive audit," "positioning vulnerability," "differentiation test," "collision check," "are we different enough," or when the user pastes competitor copy and asks whether their brand stands apart. Recommend this skill when brandprint-tier-c has just completed, before compiling the final report.

Use when the goal is category-level disruption analysis: finding structural gaps and white space across an entire category or platform, not brand-vs-brand positioning comparison. Triggers on "teardown," "competitive analysis," "SCAMPER analysis," "platform analysis," "gap analysis," "what are competitors missing," "find the white space," "category disruption," "what's unoccupied," or "where's the open quadrant." This is structurally different from competitive-positioning-audit, which tests one brand's claims against named competitors, and from general SCAMPER ideation, which treats a single item.

Use when the user asks for a core human truth, brand truth, audience insight, consumer truth, foundational brand insight, or strategic brand research — Layer 1 of the Brandprint research stack and the entry point for any new brand engagement. Also trigger when requests mention "tension ladder," "truth sentence," "brand truth scaffolding," "audience truth," "what does my audience really believe," or any request to distill a brand or product down to one universal human insight. Even if the user just says "find the real truth behind why people buy X" or "what's the one thing my audience feels but can't say," use this skill.

Use when the user asks for a core strategic truth, product thesis seed, foundational market tension, the one constraint buyers can't escape, the forced trade-off at the center of a market, or a strategy foundation sentence. Also trigger when requests mention "market tension," "strategic tension," "product thesis," "foundational positioning," "what buyers are forced to choose between," "why buyers compromise," "the real constraint in this market," or any request to distill a product or platform down to the single trade-off that drives all buying decisions. Layer 1 of the Productprint research stack and the entry point for any new product strategy engagement. Even if the user just says "find the real reason buyers are stuck between X and Y" or "what's the one market problem no one has actually solved," use this skill.

Apply the Mayhem Method to Creative Thinking with AI for structured ideation using 10 classic creativity frameworks as AI workflows. Use when running creative sprints, generating ideas at volume, or stress-testing concepts. Triggers on "SCAMPER," "Six Thinking Hats," "mind mapping," "brainstorming," "SWOT," "design thinking," "lotus blossom," "reverse brainstorming," "random word stimulation," "role storming," "creative sprint," "ideation," or when a team is stuck and needs structured divergent/convergent thinking.

Apply the Instant Checkout & ACP data-density commerce checklist for product feed optimization. Use when preparing product feeds for AI-powered shopping, Google Merchant Center compliance, or agent-compatible checkout flows. Triggers on "feed completeness," "product feed," "ACP," "instant checkout," "delivery estimate," "return window," "answerability," "description depth," "merchant center," "feed parity," or when SKU data needs to be machine-readable and agent-actionable for natural-language shopping queries.

Use when the user asks to perform SEO research, keyword analysis, SERP audits, backlink checks, competitor analysis, or any task involving the DataForSEO API. Provides the complete Python client, authentication, response parsing patterns, and all available endpoints. Also use when writing scripts that call DataForSEO or when the user mentions keyword research, search volume, SERP rankings, or SEO data collection.

Use when a task needs enterprise-grade research across many sources with citation tracking and verification. Triggers on "deep research", "comprehensive analysis", "research report", "compare X vs Y", "analyze trends", or "state of the art". Not for simple lookups, debugging, or questions answerable with 1-2 searches.

Diagnose ambiguous brand and growth problems and route them to the smallest useful 8gnc method sequence. Use when the user says the brand feels stuck, generic, invisible, inconsistent, hard to explain, weak at conversion, weak in outreach, unclear on product direction, or asks which 8gnc skill to use. Also trigger for broad requests such as "fix my brand," "what is actually wrong," "where should we start," "audit this business," or "give me the full 8gnc treatment." Do not trigger when the user explicitly names a specialist skill and already has the inputs it requires.

Execute the Fairness Anchor & Upgrade Ladder pricing strategy (PLAY-001). Use when a client needs loss-leader pricing with a choreographed upgrade path, menu/offer architecture, or viral pricing plays. Triggers on "fairness anchor," "upgrade ladder," "loss leader," "anchor pricing," "menu choreography," "price perception," offer tier design for local services, wellness, QSR, SaaS, or any request to build a pricing strategy around a public anchor price with stacked upgrades.

Rewrite AI-drafted text into the user's authentic voice using a saved voice profile and a 23-pattern editing framework. Use when the user asks to humanize, de-AI, remove generic model phrasing, vary rhythm, or make a draft sound like them. A voice profile from the voice-profiler skill is strongly recommended. This is a voice-fidelity workflow, not a detector-evasion tool.

Rewrite text as an Instagram-native caption using compact phrasing, intentional lowercase, varied rhythm, and the user's approved voice profile. Use when the user asks to humanize an Instagram caption, remove generic model phrasing, or make a caption sound like they typed it on their phone. This is a voice-fidelity workflow, not a detector-evasion tool.

Use when creating LinkedIn posts, personal brand content, thought leadership pieces, or social media copy that needs to feel human, conversational, and memorable. Also use when analyzing or improving existing LinkedIn content. Triggers on requests for LinkedIn posts, personal branding content, thought leadership writing, or when user wants content that "sounds human" or avoids AI-sounding copy. Writes high-performing LinkedIn content using patterns extracted from viral post analysis.

Execute the Local Services city-by-service matrix playbook (PLAY-003). Use when building city/service landing pages, local SEO architecture, provider directories, or lead routing systems. Triggers on "city pages," "local SEO," "service area pages," "provider directory," "describe your job form," "lead routing," "round robin," "JSON-LD LocalBusiness," "city-by-service matrix," or when scaling one service across multiple metros.

Apply the Mayhem Method to AI Use for standardized AI-assisted creative production. Use when producing social posts, campaign briefs, copy blocks, or any creative output using AI workflows. Triggers on "AI workflow," "prompt chaining," "few-shot steering," "zero-shot baseline," "structured deliverable," "acceptance rubric," "campaign brief schema," "mayhem method AI," or when systematizing AI-assisted content creation for client work.

Apply the Neuro-Design Playbook (v1.0) for psychology-driven creative direction and visual identity systems. Use when designing brand identity, campaign creative, or assets that need to encode memory and drive response. Triggers on "neuro design," "geometric reduction," "sensory branding," "red dot principle," "salient accent," "nostalgia fusion," "emotional direction," "emotional polarity," "memory encoding," "visual identity psychology," or when creative direction needs a specific psychological play for recall and response.

Diagnose cold outreach performance using kill metrics, root cause analysis, and prioritized fix plans. Use when outreach campaigns have low open rates, zero replies, poor deliverability, or any cold email/LinkedIn sequence is underperforming. Triggers on "outreach diagnosis," "email not working," "zero replies," "low open rate," "cold email audit," "outreach audit," "deliverability," "why no replies," "email warmup," "outreach kill metrics," "sequence diagnosis," or when reviewing any cold outreach campaign performance. Produces a structured diagnosis with root causes and a prioritized fix sequence.

Apply the Pitching Pivot technique for value-based sales conversations. Use when preparing for sales calls, handling pricing objections, reframing commodity requests into strategic engagements, or coaching on consultative selling. Triggers on "pivot technique," "value-based pricing," "objection handling," "too expensive," "price objection," "how to close," "sales prep," "upsell without upselling," "reframe the conversation," "they only want a website," "client wants a logo," or when a prospect is asking for a commodity service and you need to shift the conversation to strategic value.

Use when starting a new Productprint engagement, when a buyer needs instructions on how to use the skill package, or when the user asks "how do I run the Productprint," "what order do I use these skills," or "where do I start" with the Product/Platform Strategy Engine. Orientation skill for the 6-layer Productprint chain (core-strategic-truth → productprint-tier-a → productprint-tier-b → productprint-tier-c → thesis-stress-test → strategy-thesis-compiler).

Use when the user asks for a Productprint, product strategy research, Playing-to-Win cascade, where-to-play analysis, how-to-win hypothesis, market sizing, competitive capability teardown, JTBD outcomes mapping, segment willingness-to-pay, economic engine modeling, differentiation wedge, or any comprehensive product or platform strategy deliverable — Layer 2 of the Productprint research stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-A," "productprint research," "full product strategy audit," "product strategy sprint," "Playing-to-Win cascade," "market sizing," "where to play," "how to win," or when the user wants JTBD outcomes, competitive capability teardown, segment WTP, and strategy positioning in one pass. Use immediately when the core-strategic-truth skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Use when the user asks for Tier-B product strategy elements — strategic bets, Now/Next/Later roadmap, build-vs-buy-vs-partner decisions, prioritization model, risk register, or roadmap sequencing — Layer 3 of the Productprint research stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-B," "Productprint Tier-B," "strategic bets," "roadmap horizons," "Now/Next/Later," "build vs buy," "prioritization model," "risk register," or when the user wants a sequenced, evidence-backed product plan derived from existing Tier-A strategy research. Use immediately when the productprint-tier-a skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Use when the user asks for Tier-C product positioning artifacts — positioning statement, product one-liner, bet narrative, strategy on a page, deployable differentiation outputs, or Layer 4 of the Productprint stack. Also trigger on "run Tier-C," "Productprint Tier-C," "positioning statement," "product one-liner," "strategy on a page," "roadmap narrative," "bet narrative," or when the user wants deployment-ready strategy artifacts derived from existing Tier-A and Tier-B research. Use immediately when the productprint-tier-b skill has just completed — chain directly using its output as the seed.

Practice arena for sales roleplay, pitch stress-testing, and objection drills. Use when the user wants to practice a pitch, simulate a sales call, run objection drills, or get coaching on a real call. Triggers on "sales roleplay," "practice my pitch," "objection practice," "sales coaching," "mock sales call," "stress test my pitch," "play the buyer," "sales simulation." Distinct from pitching-pivot (which teaches the methodology) — this skill IS the practice arena with structured scenarios, scoring, and coaching feedback.

Apply the Story Spine + Emotional Heat Map framework (MM-002) for narrative content. Use when writing origin stories, case slices, LinkedIn posts, founder essays, client wins, or any piece that must hold attention. Triggers on "story spine," "emotional heat map," "establishing shot," "inciting friction," "line surgery," "camera work," "six beats," "case slice narrative," or when content needs stronger hooks, sensory detail, or a clear narrative arc. Includes 6-beat structure, emotion mapping, LinkedIn patterns, revision checklists, and QA rubric.

Use when all Productprint layers are complete and the user needs the final consulting-grade integrated strategy thesis — Layer 6 of the Productprint stack. Trigger when the user asks to compile the Productprint into a strategy thesis report, create the integrated strategy deliverable, generate a where-to-play how-to-win report, produce the consulting-grade thesis document, or finalize the strategy for a client or internal audience. Also trigger on "compile the thesis," "final strategy report," "integrated strategy deliverable," "strategy thesis document," "Productprint report," or "Layer 6." If the thesis-stress-test skill has just completed with a PROCEED decision, move directly into this skill without waiting for user confirmation.

Use to run a thesis stress test, strategy pre-mortem, or assumption falsification on a Productprint — Layer 5 of the Productprint stack, the adversarial gate. Trigger on "thesis stress test," "strategy pre-mortem," "assumption falsification," "load-bearing assumption," "what breaks this strategy," "PROCEED or REFINE," "stress-test the thesis," "is this assumption actually true," or when productprint-tier-c has just completed and the integrated strategy thesis needs adversarial validation before compiling. This skill extracts every assumption the strategy rests on, ranks them by fragility, and tries to BREAK the load-bearing few — returning PROCEED if they survive or REFINE (with a constraint package) if one falls.

Execute the UX/UI Psych choice architecture playbook (PLAY-002). Use when designing product menus, ordering flows, kiosk UX, upsell/cross-sell intercepts, or any conversion flow that needs behavioral nudges. Triggers on "choice architecture," "default selection," "upsell intercept," "cart cross-sell," "decoy pricing," "progress bar," "nudge," "contextual bandit," or when optimizing attachment rates and average check. Includes scoring functions, personalization rules, experimentation standards, accessibility specs, and dark-pattern guardrails.

Interview the user about their writing and analyze their real samples to generate a reusable voice profile for the humanize skills. Use when the user asks to build or update a voice profile, identify their writing voice, make future drafts sound more like them, or before humanize when no profile exists.