AI-Powered Local News Monitor v2.1

Claude AI-Powered Executive Briefings & Trend Analysis by John Rippy | johnrippy.link

🏆 2025 Zapier Automation Hero of the Year — Project Phoenix: A 95-step AI sales pipeline cutting development time by 50%. Read more →

Stay informed about local news coverage with AI-powered executive briefings. Track your business, competitors, and industry trends with Claude AI that synthesizes all articles into actionable intelligence.

AI News Intelligence (BYOK - Bring Your Own Key)

Provide your Anthropic API key to unlock Claude AI-powered features:

• Executive News Briefings - AI synthesizes all articles into a concise summary
• Key Theme Extraction - Identifies recurring topics and emerging trends
• Competitive Movement Alerts - Tracks when competitors get press coverage
• PR Opportunity Prioritization - Ranks opportunities by potential impact
• Industry Trend Analysis - Spots market shifts and emerging patterns
• Actionable Recommendations - Strategic suggestions based on news analysis
• Risk & Reputation Alerts - Flags negative coverage requiring attention

Example AI Analysis Output

{
  "executiveSummary": "This week saw strong industry coverage with 3 direct mentions of your business. Competitor ABC Plumbing received negative press for service delays, creating an opportunity for differentiation. Key industry trend: rising demand for eco-friendly plumbing solutions.",
  "keyThemes": [
    {
      "theme": "Sustainable Plumbing",
      "articleCount": 5,
      "sentiment": "positive",
      "relevance": "high"
    },
    {
      "theme": "Labor Shortage",
      "articleCount": 3,
      "sentiment": "neutral",
      "relevance": "medium"
    }
  ],
  "directMentionAnalysis": {
    "totalMentions": 3,
    "sentimentBreakdown": { "positive": 2, "neutral": 1, "negative": 0 },
    "keyHighlights": ["Featured in 'Best Local Plumbers' list", "Quote in industry roundup"]
  },
  "competitorIntelligence": [
    {
      "competitor": "ABC Plumbing",
      "mentions": 2,
      "sentiment": "negative",
      "keyInsight": "Service complaints generating negative press"
    }
  ],
  "prOpportunities": [
    {
      "opportunity": "Respond to eco-plumbing trend with press release",
      "priority": "high",
      "suggestedAction": "Pitch story on your green plumbing initiatives"
    }
  ],
  "industryTrends": [
    "Growing demand for water-efficient fixtures",
    "Smart home integration becoming standard",
    "Customer expectations shifting toward 24/7 service"
  ],
  "actionItems": [
    "Reach out to Dallas Morning News reporter covering plumbing industry",
    "Prepare counter-messaging if competitor negative press continues",
    "Consider thought leadership piece on sustainable plumbing"
  ],
  "riskAlerts": []
}

Use Cases

• Reputation Monitoring - Know when your business is mentioned in the news
• Competitor Tracking - See when competitors get press coverage
• Industry Trends - Stay on top of local industry news
• Link Building - Find local news sites for outreach
• PR Opportunities - Identify journalists covering your industry
• Crisis Detection - Get alerts on negative coverage fast

Features

• Google News Search - Search news by location and keywords
• Mention Tracking - Alert when your business is mentioned
• Sentiment Analysis - Understand if coverage is positive/negative
• Link Opportunities - Identify sites for potential backlinks
• Competitor Coverage - Track competitor press mentions
• Webhook Alerts - Get notified of new mentions (Zapier, Make, n8n)
• AI Executive Briefings - Claude AI synthesizes all news into actionable intelligence

Input Options

Parameter	Type	Description
businessName	string	Your business name to track
location	string	City and state for local focus
industryKeywords	string	Comma-separated industry keywords
competitorNames	string	Comma-separated competitor names
dateRange	enum	day, week, month
maxResults	number	Max articles per search
includeSentiment	boolean	Analyze sentiment
identifyLinkOpportunities	boolean	Flag link opportunities
webhookUrl	string	Alert destination
anthropicApiKey	string	Your Anthropic API key for AI features
enableAiSummarization	boolean	Enable Claude AI news briefings
demoMode	boolean	Test with sample data

Example Input

{
  "businessName": "Acme Plumbing",
  "location": "Dallas, TX",
  "industryKeywords": "plumbing, water heater, home repair",
  "competitorNames": "Bob's Plumbing, Quick Fix",
  "dateRange": "week",
  "maxResults": 20,
  "includeSentiment": true,
  "identifyLinkOpportunities": true,
  "anthropicApiKey": "sk-ant-...",
  "enableAiSummarization": true
}

Output Format

{
  "article": {
    "title": "Local Plumber Wins Small Business Award",
    "url": "https://dallasnews.com/business/...",
    "source": "Dallas Morning News",
    "date": "2024-12-18",
    "snippet": "Acme Plumbing was recognized for outstanding customer service..."
  },
  "analysis": {
    "mentionType": "direct",
    "sentiment": "positive",
    "sentimentScore": 0.85,
    "relevance": "high",
    "keyTopics": ["award", "customer service", "small business"]
  },
  "opportunities": {
    "isLinkOpportunity": true,
    "linkType": "resource",
    "suggestedAction": "Reach out to thank journalist, request link"
  }
}

Mention Types

• direct - Your business is mentioned by name
• competitor - A competitor is mentioned
• industry - General industry coverage
• related - Tangentially related to your business

Sentiment Analysis

Score	Sentiment	Description
0.7-1.0	Positive	Favorable coverage
0.4-0.7	Neutral	Factual, no opinion
0.0-0.4	Negative	Unfavorable coverage

Link Opportunity Types

• resource - Could cite your business as a resource
• quote - Opportunity to provide expert quote
• story - Potential feature story about your business
• guest - Guest post opportunity
• directory - Local business listing/directory

Integration (Zapier, Make, n8n)

This actor supports webhook notifications for easy integration with automation platforms:

Zapier

1. Create a new Zap with "Webhooks by Zapier" as the trigger
2. Select "Catch Hook" and copy the webhook URL
3. Paste the URL into the webhookUrl input parameter
4. Run the actor to send data to your Zap

Make (Integromat)

1. Create a new scenario with "Webhooks" module
2. Add "Custom webhook" trigger and copy the URL
3. Paste the URL into the webhookUrl input parameter
4. Run the actor to receive data in Make

n8n

1. Add a "Webhook" node to your workflow
2. Copy the production webhook URL
3. Paste the URL into the webhookUrl input parameter
4. Run the actor to trigger your n8n workflow

Custom Endpoints

You can also send data to any custom REST API endpoint by providing the URL in the webhookUrl parameter.

Pricing

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing:

Event	Description	Price
apify-actor-start	Base cost per run	$0.10
article_found	Per article found	$0.02
sentiment_analyzed	Per article with sentiment	$0.01
ai_briefing_generated	AI executive briefing	$0.25

Example costs:

• 50 articles basic: $0.10 + (50 × $0.02) = $1.10
• 50 articles with sentiment: $0.10 + (50 × $0.02) + (50 × $0.01) = $1.60
• 50 articles with AI briefing: $0.10 + (50 × $0.02) + (50 × $0.01) + $0.25 = $1.85
• 200 articles with AI briefing: $0.10 + (200 × $0.02) + (200 × $0.01) + $0.25 = $6.35

Integration Ideas

• Slack Alerts - Get notified in your team channel
• Email Digest - Daily/weekly summary of mentions
• CRM Integration - Log press coverage in client records
• Content Ideas - Use trends for blog post inspiration

Best Practices

1. Track Variations - Include common misspellings
2. Monitor Competitors - Learn from their coverage
3. Act Fast - Respond to negative coverage quickly
4. Build Relationships - Follow up with positive coverage
5. Document Wins - Save positive press for marketing
6. Use AI Briefings - Get weekly executive summaries for strategic planning

---

Built by John Rippy | johnrippy.link - Your AI-Powered Local SEO Partner

🏆 2025 Zapier Automation Hero of the Year — Project Phoenix: A 95-step AI sales pipeline cutting development time by 50%. Read more →

---

Keywords

local news monitor, news scraper, press monitoring, news mentions, media monitoring, pr monitoring, local news tracking, zapier integration, make integration, n8n integration, ai news analysis, claude ai, executive briefing, competitive intelligence