How to See Competitors' Facebook Ads (Without Scrolling for Hours)

See what your competitors are advertising, in one message to ChatGPT. Try TinyFish free. New accounts start with $8 in Wallet funds.

TL;DR

• If you want to know how to see competitors' Facebook ads, the answer is the Meta Ad Library. It's free, public, and needs no login.
• The slow part is the scrolling. You search, open each ad, and copy the details by hand.
• With the TinyFish app in ChatGPT or Claude, one prompt opens the Ad Library in a real browser and hands you back a clean list: advertiser, ad copy, format and start date.
• Ask for 10 ads at a time, and check the country in the answer.

A quick disclosure: I work at TinyFish, which gives ChatGPT and Claude live web access, including a browser agent that can click through real websites for you.

Why look at competitors' ads before Black Friday

Black Friday is close. Your competitors have already written their offers, picked their photos and set their budgets. Most of that is sitting in public view.

Meta's Ad Library shows all active ads running across Meta technologies, including Facebook and Instagram. Anyone can view and search it, by any term, name or Page (Meta Business Help Center). That means you can see:

• What they're offering. 20% off, free shipping, a gift with purchase.
• How they're saying it. The headline, the hook, the call to action.
• What format they trust. Video, single image or carousel.
• How long an ad has been running. An ad that started weeks ago and is still live is often one that works.

None of this is secret. It just takes time to collect. That's the job to hand off.

What you need

• ChatGPT or Claude.
• The TinyFish app. Install it once by following the plugin docs, then ask in plain English. TinyAgent, the browser agent in TinyFish, opens the site in a real cloud browser and reports back.
• No Facebook login. The Ad Library is public, so there's nothing to sign in to and no saved login to set up.

How to see competitors' Facebook ads with one prompt

This is the exact prompt our engineering team tested. Replace the two placeholders and send it.

Use TinyFish to open the Meta Ad Library, search active ads from [competitor or keyword] in [country], and list 10 ads with advertiser, ad copy, format (video/image/carousel) and start date.

Here's a filled-in version for an invented candle shop in Ohio that wants to see what a bigger rival is running:

Use TinyFish to open the Meta Ad Library, search active ads from Lantern & Wick Candle Co. in United States, and list 10 ads with advertiser, ad copy, format (video/image/carousel) and start date.

You can search by a brand name or by a keyword. A brand name shows you one competitor. A keyword like "soy candles" shows you everyone advertising in your space, which is often more useful.

Watch it run in ChatGPT

Here is the tested prompt running in ChatGPT with the TinyFish app, sped up. You can see TinyFish open the site in a live browser, then ChatGPT write up the answer.

Watch it run in Claude

The same job in Claude with the TinyFish plugin, sped up through the wait. Claude hands the task to TinyFish, which works through the site in a cloud browser, then Claude writes up what it found.

What you get back

A list of up to 10 active ads, one row per ad, with:

• Advertiser: the Page running the ad.
• Ad copy: the main text of the ad.
• Format: video, image or carousel.
• Start date: when the ad started running.

Example output (invented business):

Lantern & Wick Candle Co. is made up for this post. Your real answer will show real ads from the Library.

A second prompt: turn the list into a plan

Once you have the list, keep going in the same chat. ChatGPT already has the ads in front of it.

Look at these 10 ads. Which offers and formats come up most? Which ad has been
running the longest? Suggest 3 Black Friday ad ideas for my shop that stand out
from these, not copy them.

That last part matters. The point is to see the gap, not to clone a rival's ad.

Tips

• Ask for 10 at a time. Very long lists can come back partial. If you want more, ask for the next 10 in a new prompt.
• Check the country and dates in the answer. Some Ad Library filters may not apply exactly. If the country or date range looks off, say so and ask again.
• Try a keyword as well as a name. If a competitor runs ads under a different Page name, a keyword search can catch them.
• Expect a confirmation step. ChatGPT may ask you to confirm a step limit before it starts. That's normal. Confirm and let it run.
• Run it weekly in November. Offers change fast near Black Friday. A quick check each Monday shows you what's new.

If you'd rather browse ads yourself with a ready-made tool, see the Facebook Ad Library agent page.

When it doesn't work

• Some ad images or videos may not show. Meta hides the creative for some age-restricted ads, such as alcohol or gambling, from people who aren't logged in (Meta Business Help Center). The agent doesn't log in, so those ads may come back with less detail.
• No results. Check the spelling of the competitor's name, or try their Facebook Page name, which can differ from the brand.
• Only active ads. For most businesses, the Ad Library shows ads that are running now. If a competitor paused their ads, you won't see them.

What it costs

New accounts start with $8 in Wallet funds, no card needed. Agent runs are billed per step, at $0.016 per agent step. TinySearch and TinyFetch are free.

Want to see this live? We're running it at TinyFish Small Business Week, a free 45-minute live session on Thu Nov 19, 11 AM ET. Save your seat, and bring the job you want off your plate.

Know what your competitors are running before Black Friday. Start free on TinyFish.