Research a competitor in 30 minutes

Tools you can use

You only need one tool for each job. Use what you already have.

• Perplexity AISearch the web with sources
• NotebookLMAsk questions across saved pages. Now called Gemini Notebook
• ChatGPTTurn your notes into a brief

The steps

1. 1.Write down your decision

   Start with what you need to decide, such as how to price a plan or which customers to target. Research without a decision turns into a pile of notes.

2. 2.Collect sourced facts

   Use a search assistant that shows its sources, and open the important ones yourself.

   Prompt to copy

   Research [competitor] for me. Find: what it sells, who it is for, its current pricing, its main claims, recent product changes and common customer complaints. Link a source for every fact. Say clearly when you cannot find something or when a source is out of date.

3. 3.Read what customers say

   Save a few review pages, the competitor's pricing page and its help docs. Ask questions across those pages to find patterns.

4. 4.Write the one-page brief

   Turn your checked notes into something a teammate could read in two minutes.

   Prompt to copy

   Using only these notes, write a one-page competitor brief with these sections: what they sell, who they serve, pricing, where they are strong, where they are weak, and what this means for this decision: [your decision]. Keep the source link next to each claim. Mark anything uncertain.
   
   Notes:
   [paste notes]

5. 5.Check the facts that matter

   Open the source behind any pricing or product claim you plan to act on. Pricing pages change often, so note the date you checked.