AI for Research and Analysis

Not all research is created equal. Here are the three types that directly lead to income:

Market research — Understanding your industry, your customers, and the opportunities around you. This is how you find gaps to fill, niches to target, and trends to ride.

Competitor analysis — Knowing what your competitors charge, how they position themselves, and where they're weak. This is how you differentiate yourself and win deals.

Client preparation — Researching a specific person, company, or industry before a meeting or pitch. This is how you show up looking brilliant — and it's the fastest way to close higher-ticket deals.

A consultant who walks into a meeting knowing the client's last three quarterly earnings, their biggest competitor's strategy, and two industry trends that affect their business doesn't seem like a consultant. They seem like an insider. And insiders get hired.

Here's the workflow that works best. It uses your AI tools in sequence:

Step 1 — Gather with Perplexity. Ask Perplexity for current data. It searches the internet and gives you sourced answers. This is your fact-finding step.

Step 2 — Analyze with Claude. Take the raw information and paste it into Claude. Ask it to identify patterns, compare options, find gaps, or draw conclusions. This is your thinking step.

Step 3 — Synthesize with ChatGPT. Take the analysis and turn it into a deliverable — a report, a slide outline, or talking points. This is your output step.

You can do all three steps in one tool, but using them together gives noticeably better results. Perplexity finds current data that ChatGPT and Claude might not have. Claude thinks more carefully about complex comparisons. ChatGPT formats the final output beautifully.

Now here's where it gets powerful. You have the trends. Let's use that to analyze a specific competitor.

Here's a technique that has landed people deals worth thousands of dollars: the 15-minute pre-meeting research sprint.

Before any important meeting — client call, job interview, investor pitch — spend 15 minutes with AI:

1. Ask Perplexity: "Tell me about [company name]. What do they do, who are their customers, and what challenges are they facing right now?"

2. Ask Perplexity: "What are the latest news stories about [company name] or their industry?"

3. Ask Claude: "Based on this information, what are three insightful questions I could ask in my meeting with their [CEO/Head of Marketing/etc.] that would show I understand their business?"

You now walk into the meeting with current knowledge, thoughtful questions, and the appearance of someone who did days of preparation. Most people show up and say "So, tell me about your company." You show up and say "I noticed your company just expanded into the European market — how has that shifted your marketing strategy?"

That's the person who gets the contract.

Here are battle-tested research prompts you can start using today:

Before a sales call: "Research [company]. Tell me their main product, target audience, recent news, and biggest challenge. Then give me 3 questions to ask in our meeting that show I understand their business."

For pricing strategy: "What do [type of business] typically charge for [service]? Give me pricing ranges from budget to premium, and explain what justifies the premium tier."

For new business ideas: "What are 5 underserved niches in [industry] where demand is growing but supply is limited? Include market size estimates where possible."

For content planning: "What are the top 10 questions people in [target audience] are asking about [topic]? Include questions from Reddit, Quora, and industry forums."

Each of these would take 2–4 hours of manual research. With AI, they take 5–10 minutes.