Research anything with AI

Good decisions come from good information. But researching your market, your competitors, and your customers used to mean hours of Googling, reading reports, comparing websites, and trying to piece together a picture from scattered sources.

AI has changed this completely. You can now get the research done in minutes, with sources you can verify.

The right tool: Perplexity

For research, Perplexity (perplexity.ai) is the best tool available. Unlike most AI, it searches the web in real time and shows you exactly where each piece of information came from. That means you can trust the answers and verify the important ones.

ChatGPT is useful for analysis and structuring your research, but Perplexity is where you go to find current, sourced information.

Competitor research

Understanding what your competitors are doing and what customers think of them is extremely valuable. It used to take hours. Now it takes minutes.

Try in Perplexity:

What are the main plumbing companies in Nottingham? What services do they offer, what do their Google reviews say, and what prices are they advertising?

You will get a structured overview of the competitive landscape with links to sources. Read the reviews especially. They tell you exactly what customers value and what frustrates them. That is intelligence you can act on.

Pricing research

Setting prices confidently requires knowing what the market is doing. AI makes this straightforward.

Try in Perplexity:

What is the typical cost of a boiler installation in the UK in 2025? What factors affect the price?

You will get a clear range with context. Use this to sense-check your own pricing and understand where you sit in the market.

Supplier and product comparison

When you need to compare suppliers, products, or services for your business, AI can do the heavy lifting.

Try in ChatGPT:

I am looking for a card payment terminal for my small trade business. I take about 30 transactions a month, mostly between £50 and £500. Compare the main options available in the UK: SumUp, Square, iZettle (Zettle), and Stripe. Include fees, hardware costs, and any important differences I should know about.

You get a structured comparison in seconds. For decisions like this, it cuts research time from hours to minutes.

Market trend research

Understanding where your market is heading helps you make smarter decisions about your services and how you position your business.

Try in Perplexity:

What are the main trends in the UK home improvement market in 2025? What types of work are homeowners prioritising?

This kind of strategic intelligence used to require buying expensive industry reports. Now it is a 60-second conversation.

Customer insight research

Understanding your customers better means finding out what they worry about, what they value, and what language they use.

Try in ChatGPT:

I run a small accountancy practice serving sole traders and small limited companies in the UK. What are the main concerns and frustrations that small business owners have when choosing and working with an accountant? What do they value most?

The AI draws on enormous amounts of forum discussions, review data, and business content to give you a picture of your customers' mindset that would take weeks to compile manually.

A practical research session

The next time you need to make a business decision that requires information, open Perplexity and ask. Spend 15 minutes exploring the topic with follow-up questions. Then paste the most useful information into ChatGPT and ask it to summarise the key points and implications for your business.

That is a research workflow that delivers better information, faster, than most business owners have ever had access to.