Traditional market research takes weeks and costs thousands. AI tools can compress this into hours. Here is a practical framework.
Competitive Analysis
Use Perplexity AI for: "Give me a competitive analysis of [your market]. List the top 5-10 competitors, their pricing models, key features, target customers, and known weaknesses." Then verify and expand on the most important findings.
Customer Pain Point Research
Feed ChatGPT Reddit threads, G2 reviews, and Trustpilot reviews from your target market: "Analyse these customer reviews for [competitor]. Identify the top 5 pain points mentioned, what customers wish the product did differently, and language patterns used to describe their problems."
Industry Trend Analysis
Use Perplexity AI with the academic sources toggle enabled: "What are the major trends in [industry] over the past 2 years? Include data points where available and cite sources." This gives you cited, current data for strategy documents and investor materials.
TAM/SAM/SOM Estimation
Prompt: "Help me estimate the TAM, SAM, and SOM for a [description of your business] targeting [target customer] in [geography]. Walk through the calculation step by step, citing market size data where possible."
Validation Interviews
Use AI to prepare for customer discovery interviews: "Generate 15 open-ended questions for a customer discovery interview with [target customer profile] about their experience with [problem area]. Avoid leading questions."
