How do I research a competitor with AI?

AI-written from the Perplexity brief. Grant did not answer.

Use AI to organize evidence, not invent it

AI, or artificial intelligence, is software that can read information, find patterns, and draft answers. Use it to sort a rival's public material. Do not use it to guess what goes on behind their doors.

A notebook tool is a digital workspace where you collect source material and ask questions about it. Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026. Google describes it as a research product that works with information in your notebook. (Google announcement)

The useful difference is the source set. A general chatbot answers from everything on the internet. A notebook answers only from the sources you load. Load one rival's public website, public reviews, and public posts. Ask for answers tied to those sources, then check each citation yourself.

Keep the research public and focused

Choose a direct competitor serving the same area and type of buyer. A custom home builder and a kitchen remodeler may compete for different work, so compare businesses that match your scope.

Collect only material anyone can view without special access:

• Their service, process, warranty, and project pages
• Public reviews and the company's replies
• Their posts on social media
• Their public project photos and news

Save the source URL, title, date, and a short note on what it holds. Keep the original material next to any summary so you can check the words later.

Do not enter private messages, customer files, or material from closed groups. Do not pose as a customer to get information. Public research shows what the rival says in public and what customers say in reviews. It does not show their private prices, job costs, or how they run their sites.

Build a notebook with clear source groups

Create a separate notebook for the rival or market you are studying. Group the public material by type: website, reviews, and social posts. That makes it easier to see whether a pattern comes from customers or from their own marketing.

Gemini Notebook is one named option for this kind of source-based research. JobTread reported that 29% of remodelers in its contractor survey were AI power users, while 25% used Gemini. That survey covers JobTread's own customers, so it does not describe all remodelers. (JobTread survey)

Do not assume a certain plan, price, or setup time. Check the tool's current official page before you pick one. A spreadsheet and saved source links can also keep the research organized if you prefer a manual method.

Start with a prompt that demands evidence

Ask the notebook to separate what a source says from what it might suggest. Try a prompt like this:

Use only the public sources saved in this notebook for this home building rival. List the services, process, and promises they state on their own website. Sort the public reviews into repeat praise, repeat complaints, and mixed comments. Keep customer comments apart from company claims. Back every point with the source title, link, date, and a short quote. If the saved sources do not back a point, say so plainly. Do not guess at private prices, job costs, or how they run their crews.

This prompt narrows the answer to the material you supplied. It also makes unsupported claims easy to spot. If an answer has no usable citation, set it aside until you check the original source.

Check the answer before using it

AI can misread a review, miss context, or draft a claim that sounds stronger than the source. Open each cited page and compare the answer with the original text. Confirm the wording, source, and date before treating a theme as evidence.

Keep a simple evidence table with the rival, source type, URL, date, quote, and theme. Add a note on why the item matters to your buyer. Do not turn a few comments into a claim about every job or every customer.

Reviews matter because buyers read them. BrightLocal's survey found that 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 41% said they always read them. That survey covers local consumers in general, not one builder's customers. (BrightLocal survey)

Use review themes to prepare better questions, not to attack a rival in a sales call. If their public comments show complaints about communication or changes, ask your prospect what updates and change order process they expect. Then explain how your own process works. Do not repeat their complaints as fact.

Turn findings into a better sales conversation

Look for a real gap between what buyers value and what your company can explain well. If their website explains a process clearly, note what a prospect may now expect to hear. If reviews keep praising one part of the experience, think about whether your team can show its own proof.

Do not copy another builder's wording or promise what your team cannot deliver. Use the research to make your scope, schedule, communication, markup, and change order process easier to explain. Keep your claims tied to your own documented practices.

A rival's reviews can suggest questions for a sales call, but they cannot set the right answer for your company. Your process comes first. AI can sort and summarize evidence. You decide what to change.

Keep the notebook useful over time

Public pages, reviews, and posts change. Record when you saved each source, then refresh the notebook when you review the rival again. Label older material so nobody treats it as current.

Ask the tool to show new sources apart from older ones. Have a person check the citations before the team uses any finding in an estimate, sales meeting, or marketing copy. If the internet or the notebook tool is down, keep the same source log in a spreadsheet or paper folder.

This week, create a notebook for one direct rival and add only their public website, reviews, and social posts.