Research is Claude's deep mode: it runs many web searches that build on each other and returns a cited report, usually in minutes. It's a fast first map of a market. It isn't a source: every number still needs a page you opened yourself before it goes in your deck.
1Pick the right tool
| Research | Web search | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does | Many searches that build on each other, then a long cited answer | A few searches inside a normal chat, with citations |
| Plans | Pro, Max, Team, Enterprise | All plans, including Free |
| How to turn it on | Click + below the message box, then Research. A blue indicator shows it's on | Click +, then Web search. A checkmark shows it's on |
| Best for | A market map, a competitor teardown | Checking one fact, one company, one price |
Research needs web search switched on to work. In the new Claude experience there's no web search toggle (Claude searches when it helps), and you can also start Research by typing /deep-research. On Team and Enterprise plans, an owner has to enable web search for the organization first.
Research uses your plan's usage limits faster than a normal chat, because it reads many sources. Anthropic's guide: Use research on Claude.
2Scope the question before you hit enter
A vague question gets a vague report. Before you start, write down five things: the customer, the place, the time frame, what to leave out, and the format you want back.
| Vague | Scoped |
|---|---|
| "Research the HR software market" | "Payroll tools for US restaurants with 1 to 20 staff, sold in the last 3 years. Exclude enterprise suites." |
| "Who are my competitors?" | "Every product a restaurant owner could use instead of us today, including spreadsheets and accountants." |
Run it inside your company brain Project so Claude knows your positioning. If you've connected Google tools, Research can also pull from your Gmail, Calendar and Google Docs, such as your customer interview notes.
Research the market for [product category] for [customer type] in [country or region]. Use sources from the last [2] years where possible. Give me: 1. The main ways customers solve this problem today, including non-software options. 2. The 10 to 15 most relevant companies, grouped by approach. 3. Trends that are changing how customers buy, each with a source. 4. Open questions you couldn't answer from public sources. Rules: cite a source for every number. Prefer primary sources (government data, company filings, the company's own website) over articles that quote them. If two sources disagree, show both. Don't estimate market size yet.
3Tear down your top competitors
Pick the 3 to 5 companies your customers actually mention. A long list of names isn't a teardown.
For each of these competitors: [names and websites] build a table with: who it's for, what it does best, public pricing (or "not public"), funding (with the source, or "not found"), and what customers complain about in public reviews. Quote short phrases from reviews only with a link to each. Then, using profile.md, write 3 sentences on where we're clearly different and 1 sentence on where they're stronger than us. Be honest.
Pricing pages and review sites change often. Write the date you checked next to each row.
4Size the market bottom-up
Investors trust a market size they can rebuild themselves. Bottom-up means counting customers you could reach and multiplying by what they'd pay.
Customers you could sell to = [number of businesses or people that match your ICP] Annual value per customer = [your price per month] × 12 Serviceable market = customers × annual value per customer What you can win in 3 to 5 years = serviceable market × [share you can defend with a plan]
Help me size my market bottom-up. My customer: [ICP]. My price: [price]. 1. Find the best public source for how many [customers] exist in [region]. Give the number, the exact source, its date, and how it defines the group. 2. Show the math step by step in a table, with a low, base and high case. 3. Label every input as either SOURCED (with link) or ASSUMPTION (my choice). Don't use top-down figures like "1% of a big market".
5Check every citation yourself
Claude can misread a page, use an old figure, or attach a citation to a claim the page doesn't make. Anthropic's own advice is to cross-check cited sources and use authoritative ones for important decisions.
List every number in your answer above. For each one, give: the number, the source link, the exact sentence on that page that supports it, and the date of the data. Mark any number where the page doesn't say exactly that as UNSUPPORTED.
Then open every link yourself. Claude's audit helps you find problems faster; it doesn't replace your own check.
6Turn it into one slide
Using only the numbers I verified: [paste verified numbers with sources] make one market slide as a PowerPoint file: - A one-line headline that makes a claim, not a label. - The bottom-up math as 3 simple steps. - A small footnote with each source and its year. No extra numbers. No logos you don't have rights to.
Then put the slide in your deck and run the tests in Build a seed deck partners finish reading.
What's next
Test what you learned with real customers in Validate your idea in 7 days, feed the numbers into your financial model, and keep the research in your company brain Project so every future chat uses it.