Research Engagement

See the whole board, not just your square

An audit tells one business how it is doing. A market study maps an entire competitive landscape — every major player in an industry within a defined market, scored the same way, so you can see who owns the AI conversation, who is vulnerable, and where the open ground is.

Custom scoped and quoted — pricing depends on market size and how many players are in scope

Who this is for

Probably not for you if: you are a single-location business asking about your own site. The FUT Audit answers that question far more cheaply.

The Deliverable

What a study contains

A written report plus the underlying scored dataset. Built to be presented to a board, a franchisee group, or a prospective client without further work.

The full player map

Every meaningful competitor in the defined industry and geography, identified and scored on the same FUT battery. Not a top-ten list — the actual field, including the quiet operators nobody was watching.

AI share of voice

Which businesses get named when real buying questions are asked of ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI, and Perplexity, and how often. This is the closest thing to a market share number that exists for AI-assisted search.

The scored league table

Every player ranked across the same six areas, so strength and weakness are directly comparable. Leaders, laggards, and the specific reason each one sits where it does.

Vulnerability analysis

Where the market leaders are exposed. Usually there are two or three signals no one in a given vertical has bothered with, and that is where a challenger gets leverage cheaply.

Open-ground map

The queries, service categories, and geographies where AI tools currently name nobody with confidence. Unclaimed territory, ranked by how much traffic sits behind it.

Presentation-ready summary

An executive section written for people who will not read the appendix, plus the full dataset for the people who will. Delivered as a document and a spreadsheet you keep.

How It Works

Scoped first, so the number is fixed

Step 1

Define the market

Industry, geography, and how deep the player list goes. This conversation determines the price, and we do it before quoting rather than after.

Step 2

Build the player list

We assemble the field from listings, directories, and live AI queries — including the businesses AI names that you may not have on your radar.

Step 3

Score the field

The full FUT battery run against every player, plus buying-intent queries across four AI tools. Same tests, same conditions, same week.

Step 4

Analyse and write

A person interprets the dataset into findings, vulnerabilities, and recommendations. Delivered with a walk-through call for your team.

What It Answers

The questions a study is usually bought to settle

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Is this vertical worth entering?

If every major player already scores well, the cost of competing is high and the study will say so. More often the opposite is true, and the study quantifies exactly how far behind the field is.

Where do we actually stand?

Self-assessment is unreliable. Being scored against the full field on identical tests replaces opinion with a position — and usually reframes the internal conversation.

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Where is the cheap ground?

Studies consistently surface queries and service categories that nobody in a market has claimed. Those are the lowest-cost wins available and they close fast once someone notices.

Why this is quoted rather than priced

A study of six HVAC companies in one city and a study of ninety multi-service contractors across four metros are not the same piece of work, and pricing them the same would be dishonest in one direction or the other. We scope first, quote a fixed number, and hold it. If the market turns out to be larger than we expected mid-study, that is our problem, not a change order.

Questions

What people ask before commissioning one

How long does a study take?

Typically three to six weeks depending on the size of the field. Larger multi-market studies run longer, and we give you a date at proposal rather than an estimate.

Do you sell the same study to my competitors?

No. A commissioned study is exclusive to you for twelve months. We will not run the same industry and market for another client during that window.

Can you cover more than one market?

Yes, and multi-market comparison is one of the more useful versions of this — particularly for franchise groups deciding where to allocate. Each additional market adds to scope and price.

Do we get the raw data?

Yes. The scored dataset comes as a spreadsheet you own outright, alongside the written report. You can re-cut it however you like.

Can this be white-labelled for our clients?

For agency partners, yes. We can deliver unbranded or under your brand. That is arranged at scoping and priced accordingly.

What if the study says the opportunity is not there?

Then it has done its job and saved you a much more expensive mistake. We will not manufacture an opportunity to make a report feel worth its price.

Related

Smaller versions of the same idea

Tell us the industry and the market

One call to define scope. You will get a written proposal with a fixed price and timeline.

Request a Market Study See the Single-Business Audit