Agentic Research: Your AI Agent Can Now Ask Real People
AI sounds confident — but can't tell you what real people think. Agentic research lets any AI agent get real human feedback in hours, not weeks.
Your AI agent sounds confident — but it can't tell you what real people think. Agentic research gives any AI platform access to real human feedback: preference splits, agreement rates, and the objections training data can't surface.
Why LLM Inference Alone Isn't Enough
AI agents are powerful — but they're reasoning from training data, not from what your specific audience actually thinks. Four blind spots make AI-only approaches unreliable for customer-facing decisions.
Collapsed Outputs
LLMs generate from averaged training data, producing outputs that sound plausible but flatten the real variance in how people react. The 15% who hate your headline and the 52% who love it get collapsed into one "confident" suggestion.
False Confidence
AI sounds certain even when it's wrong about human preferences. An LLM will tell you Option A is better with the same confident tone whether the real-world preference is 90/10 or 51/49. You can't distinguish signal from noise.
No Ground Truth
Without asking real people, you can't know if messaging lands, claims are believed, or options are preferred. Training data tells you what people said in the past — not how your specific audience reacts to your specific content today.
Synthetic Data Limitations
Digital twins and synthetic panels can't replicate genuine human reactions. Real skepticism, confusion, and emotional responses come from real people with real stakes — not from models simulating what a person might say.
How Agentic Research Solves Each One
What matters most to teams after switching to AI-moderated research.
Hear the full range of actual reactions — the 15% who hate it and the 52% who love it, not one collapsed output
Every claim traced to real verbatim quotes — your AI agent knows what's validated and what's still a guess
From question to validated human signal while the decision window is still open — not 4-8 weeks later
Vetted panelists with real stakes and real reactions — not digital twins simulating what a person might say
What Is Agentic Research?
Agentic research is when your AI agent runs real customer research on your behalf — asking real people what they think and returning clear, quantified results. Instead of guessing from training data, the agent reaches out to real humans and returns preference splits, agreement rates, and objections you'd otherwise miss.
Key Questions Teams Ask About Agentic Research
Tell your AI agent what you want to learn. It launches a study with real people, who respond through AI-moderated conversations. You get back quantified results — preference splits, agreement rates, themes, and minority objections — typically within 2-3 hours.
What can I test with agentic research?
Three modes cover the most common needs. Preference checks compare options (headlines, CTAs, product names) and tell you which one people prefer and why. Claim reactions test whether people believe a specific statement. Message tests evaluate clarity — what people think a message promises, what confuses them, and how it makes them feel.
Which AI platforms are supported?
ChatGPT, Claude, and Cursor work today — and any AI platform that supports the open Model Context Protocol (MCP) standard can connect. That standard is backed by Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, and Microsoft, so compatibility keeps growing.
What do you get back?
Every study returns what we call Human Signal: a headline metric (e.g., '72% prefer Option A'), the themes driving that preference, minority objections with real quotes, and a data quality check. Your AI agent can act on the results immediately — revising copy, flagging concerns, or launching a follow-up study.
Connect From Any AI Platform
Agentic research works with any MCP-compatible client. Here's how to get started.
ChatGPT App
Run research conversationally in ChatGPT. Describe what you want to learn, and the assistant launches the study and walks you through results.
Claude Connector
Connect Claude to real human feedback. Run preference checks, claim tests, and message validation directly from your Claude workflow.
Any AI Platform
Cursor, custom agents, or any tool that supports the open Model Context Protocol standard can connect — no custom integration needed.
Run Your First Study in 3 Steps
Same simple process, whether you're running 10 interviews or 1,000.
Design Your Study
Set your research objective, define your audience, and choose interview mode (voice, video, or chat). Use a template or let the AI research agent help.
AI Conducts the Conversations
Participants join on their own time. Each conversation goes 5-7 levels deep, adapting dynamically. Run 10 or 1,000 — the depth stays the same.
Get Evidence-Backed Results
Themes, sentiment, competitive mentions, and verbatim quotes — all searchable in your Customer Intelligence Hub. Share with your team or query via API.
Agentic Research vs. Traditional Surveys
vs. LLM Inference
| Dimension | Agentic Research | Traditional Surveys | LLM Inference Only |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | 2-3 hours, async | 1-4 weeks | Instant — but no real validation |
| Depth | AI-moderated conversations with laddering | Static questions, no follow-up | No real people involved |
| Real people | Yes — vetted panel or your audience | Yes — but slow recruitment | No — simulated from training data |
| Works with AI agents | Built-in — agents launch and receive results | Manual export, no agent integration | Native — but no human grounding |
| Minority views | Always surfaced with quotes | Lost in aggregation | Not captured — outputs are averaged |
| Cost | From ~$200 per study | $5K-$15K+ per study | Free — but unreliable for decisions |
| Compounding | Every study feeds intelligence hub | Standalone reports, filed away | No organizational memory |
Apply Agentic Research to Any Challenge
See how teams use agentic research across solutions.
Concept & Message Testing
Validate messaging, positioning, and creative with real audience reactions.
→Win-Loss Analysis
Understand the real reasons deals are won or lost.
→Brand Health Tracking
Track brand perception and competitive positioning over time.
→Consumer Insights
Uncover purchase motivations and unmet needs.
→Market Intelligence
Continuous competitive intelligence from real market participants.
→UX Research
Test prototypes and capture emotional responses at scale.
→When Agentic Research Is the Right Tool
Agentic research is built for speed and signal — not every research question. Knowing when to use it leads to better decisions.
Use Agentic Research When
- You need quick signal on messaging or creative before launch
- Comparing headlines, taglines, or product name options
- Checking whether a claim feels believable to your audience
- Testing if messaging is clear and lands the way you intend
- Running iterative test-and-revise cycles with your AI agent
- You need directional validation in hours, not weeks
Use Full Studies When
- Deep exploratory research requiring 30+ minute conversations
- Sensitive or emotional topics requiring careful moderation
- Complex audience segmentation with multiple demographic cuts
- Board-level deliverables with full evidence trails
- Longitudinal tracking over weeks or months
- Custom research design beyond the three standard modes
Both agentic research and full studies feed the same Customer Intelligence Hub — findings compound regardless of how the study was created.
Frequently Asked Questions
Add Real Human Signal to Every AI Decision
See how agentic research works in a live demo, or start exploring on your own.
Works with ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, and any AI platform that supports MCP.