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How to Do Market Research With AI

Updated 7 October 2026 · ModernExpert.AI editorial team

Quick answer

Use AI to plan your market research, find likely sources, summarise reports you supply and build a market-sizing model — then fill that model with figures from official statistics, trade bodies and company data. AI is a research assistant, not a source.

Define the research questions

Good market research answers specific questions: How many potential customers are there? How much do they spend today? Is the market growing? Which channels reach them? What rules apply? Ask AI to turn your idea into a list of research questions, then decide which matter most for your decisions.

Desk research with AI

Ask AI which types of sources would answer each question — government statistics, industry association reports, company filings, academic papers, trade press. Search-enabled assistants with citations help you find those sources faster; always open the source and read the relevant part yourself.

When you have long reports, paste or upload them and ask AI to extract the figures relevant to your question, with page references. This is one of the most reliable uses of AI because it is working from text you supplied.

Market sizing: TAM, SAM and SOM

Ask AI to build a bottom-up sizing model rather than quote a headline figure. Bottom-up sizing multiplies real counts by real prices:

Total addressable market (TAM) — everyone who could conceivably buy this type of product.
Serviceable available market (SAM) — the part you can actually reach with your model and geography.
Serviceable obtainable market (SOM) — a realistic share you could win in the first few years.
Example: 4,000 independent cafés in your region × £600 a year = £2.4m SAM; winning 2% = £48k SOM.

Trends, regulation and channels

Ask AI to list the trends, technology shifts and regulations that could help or hurt the market over the next three years, then check each against current news and official guidance. Also ask where your customers already gather — publications, events, communities, search terms — because that shapes your marketing plan.

Primary research

Desk research tells you about the market in general; primary research tells you about your customers specifically. Use AI to write short surveys and interview guides, then analyse the responses. Combining both gives you a market section a lender or investor will take seriously.

Prompts to try

Research plan

I'm planning [business] for [customer] in [region]. Create a market research plan: key questions, the best source types for each, and search terms to use.

Bottom-up sizing

Build a bottom-up market sizing model for [business]. List each input I need (customer counts, prices, purchase frequency), suggest where to find each, and show the formula.

Report extraction

From the report text below, extract every figure relevant to [question], quoting the sentence and page. Don't add figures not in the text. [paste]

Common mistakes

Quoting a global market size that has nothing to do with your reachable customers.
Trusting statistics without opening the source.
Skipping primary research entirely.
Ignoring regulation until after launch.

Frequently asked questions

Is AI accurate for market research?

AI is accurate at organising and summarising information you provide, but unreliable when recalling statistics from memory. Verify every figure against a primary source.

What is bottom-up market sizing?

It estimates market size by multiplying the number of real potential customers by what each spends, instead of starting from a headline industry figure.

How much market research does a small business need?

Enough to answer: who buys, how many of them you can reach, what they pay now and how you will reach them. A few pages with sources is usually enough for a small-business plan.

Related guides

Research My Market

Follow the full process, one step at a time: idea, validation, research, plan.

Next: Customer personas

This guide is general information, not financial, legal or tax advice. Check figures and regulations for your situation.