Gemini Deep Research for competitor and market research

#01How does Deep Research work?

1. You ask a research question. In the Gemini app, choose Deep Research from the tools in the prompt bar.
2. Gemini proposes a plan. It lists the steps and subtopics it intends to cover.
3. You edit the plan. Add, remove or reword steps. Click Start research when it's right.
4. It researches. Gemini searches, reads and reasons over many sources. This can take several minutes, and you can leave the page.
5. It writes the report. You get a structured report with sources. You can ask follow-up questions, export to Docs, or create other formats from it, such as an Audio Overview.

Deep Research is also available as an agent in the Gemini API, which is useful for running the same research on a schedule (lesson 10).

#02When is Deep Research the right tool?

#03How do you write a good research prompt?

Deep Research works best with a scoped question, a named audience and an output structure. Here's a competitor teardown prompt:

Research [Competitor A] as a competitor to [your company] in [category], for a product marketing team.
Cover: positioning and messaging on their homepage and top product pages; pricing and packaging (with the date seen);
target segments; recent launches in the last 12 months; review themes on G2 and Capterra; partner and integration list;
hiring signals from their careers page.
Prioritise the company's own site, official press releases, review sites and reputable trade press. Avoid content farms.
Output: an executive summary, a table per section, a "what this means for us" section, and a source list with dates.
Flag anything you could not verify.

#04How do you edit the plan well?

#05How do you use your own data in Deep Research?

Where your account allows it, Deep Research can use Gmail, Drive and Chat alongside the web. Choose the sources in the tool before you start. Practical uses:

• Win-loss notes in Drive. "Compare what Competitor B claims publicly with the reasons we lost deals to them in the attached win-loss doc."
• Sales emails. "Find objections about Competitor D in my Gmail threads from the last 90 days." Only do this in a Workspace account where this is allowed by policy.
• Uploaded files. Analyst reports or your own survey results.

Workspace admins control whether Gemini can access Workspace data. If the source option doesn't appear, ask your admin.

#06What's a repeatable competitor workflow?

#07How do you size a market with Deep Research?

Deep Research can collect published estimates, but it can't make them true. Use it to find and compare sources, not to produce a number.

1. Ask for "every published estimate of [market] size since 2024, with the publisher, method, year and region".
2. Ask Gemini to put them in a table and note differences in definitions.
3. Open the two or three most credible sources yourself.
4. Build your own bottom-up estimate in Sheets: number of target companies x adoption x price. Use Deep Research to find the inputs, such as company counts from government statistics.

Our view: never paste a market-size figure from a Deep Research report straight into a board deck. Analyst estimates vary widely by definition, and AI reports can merge figures that measure different things.

#08Worked example: Ledgerline

Ledgerline is a fictional accounts-payable software company. Details are illustrative.

Ledgerline's product marketer needed teardowns of Competitors A-D before a pricing review.

Walkthrough

1. The marketer used the teardown prompt and edited each plan, adding a "Contradictions" step.
2. For Competitor C, she added the Drive win-loss doc as a source.
3. She exported each report to Docs and highlighted every number in yellow.
4. She checked each highlighted number against its source, and deleted two claims whose sources didn't support them.
5. She built a comparison table in Sheets and shared it with sales.
6. She saved the prompt as a research skill (lesson 5) and put a calendar reminder to re-run it in January.

#09Common mistakes

• Starting without editing the plan. You lose your best lever on quality.
• Trusting every number. Some figures are misread or out of date.
• Asking for "everything about Competitor B". Scope it by section and time frame.
• Mixing confidential sources with shareable output. If you use Gmail or Drive, check what the report reveals before you share it.
• Not dating the report. Competitive facts go stale fast.

#10Try it yourself

Pick your toughest competitor. Run the teardown prompt, add a "Contradictions" step to the plan, and add one internal doc as a source if your account allows it. Export to Docs, fact-check five claims, and note how many held up. That ratio tells you how much checking to budget in future.

#11Quick quiz

1. What should you do before clicking Start research?

Answer: Edit the research plan to set scope, sources and time frame.

2. When is Gemini Notebook better than Deep Research?

Answer: When you want answers grounded only in your own files, such as interview transcripts.

3. Can Deep Research use Gmail and Drive?

Answer: Yes, where your account and admin settings allow it.

#12What should you check before the next lesson?

• You have at least one fact-checked competitor report in Docs.
• Your research prompt is saved for reuse.
• You've set a date to re-run it.

Previous: Gemini prompting: models, modes and context. Next: Gemini skills (replacing Gems) for brand voice. Or return to the Gemini for Marketers track. Related: ChatGPT deep research for competitive intel, Perplexity competitor research, n8n competitor monitoring.

#13Common questions

Is Gemini Deep Research free? Yes. Deep Research is included in the free Gemini app, with higher limits on paid plans.

Can Deep Research use my own files? Yes. You can add files and, where your account allows it, Gmail, Drive and Chat as sources alongside the web.

How accurate are Deep Research reports? They are a strong first draft, not a finished deliverable. Open the key sources, check every number and date, and remove claims you cannot verify.