While ChatGPT Plus can sometimes lead directly to sources or potentially helpful insights with a simple prompt, it is more common to have to try to approach projects from several different angles, use advanced prompt chaining, combine plugins creatively, or otherwise work in collaboration - or, synergy - with AI. Below, we’ll explore best practices and examples of how to do so effectively.

Initializing the Search

  1. Identify the Topic and Data Requested: Start by reading the chat multiple times and clearly defining the research topic and the specific data you're looking for. This could be market trends, competitor analysis, customer behavior, etc.
  2. Choose the Appropriate Plugin(s): Depending on the topic and data requested, select the most suitable plugins. For instance, use VoxScript for a general Google search, ScholarAI for academic research papers, and AskYourPDF for analyzing, summarizing, and asking questions about PDFs.
    1. You can use multiple (up to 3) plugins in tandem to perform different tasks in a single prompt. Different plugins can be leveraged to find different types of data required for the same project. In this example, we have used Voxscript to find a list of top 5 rich people, twtData to find their Twitter information, and Make a Sheet to export the data in spreadsheet (csv) format.
      1. Remember to specify the plugin that you want ChatGPT Plus to use in your prompt to ensure that the correct plugin is selected (important in prompts such as the above example where multiple plugins are selected).
      2. Check out our Plugin Reference Sheet for Wonder-vetted plugins that are commonly helpful for research.
  3. Start Search with ChatGPT Plus: Use ChatGPT Plus to conduct an initial search on to get an initial understanding of the topic and to find the requested data points.

<aside> 💡 Pro Tip!

If none of the commonly-used plugins appear helpful for your project, remember to check a full list of available plugins to possibly identify plugins that are applicable to your project, as there are countless plugins for niche topics. For example:

  1. Have a request about regulations for the construction industry in Canada? Trax Codes may help. [Example]
  2. Need data on U.K. real estate? Perhaps UK House Prices will have what you need. [Example]
  3. Does the client want to know about German elected officials? Try FaceTheFacts. [Example] </aside>

Analyze the Available Data from ChatGPT Plus

  1. Flesh Out the Findings: If data is found to be available from the initial search, use prompt chaining to delve deeper into the findings from ChatGPT Plus and to find additional similar findings. This involves asking follow-up questions based on the initial responses to get more detailed information. [Example of follow-up prompting to find additional data]
  2. Dive Deeper into the Sources: Review the sources provided by ChatGPT Plus and find more relevant data within those sources. This could involve reading full articles, reports, or research papers.
  3. Conduct Self Research: In addition to the data from ChatGPT Plus, conduct your own research to find more sources and data.
  4. Refine the Search Strategy If Data is Unsatisfactory/Unavailable
    1. Try a Different Approach: ChatGPT Plus does not always provide the required data, especially for complex projects. If the initial search with ChatGPT Plus doesn't provide the required data, try a different approach. This could involve breaking down the research project into smaller parts and searching for each part individually. Or, you could also try using different plugins that are applicable to the research project. If still unavailable, look for helpful/related information.
      1. Example: The first approach to find everything at the same time did not yield good results. The data was all over the place and the specified years were not targeted. Also, it only focused on five countries. The second approach focused on breaking down the project into smaller parts and searching for each part as a separate prompt. The data was also arranged in a tabular format for better visualization and understanding.
    2. Perform Self Research: If data is still not available, conduct self research.

Combine Findings from ChatGPT Plus and Self Research

  1. Feed New Data to ChatGPT Plus: If you find useful data that ChatGPT Plus was not able to find, feed the link and/or data to ChatGPT Plus. This will allow it to incorporate this new data into its responses.
    1. In this example, data fed by the analyst and data found by ChatGPT Plus were used together to triangulate the required market size.
  2. Create Value and Better Analysis: Use your findings and the findings from ChatGPT Plus to create a more comprehensive analysis. This could involve identifying trends, patterns, or insights that were not apparent when looking at the data from ChatGPT Plus or your research alone. [Example]

<aside> 💡 Pro Tip! You can also use browsing plugins like Voxscript, LinkReader, WebPilot, Scraper, etc. to scrape a website for information and arrange it in your required format (e.g. in a table that can be easily copied into a spreadsheet). Here is an **example.**

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