AI Research Assistant

An AI research assistant that shows its sources.

Ask about a market, a competitor or a company and it searches, reads the pages that matter and writes a brief with the source beside each claim. Name the topics you follow and it sends you a digest every week.

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300 free credits to start. Live in two minutes.

Andy · iMessage

Andy · 11:20 AM

who else sells online booking to dental practices and what do they charge

Cicada · 11:34 AM

Seven that sell to small practices in the US. Four publish prices, from $49 to $189 per provider a month; three quote on request. Two added patient texting this year, the feature you asked about last week. The brief has a table and a source link for every price.

DOC

Dental booking software · competitor brief

Doc · 4 pages · 23 sources

Open

Andy · 11:41 AM

add them to the weekly watch, tell me if anyone changes pricing

Cicada · 11:42 AM

Done. Every Monday at 8 you'll get a short digest on these seven: pricing, launches and announcements, each with a link. A quiet week gets one line, not a page.

iMessage · one-to-one · the brief as a link, the sources inside

The short answer

What is an AI research assistant?

An AI research assistant is an agent that does desk research: searches the web, reads the pages, filings and announcements that matter, and writes up what it found with the source for each claim. Cicada's uses web search and its own browser (with your logins kept in a vault for sites that need one), returns briefs as documents or one-pagers you can share as a link, and keeps a watch on the topics you name with a weekly digest in iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack or email. When it can't confirm something, it leaves it out and says so.

What it does

What your AI research assistant does.

Researches a market

The players, their pricing and their recent moves in the market you name, from web search and the pages it reads, written up with a source link beside each claim.

Profiles a competitor

What they sell, what they charge, who they're hiring, what they've announced and what customers say in public reviews, in one document you can share.

Briefs you before a meeting

Who runs the company, what's changed recently, news and job posts, as a one-page brief before the call.

Reads what you send

Reports, PDFs and long documents sent in the chat. It reads them in full, answers your questions about them, and points to where in the document each answer is.

Goes where search can't

Its own browser opens pages that need a click, a filter or a login, using credentials you keep in a vault. You can watch it live and take over.

Watches your topics

Name the competitors, markets or keywords you follow and it checks them on a schedule, then sends a weekly digest with what changed and the links.

Who it's for

Who hires an AI research assistant.

Founders

Market research without a research team

The competitor table, the market map and the pricing comparison for the deck you're writing.

Product managers

What competitors shipped

Launches, pricing changes and release notes from the companies you watch, every week.

Sales teams

Account research before the call

A brief on the company and the people on the call, with the news that gives you a reason to reach out.

Consultants

The first draft of the desk research

A sourced brief on a client's market, ready for you to check and build on.

Marketing teams

What the market is saying

Competitors' positioning, messaging and public reviews collected and compared side by side.

Procurement leads

Supplier research

Suppliers for a part or a service, with locations, minimums and what they publish about lead times.

Setup

Set up in three steps.

Say what the job is
Describe the role in a sentence when you sign up, or tell the agent in the chat. It writes its own brief, which you can read and change any time.
Connect the apps it needs
One click for most apps. Each one can be Full, Ask first or Read-only, for every agent in the workspace.
Link your phone, or don't
Scan a code and it's in your iMessage or WhatsApp. Or keep it in the app, Slack and email. Hand it the first job in the same message.

Works withGoogle DocsGoogle DriveGoogle SheetsNotionLinkedInGmailSlackiMessageWhatsAppand 1,000+ more

Control

Nothing goes out without your yes.

Nothing goes out without your yes

Anything that can't be undone, and any message to another person, waits for your OK. Approve with a 👍 in the chat, or set a role to full autonomy once you trust it.

Read-only is a real lock

Make any app read-only and the agent can look but never change a thing. It applies to every agent in the workspace, from their next run.

Every step on the record

Each run shows what it read, what it did and what it sent, step by step, in the Activity tab. Corrections you make stick.

What it won't do.

Won't pretend

If it couldn't confirm something, it leaves it out and says so. A number without a source doesn't go in a message.

Won't go around you

It never messages anyone on your behalf unless you asked, never spends money, and never makes a judgement call about money on its own.

Won't read what isn't shared

Teammates' agents work only through the apps the workspace shares. Your inbox and your personal apps stay under your own login.

Compared

Three ways to research a market

Task	Doing it yourself	A search engine	An AI research assistant
Finding sources	Hours of open tabs	A list of links	Searched and read for you, the useful ones kept
Reading them	You, page by page	You, page by page	Read in full, the facts pulled out
Writing it up	A blank document	Not covered	A brief with a source beside each claim
Pages behind a login	Your own logins	Not covered	Its browser, with logins from your vault
Keeping up	When you remember	Alerts on keywords	A weekly digest on the topics you name
Where it happens	Your browser	Your browser	iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack or email

Try it

Things to ask your AI research assistant.

01
"who are the five biggest players in commercial laundry equipment in the US and how do they sell"
You get: A short brief: who they are, how they sell (direct, dealers, leasing), and a source link for each point.
02
"Research Highland Rentals before my call on Thursday."
You get: A one-page brief: what they do, who runs it, recent news and job posts, and three things worth asking.
03
"Read this 80-page industry report and give me the five things that matter for us."
You get: Five points with where each one sits in the report, tied to what it knows about your business.
04
"Make me a pricing table for the six competitors we track."
You get: A sheet with plan names, prices and limits from each pricing page, the date it checked and the link.
05
"every monday send me what changed at Acme and Northwind: launches, pricing, hires"
You get: A weekly digest on the minute with only what's new, each item linked, and one line when nothing changed.

Questions

Frequently asked questions.

Where do I talk to it?

iMessage, WhatsApp, Slack, email or the web app. Link your phone with a code at sign-up and it answers in the same thread you text it in. In a group chat it stays quiet until someone names it.

Does it cite its sources?

Yes. Briefs carry a link beside each claim, and a message built from web pages ends with the main pages it used. If it couldn't confirm something, it leaves it out and says what it couldn't check.

Can it read pages that need a login?

Yes, with its own browser and the logins you keep in the vault. Your passwords never go in the chat, and you can watch the browser live and take over at any point.

What do I get back?

A message for a quick answer, or a document, one-pager or sheet for anything longer, shared as a permanent link and branded with your company's logo and colors.

What won't it do?

It won't contact the companies it researches, won't sign up or pay for anything, and won't present a guess as a finding. Anything that would reach another person waits for your yes.

Does it come with research databases?

No. It works from the open web, the documents you send and the sites you give it a login for. It doesn't come with paid databases of its own.

Does it remember what I care about?

It keeps a memory of your company, your competitors and the questions you've asked, which you can read and edit in the Brain tab, so the next brief starts from what it already knows.

Can my team use it?

Yes. Everyone in your workspace gets their own agent, and briefs are links anyone can open. Shared apps like Google Drive and Notion are connected once for the team.

What does it cost?

Every workspace starts with 300 free credits. You add a card at sign-up and nothing is charged until you run low; then it's $25 for 200 credits, with no subscription. A quick reply is about 5 credits and a typical run under 20; plans start at $99 a month.

Often hired together

One teammate. The output of a team.

Works nights, remembers every decision, answers in the thread. Start free with 300 credits.