# AI Research

Source: https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/ai-research
Last updated: 2026-10-15

**AI Research** (KI-Recherche) finds audiences no filter can find: people or
companies that did something visible on the open web. Open it with
**Find** in the left navigation, then **AI Research** in the switch at the
top right. The form has three steps: **Describe the leads**, **Set up the
research** and **Allowed AI tools**. Two kinds
of agent can run it: **ListPlus** — our own agent, working on the server,
even with your window closed — or **Your AI** — an assistant you already
use, such as Claude or ChatGPT, through a private link (its own topic:
"[Letting your own AI research for you](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/your-ai-researches)"). Every match carries a fit score
and the evidence behind it, and a run never returns the same match twice.

## Describe the leads

Type your audience in your own words, best in English — the field's own
placeholder shows a full example ("CEOs and founders of B2B SaaS companies
in the US that raised seed or Series A in the last few months"). Click
**Insert example** to drop that exact brief into the field as a starting
point, or use the microphone button next to it to dictate instead of
typing. For the formula behind a strong brief and more example signals,
see "[How do I write a good AI Research brief?](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/write-a-good-research-brief)"

## Allowed AI tools

Step 3, **Allowed AI tools**, lists every source as its own switch, in
folding groups that each show how many are allowed: **Find** (Database,
LinkedIn people, Web search, Read web pages), **Signals** (Job postings,
News), **Community & intent** (LinkedIn posts, Reddit, X, Hacker News) and
**Verify & enrich** (Find LinkedIn). A switch is a permission, not an order: the agent may use
a source you tick, and it queries one only when your brief calls for it —
a database lookup when the brief names a role, place or industry, job
postings when it asks for companies that are hiring, LinkedIn posts when it
asks who talks about a topic. Ticking a source never triggers a query by
itself, and a ticked source that the brief doesn't need costs nothing.
Each tile shows what it's for and what it costs. Web search,
reading pages, job postings, news, Hacker News and finding a real LinkedIn
profile are free; Database, LinkedIn people and the community sources
other than Hacker News are paid per call — see
"[How is AI Research metered, and what do paid sources cost?](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-costs-and-sources)"; all prices
are in "[Price list: what every action costs](https://listplus.ai/en/help/plans-credits-billing/price-list)".

## Stop conditions and budget

In step 2, **Set up the research**, **Search goal** → **Stop after** sets
how many matches (or, with a target list, new records in it) the run looks
for: **25**, **50**, **100** or **no limit**. Under **Budget & model**,
**Credit limit** sets the credit budget for the run — you pick it from a
list before you start (the options are in "[Price list: what every action
costs](https://listplus.ai/en/help/plans-credits-billing/price-list)") — and the run ends at whichever of the two it hits first, or once a
round finds nothing new. **Keep searching until … are found** (on by
default, shown when you set a target) makes ListPlus start another round,
up to 5 times and never past the credit limit, when the agent would
otherwise stop early with fewer matches than you asked for.

**Model** picks the AI that does the work: the default is fast and cheap,
the alternative has the strongest judgment but costs many times more per
step. With the stronger model, a hint shows about how many steps your
credit limit buys.

## Sending hits to a list

By default matches stay in the research; tick the ones you want and click
**Add to list** to file them into an existing list (free) or a new one (which
costs credits). You can also answer **Automatically add new matches to a
list?** in step 2 with **Yes, add them as they are found**: pick a list (or
a new one) and every qualifying hit is added on its own, with
duplicates kept out — full detail, including the fit-score filter, in
"[Getting AI Research hits into a list automatically](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-results-to-a-list)."

## Watching a run

Every run works on the server, so it keeps going when you close the tab,
switch away or your laptop sleeps, and you can review or start a research
on your phone too. In a workspace, researches are shared with the whole
team: everyone sees them in the **Researches** column, and a run a
colleague started shows their name. Click **Stop** at any time to end a
run and keep everything found so far, or **Resume** on a paused, stopped or
even finished run to open another pass the size of what you originally
chose — see "[AI Research always runs on the server](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/background-runs)" for how long an
unattended run keeps working before it needs a Resume.

## Costs

The usual AI costs apply: the agent's reasoning is billed by usage, with no
flat fee per match, and the stronger model costs more per step. On top,
each tool you allow under **Allowed AI tools** that isn't free is billed per call it makes while the run works.
Which sources cost credits: "[How is AI Research metered, and what do
paid sources cost?](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-costs-and-sources)"; running out of credits mid-run: "[Not enough credits](https://listplus.ai/en/help/plans-credits-billing/not-enough-credits)."

## For advanced users

A resumed run reuses the switches, target and budget it started with —
change any of those by starting a new research instead. Without a target
list a run holds at most 200 matches in total; with one, up to 1,000, since
the list itself absorbs and dedupes the hits instead of the run's own
memory. Finding a real LinkedIn profile (`identity`) is always free and
runs to ground a match before it's recorded, which is also why the agent
can't invent people.

**Related topics:** research-costs-and-sources ·
write-a-good-research-brief · research-results-to-a-list ·
background-runs · your-ai-researches · not-enough-credits ·
what-is-a-workspace.

## FAQ

### What is AI Research and when should I use it?

AI Research finds people or companies that did something visible on the open web — hiring for a role, complaining about a tool, raising money or speaking at an event — that no database filter can find. You describe the audience in a sentence, pick which of our own agent or "Your AI" (an assistant you already use) should search, and matches come back with evidence and a fit score. Use Segment Search instead when your audience is defined by role, industry and company size alone.

### How do I describe a good target group?

Type the role or company trait, a visible signal, and an industry or region, best in English — the field's placeholder shows a full working example, and clicking **Insert example** drops it straight in. You don't pick person vs. company mode yourself; the agent infers it from your wording.

### Does ticking a source mean the agent searches it?

No. The switches under Allowed AI tools are permissions: the agent may use a ticked source, and it queries one only when your brief calls for it — the database when you name a role, place or industry, job postings when you ask for companies that are hiring, LinkedIn posts when you ask who talks about a topic. A ticked source the brief doesn't need is never called and costs nothing; an unticked source doesn't exist for the agent, even when the brief would need it.

### What does an AI Research cost?

The usual AI costs apply — the agent's reasoning is billed by usage, with no flat fee per match — plus the paid sources the agent actually calls — only ones you allowed under Allowed AI tools, and only when the brief needs them — each billed per call. See "[How is AI Research metered, and what do paid sources cost?](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-costs-and-sources)" for which sources are paid, and "[Price list: what every action costs](https://listplus.ai/en/help/plans-credits-billing/price-list)" for the prices.

### How long does a research take and can I close the window?

Several minutes for a small target, longer for a bigger one. Yes — every research runs on the server and keeps going after you close the tab, switch away or your laptop sleeps, for a solid block of unattended work before it needs a manual Resume.

### What does "Your AI" mean?

Instead of ListPlus's own agent, you can hand the research to an AI assistant you already use — such as Claude or ChatGPT — through a private link that reports matches back into the same cockpit. It's a separate way to run a research, covered in "Letting your own AI research for you."

### Why did the research find fewer people than I asked for?

Only people or companies with real evidence on the web are returned — the agent never invents matches. With **Keep searching until … are found** on (the default), ListPlus starts another round, up to 5 times and never past the credit limit, until it reaches your chosen number or stops finding anything new; turning on more sources, or broadening the brief, usually finds more.

### How many matches can one AI Research find?

You pick a stop target of 25, 50, 100 or no limit under **Stop after**; the run also stops if its **Credit limit** runs out first. Click **Resume** — even on a finished run — to open another pass the same size as what you originally chose, up to 200 matches in total without a target list or 1,000 with one.

### How do I get the matches into a list?

Tick the matches you want and click **Add to list** to file them into an existing list (free) or a new one (which costs credits); open a single match to view its full profile and save it to a folder instead. You can also turn on automatic hand-off so every qualifying hit goes to a list by itself — see "[Getting AI Research hits into a list automatically](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-results-to-a-list)."

### How long are my AI Research results kept?

A research is kept for 7 days after you start it by default, whether running, finished or stopped. With automatic hand-off to a list, the research and its link are kept for 30 days instead; the records themselves live on in the list.

### Can more than one research run at the same time?

Yes — there's no fixed limit on how many researches run at once. Each one spends credits as it works, so your balance is the only real limit.

### What is a fit score?

Every match gets a fit score from 0 to 100, with a one-line reason, rating how well it matches your brief on role, company, place and signal. See "[Getting AI Research hits into a list automatically](https://listplus.ai/en/help/find-contacts/research-results-to-a-list)" for using it to filter what reaches a list.