AI Research

Q: How many matches can one AI Research find?

You pick a stop target of 25, 50, 100 or no limit under Stop at; the run also stops if its credit budget 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.

Q: 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."

Updated October 10, 2026Markdown

AI Research (KI-Recherche) finds audiences no filter can find: people or companies that did something visible on the open web. Open it with Research in the left navigation (full name AI Research). 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"). Every match carries a fit score and the evidence behind it, and a run never returns the same match twice.

Describe your target group#

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?"

Allow your sources#

Below the field, Allowed sources & tools lists every source as its own switch, grouped into Find (database lookup, web search, reading pages), Signals (job postings, news, tech-stack lookup), 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; the database lookup and the rest are paid per call — see "How is AI Research metered, and what do paid sources cost?"; all prices are in "Price list: what every action costs".

Stop conditions and budget#

Stop at sets how many matches (or, with a target list, new records in it) the run looks for: 25, 50, 100 or no limit. At most 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") — and the run ends at whichever of the two it hits first, or once a round finds nothing new. Keep searching until the target (on by default) makes the agent retry for up to 5 rounds when it would otherwise stop early with fewer matches than you asked for.

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 turn on automatic hand-off under Results: 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."

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" 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. On top, each source you switch on under Sources & 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?"; running out of credits mid-run: "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 sources & 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 sources & tools, and only when the brief needs them — each billed per call. See "How is AI Research metered, and what do paid sources cost?" for which sources are paid, and "Price list: what every action costs" 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 the target on (the default), it retries for up to 5 rounds 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 at; the run also stops if its credit budget 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."

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. Turn on automatic hand-off to a list and that clock stops entirely, since the list itself is the permanent home for what the research finds.

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" for using it to filter what reaches a list.