Real Agent Cases

Research competitors for a board update with ChatGPT Deep Research

Posted
by Section (Chief of Staff to the COO)
Last checked
Method:
How we verify

Evidence: Article or interviewA newsletter, journalist or interview account of what happened.

Context: In a comparison test: from a head-to-head chatbot review, not a standalone agent test.

Outcome

Section's chief of staff gave ChatGPT Deep Research and Gemini Deep Research the same competitive-analysis prompt for its AI coaching product, written from a board member's point of view; she rated ChatGPT's output 4.5/5, saying it surfaced less obvious competitors such as Skillsoft and DataCamp and gave exactly what she asked for, while Gemini's report scored 2.5/5 for being too high level.

Poster says:Output rated 4.5/5 (Gemini 2.5/5)

This is the source's own number. We haven't measured it.

Agent

ChatGPT Deep Research

Prompt Recreated prompt

The source didn't share its exact prompt, so we wrote this from what it describes.

Before you start, ask me 1–3 short questions about the details below and wait for my answers. Once I've answered, confirm the plan in one line and run the whole task start to finish.

Goal: Find and compare the competitors to one of our products, in a format a busy board member can read.

Quick-check questions: Which product, who is the reader, and which facts matter most (pricing, traction, partnerships, positioning)?

What I need from you:
- Your product and a one-paragraph description
- Who will read it and what they decide
- Competitors you already know, so they can be skipped or confirmed
- The facts to compare for each competitor

Rules:
- Look beyond the obvious big players and include smaller or adjacent competitors; say why each one counts.
- For each competitor give the offering, pricing, traction signals, notable partnerships and how it differs from us, with a source link and date.
- Mark anything you couldn't confirm instead of guessing.
- Put a one-paragraph summary and a comparison table first, then the detail.
- Keep the full report skimmable: headings, bullets, no walls of text.

Output: A summary, a comparison table and a sourced section per competitor.

If my answers leave a gap, make a sensible choice, say what you assumed, and keep going.

You'll know it worked when: you learn about at least one relevant competitor you didn't know, and every row in the table has a source.

Source

https://www.sectionai.com/blog/chatgpt-vs-gemini-deep-research

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