Claude Code
Web Research and Analysis
Use Claude Code with browser tooling to gather, analyze, and synthesize web data for competitive analysis, market research, and content creation.
Overview
Connect Claude Code to web search and browser automation tools through MCP servers to transform how you conduct research. Instead of manually opening dozens of tabs, copying information, and synthesizing findings, describe your research goals and let Claude handle the search, extraction, and summary work.
This approach is particularly powerful for competitive intelligence, market research, content creation, and technical evaluation. Claude can visit multiple sources, compare information, identify patterns, and generate structured summaries—all while maintaining citations and tracking sources.
Prerequisites
Web Search MCP Server
Brave Search or similar MCP server for web search capabilities
Web Fetch MCP Server
HTTP client server for fetching and parsing web pages
Browser Automation (Optional)
Puppeteer or Playwright MCP server for dynamic content
Core workflows
Competitive Analysis
Research competitors' products, features, pricing, and positioning to inform your strategy.
- 1Define competitors and research questions
- 2Have Claude search and visit competitor websites
- 3Extract key features, pricing, and messaging
- 4Synthesize findings into a comparison matrix
"Research our top 3 competitors in the project management space. Compare their pricing, key features, and target customers. Create a summary table."
Market and Pricing Research
Scan market trends, pricing strategies, and customer sentiment across multiple sources.
- 1Specify market segment or product category
- 2Search for pricing data, reviews, and trends
- 3Aggregate findings from multiple sources
- 4Identify patterns and recommendations
"Research SaaS pricing models in the developer tools market. What are the common tiers, pricing ranges, and billing models?"
Source Gathering and Citation
Collect credible sources, quotes, and data for reports, articles, or proposals.
- 1Define research topic and source requirements
- 2Search for authoritative sources and recent data
- 3Extract relevant quotes and statistics
- 4Generate properly formatted citations
"Find 5 credible sources about AI adoption in healthcare from 2024-2026. Include key statistics and create citations in APA format."
Daily News Briefing
Automatically curate news and updates relevant to your industry or interests.
- 1Define topics, sources, and frequency
- 2Search for recent articles and updates
- 3Summarize key developments
- 4Highlight actionable insights
"Give me a briefing on major AI/ML news from the past 24 hours. Focus on product launches, research breakthroughs, and regulatory updates."
Research types
Product Research
Feature comparisons, user reviews, and alternative analysis
- Build vs buy decisions
- Feature prioritization
- User pain point discovery
Market Research
Industry trends, market size, and growth projections
- Market entry analysis
- TAM/SAM calculations
- Trend forecasting
Content Research
Topic exploration, source gathering, and fact verification
- Blog post research
- White paper citations
- Technical documentation
Technical Research
Documentation review, API exploration, and implementation guides
- Library evaluation
- Architecture decisions
- Integration planning
Example prompts
"What are the top 5 features of Notion that Linear doesn't have?"
"Research pricing for API monitoring tools. What's the typical cost per 100k requests?"
"Compare Next.js and Remix for server-side rendering. What are the performance tradeoffs?"
"Find recent case studies about companies migrating from monoliths to microservices."
"What are the biggest AI product launches in the past month? Summarize each in 2 sentences."
"Research emerging trends in developer productivity tools for 2026."
Advanced techniques
Multi-Source Synthesis
Combine information from multiple websites and sources to create comprehensive summaries that identify consensus and outliers.
Automated Monitoring
Set up recurring research tasks that track changes over time, like competitor feature updates or pricing changes.
Deep Link Analysis
Follow links from initial search results to discover hidden resources, documentation pages, or related content.
Structured Data Extraction
Extract specific data points into structured formats like CSV or JSON for further analysis or import into other tools.
Best practices
Troubleshooting common issues
Search results are too broad or irrelevant
Use more specific search terms, add date filters, or specify domains to search. Include context about what you're looking for and why.
Can't access content behind paywalls
Look for alternative sources, academic pre-prints, or company blog posts. Search for summaries or commentary from other sources.
Information is outdated
Add date constraints to your search query (e.g., 'after:2025'). Prioritize recent sources and cross-reference with current data.
Integration ideas
Research to Report Pipeline
Automatically convert research findings into formatted reports or presentations with proper citations and sections.
Competitor Tracking Dashboard
Regular research combined with Notion or Airtable integration to maintain a live competitor intelligence database.
Content Brief Generation
Research a topic and automatically generate content briefs with keywords, sources, and outline suggestions.
Due Diligence Automation
Standardized research workflows for evaluating vendors, partners, or acquisition targets.