The master wide research prompt template

Role
Act as a research manager coordinating many parallel analysts.

Objective
Map the full landscape for this topic:
[insert topic, category, market, company list, geography, segment, or universe]

Coverage instructions
- Explore the space broadly before narrowing
- Split the work into parallel tracks by segment, company, use case, geography, or customer type
- Aim for maximum relevant coverage, not just the most famous examples
- Deduplicate overlapping findings
- Group results into clean categories or clusters

What to capture for each item
For every company, product, source, or target, capture:
[insert fields such as category, description, pricing, audience, traction, differentiators, risks, links, notes]

Ranking logic
Score or prioritize results using:
[insert ranking criteria]

Output format
Return:
- Landscape map
- Ranked table
- Key patterns
- White space or gaps in the market
- Surprising findings
- Recommended next deep dives

Quality bar
Do not stop at obvious names. Find the edges of the market.

Pro tips that change output quality immediately

Give the system a job, not a topic

Add evaluation criteria before it starts

Ask for disagreement, not just consensus

Force an explicit output structure

Use wide research before deep research on unfamiliar territory

Tell it what would change your mind

Use your own source pack when stakes are high