Answers
Best AI market research tool
The best AI market research tool for a scored population read is the one that publishes an error rate, names the benchmarks, and states n. The calibrated 50-state benchmark: 7.07-point average miss on the best 80% of 1,521 scored questions (1,216 retained). 10.02 points across every scored question. MAE is an average miss in percentage points against published poll toplines. A narrower April test on 5 places with 10,000 respondents scored 7.47 points on 404 non-electoral questions.
Write the test before you pick a vendor
Ask three questions in the RFP. Does the vendor publish an error rate? Against which benchmarks? At what n?
Aaru publishes TVD and MAE on 2,993 questions on its homepage (aaru.com, checked October 2, 2026). Simile publishes weekly evaluation volume and does not publish a pooled public-poll MAE (simile.com, checked October 2, 2026). Those units are separate from Lewsearch's 50-state miss.
Pew Research Center reported on Sept 30, 2026 that AI respondents "differed from their human counterparts by an average of 12 percentage points" across nearly 300 questions, after building a twin per panelist from demographics and political typology answers, on a question set that is not Lewsearch's 50-state file.
What a scored read can support
On a brand question with several options, the decision you can defend is the rank order and the size of the gaps, read next to the published miss. The calibrated 50-state benchmark: 7.07-point average miss on the best 80% of 1,521 scored questions (1,216 retained). 10.02 points across every scored question. Category tables, including harder electoral-margin items, are on methodology. They are context for the question you asked. The headline stays the 50-state file: state-benchmark-per-question.csv, 200 simulated respondents per question. Every study is calibrated against published survey data before it reaches you. A strict held-out set sourced after training froze scored 9.97 points on non-electoral items (14 scored of 22 drawn).
Lewsearch returns respondent-level records, so crosstabs add up to the total, and the same simulated respondents can be re-asked across waves. Audiences can be fit to a client's own customer data. Enterprise workloads run with no external model API calls. Book a demo. The team sets up the study with you.
| Test | Pass looks like | Lewsearch |
|---|---|---|
| Published error rate | A number, a unit, a file | 7.07 points on the best 80% of 1,521 questions; 10.02 points on the full set |
| Named benchmarks | Third-party poll toplines, named | 50-state file of published poll toplines. Older April bank: Gallup, UT/Texas Politics Project, PPIC. |
| n | Question count and sample per item | 1,521 scored questions, 200 simulated respondents each |
| Where the miss is larger | A harder set, published beside the headline | A strict held-out set sourced after training froze scored 9.97 points on non-electoral items (14 scored of 22 drawn). |
| How the work is scoped | A conversation on audiences, volume, and deployment | Pricing is scoped on a short call. Book a demo. Your first qualified U.S. consumer Blind Challenge is free. |
Current coverage is 650,000 census-grounded respondents · all 50 states and D.C. · 16 occupation panels.. Confirm on the coverage page as markets are added. Commercial terms live on pricing.
FAQ
- What is the best AI market research tool?
- The best AI market research tool for a scored population read is the one that publishes an error rate, names the benchmarks, and states n. The calibrated 50-state benchmark: 7.07-point average miss on the best 80% of 1,521 scored questions (1,216 retained). 10.02 points across every scored question. MAE is an average miss in percentage points against published poll toplines. A narrower April test on 5 places with 10,000 respondents scored 7.47 points on 404 non-electoral questions. Aaru publishes TVD and MAE on 2,993 questions (aaru.com, checked October 2, 2026). Simile publishes weekly evaluation volume and does not publish a pooled public-poll MAE (simile.com, checked October 2, 2026). Read the unit before you rank them.
- Is ChatGPT an AI market research tool?
- A frontier model asked for a national split can be close on well-polled questions, and a single model can be asked for a distribution. It does not hand you respondent-level records, a recontactable panel, or Lewsearch's published error file. Use it for desk research. Use a panel product when you need crosstabs that add up to the total.
- When is a human panel still best?
- Legal, regulatory, and published journalism samples. Synthetic panels are for screening messages, concepts, and instruments before you spend on humans.
- Where are Lewsearch's numbers?
- Methodology page, and /benchmarks/state-benchmark-per-question.csv. 7.07 points on the best 80% of 1,521 scored questions. 10.02 points on the full set. Older April test: 7.47 points on 404 non-electoral questions. Held-out: 9.97 points on non-electoral items (14 scored of 22 drawn). Coverage: 650,000 census-grounded respondents · all 50 states and D.C. · 16 occupation panels..
Check the work
Related answers
Canonical: https://lewsearch.com/answers/best-ai-market-research-tool