Research Agent · Illustrated guide

Find companies. Monitor changes. Choose your next step.

Research Agent has two separate functions: company discovery and company monitoring. Discover potential targets, review the evidence and choose which companies to follow over time.

Use the Agent independently for research and monitoring, or connect it to AI-BDR to continue with contacts, outreach, follow-ups and opportunities.

Part 01 · Discovery

Find potential target companies.

Start with the main criteria that describe the companies you want to find. The Agent uses these criteria to discover candidates and gather information for your review. You decide which companies are useful for your specific needs.

Configure a focused Discovery rule

The example below searches for LoRaWAN companies using three related queries: LoRaWAN gateway, industrial IoT gateway and private LoRaWAN network. It limits collection to 10 companies per run and sets United Kingdom as the target location.

Discovery rule with LoRaWAN queries, company limit, location and relevance threshold — The settings shown belong to this example. Choose queries, limits and a schedule that suit your own research.

Keep the main criteria clear

The Agent cannot know every priority behind your search. Too many strict requirements can exclude a company that could still be valuable; broad or ambiguous criteria can introduce noise. Start with the requirements that matter most, then review the evidence.

Use relevance as a review aid

The matching relevance threshold helps organise the findings. It is not a guarantee of commercial suitability. Search notes add context for relevance ranking; the final choice stays with you.

Location filters need values LinkedIn recognises. For a country, enter its name; for a city or region, use the recognised place. Generic entries such as “Worldwide” may not behave as intended.

Review the companies and their evidence

Discovery results include company cards with collected information and actions such as Save to Companies, Full research and Send to AI-BDR.

Discovery results grouped into Matching, Other discovered companies and Outside Target Location — Click to enlarge the screenshot and inspect all result groups.

Matching Companies: findings that meet the matching threshold and target location checks.
Other discovered companies: additional findings to review, including companies below the current threshold and earlier findings.
Outside Target Location: companies whose observed location is outside the requested target.
Location Unverified: findings whose location needs confirmation.
Previously Delivered: companies already sent to AI-BDR.

Review the company profile and supporting sources before deciding to save it, send it to AI-BDR or leave it out of your shortlist.

Part 02 · Monitoring

Watch selected companies for changes.

For monitoring, you select the companies to watch. LinkedIn Watcher periodically checks their visible Services, Products, Posts, Jobs and, where available, People sections. It captures screenshots and records evidence so that changes can be reviewed over time.

The first successful check establishes a baseline

The company intelligence profile below shows evidence collected during Sage’s first successful Watcher check. It includes company information, recent posts, open jobs and visible people profiles.

This is the initial monitoring profile. It describes what was observed at the first check; it is not itself a newly detected change.

My Day shows previous and new evidence

When the Agent detects a change, My Day shows the previous evidence alongside the new evidence, with links back to the sources. The example includes changes in posts, hiring evidence and visible people profiles.

Watcher My Day showing previous and new evidence for Sage posts, jobs and people — Click to enlarge and compare the three examples. Each change can be reviewed, archived or sent to AI-BDR.

Read the evidence in context

A newly observed post, vacancy or person profile may be worth investigating. A change in visible people profiles does not by itself prove that somebody has just joined or left the company.

Choose the next action

Open the source, mark the change reviewed, archive it or send it to AI-BDR when connected. Notification settings can help bring relevant changes to your attention.

Connected workflow

Turn company research into your next sales action.

Research Agent and AI-BDR work together as one connected workflow. When you find a promising target, send its company profile and collected research to AI-BDR, where you can discover and enrich relevant contacts.

Keep monitoring that company in the Agent. When a meaningful change gives you a reason to reach out, use AI-BDR to prepare, review and send a tailored email to the right contact. Then track delivery and replies, manage follow-ups and tasks, and progress the opportunity through your pipeline. Available delivery and engagement statuses depend on your connected email provider.

Find a company → transfer it to AI-BDR → discover contacts → monitor meaningful changes → send timely outreach → track delivery and replies → manage the opportunity.

Explore Research Agent & plans →Watch the video guides