Company Research Template
Research hundreds of companies in Google Sheets with AI: firmographics, funding and news per row via =PERPLEXITY() web answers and =SERP(). Free template.
Turn a column of company names or domains into a firmographic table — what they do, size, HQ, funding, latest news — one web-researched answer per cell, without leaving Google Sheets.
Layout
| Column | Content | Formula |
|---|---|---|
| A | Company domain | — |
| B | What they do | =PERPLEXITY("What does this company do? One sentence, no marketing fluff:", A2) |
| C | Headcount | =PERPLEXITY("Approximate employee count for "&A2&". Answer like: 250 (2025). If unknown, say unknown.") |
| D | HQ location | =PERPLEXITY("Headquarters city and country of "&A2&". Answer as: City, Country") |
| E | Funding | =PERPLEXITY("Latest funding round for "&A2&". Answer as: Round, Amount, Year — or 'bootstrapped/unknown'") |
| F | Latest news | =PERPLEXITY("Most recent notable news about "&A2&", one line with the year") |
| G | Industry | =GPT_CLASSIFY(B2, "SaaS, e-commerce, agency, fintech, healthcare, manufacturing, other") |
When you need sources, not answers
=PERPLEXITY() synthesizes; =SERP() shows you the actual Google results to click through:
=SERP(A2&" pricing", 5)
=SERP(A2&" review OR alternative", 5)
Variations
- Fixed answer formats — every prompt above dictates its output shape (“Answer as: City, Country”). Keep doing that; it is what makes the columns sortable and splittable.
- Competitive angle — add a column:
=PERPLEXITY("Who are the top 3 competitors of "&A2&"? Comma-separated names only.") - Your own qualifying question — “Does this company sell to enterprises or SMBs?”, “Do they have a partner program?” — anything you would have googled per company.
Get started
- Install GPT for Sheets from the Google Workspace Marketplace (free tier included, no API keys needed).
- Paste the formulas into your own sheet with domains in column A.
- Drag the formulas down your rows, then use Replace all GPT formulas with results in the sidebar.
Function references: =PERPLEXITY() and =SERP(). For emails and contacts on top of firmographics, see the lead enrichment template.
FAQ
Where does the company data come from?
=PERPLEXITY() answers each question with live web knowledge, and =SERP() returns raw Google results when you want sources instead of a synthesized answer. No database subscription involved — it is web research per row.
How accurate are firmographics like headcount and funding?
As accurate as the public web. Well-covered companies come back solid; obscure ones may return estimates or blanks. Ask for the year alongside each fact so you can spot stale data, and spot-check before high-stakes use.
Do I need a Perplexity API key?
No. Perplexity is built into GPT for Sheets alongside GPT, Claude and Gemini — install the add-on and =PERPLEXITY() works immediately.