> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.getwhys.io/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Research Requests

> Stop rationing research. Get around the customer-contact protocol. New interviews in 10 business days. Unlimited. No per-project fee.

When the buyer signal database doesn't have insights on your topic, you file a Research Request. The GetWhys research team recruits, screens, and runs new interviews with the audience you need. Findings get loaded into your account and become searchable from Chat alongside every other source.

Unlimited for Pro users. No per-project fee. Continuous validation, not occasional research.

## Why Research Requests exist

<Info>
  Two structural problems most PMMs deal with:

  **You can't reach your own customers directly.** Customer-contact protocols, central research queues, sales asking why you want a call with their account. By the time the right intro happens, the launch is over. Research Requests sidestep the whole machinery — you describe the audience, our team finds and interviews them.

  **Internal research is a scarce resource that gets prioritized away from your work.** PMMs are usually outnumbered by the research function many times over, and your requests sit in a queue with the rest of the org's. Research Requests are your own queue, run by a team that's paid to move on your timeline.
</Info>

## When to file one

File a Research Request when:

* Chat's citations feel thin, or the answer is leaning on general LLM knowledge instead of real interviews
* You're entering a new market, persona, or category that GetWhys hasn't covered yet
* You need primary research to back a launch, repositioning, or strategic call
* You want firsthand buyer voice on a specific question, not extrapolation
* The room is going to ask "have you actually talked to these buyers?" and you need a yes

## What makes a good Research Request

Specificity. Include:

* **Target audience** — job titles, company size, industry, geography
* **What you're trying to learn** — the actual question, in concrete terms
* **Context** — how you'll use the insights, what's driving the request

<Tabs>
  <Tab title="Good example">
    > I work for a cybersecurity company targeting mid-market IT directors. We're trying to understand what drives them to evaluate new endpoint detection solutions — specifically, what pain points make them start looking for alternatives to their current tools.
  </Tab>

  <Tab title="Less effective">
    > What do IT people think about cybersecurity?
  </Tab>
</Tabs>

The more specific the brief, the easier it is for our research team to find and interview the right people, and the more useful the answer that comes back.

## How to file one

Open Chat and submit through the request flow, or go to **Research Requests** in the left navigation and click **New Request**. Fill in the brief and submit.

## How many people GetWhys interviews per request

As many as needed to give a confident answer — there's no fixed number. It depends on how complex the question is, how niche the target audience is, and how much consensus we find early.

Once the request is complete, you can use Citations to see how many interviews informed the answer and the titles and firmographics of who was interviewed. That's the proof you bring to the room.

## AnswerSLA

**AnswerSLA** is the guaranteed turnaround time for a Research Request, measured in business days.

* **Standard:** 10 business days
* **Scale (optional upgrade):** 5 business days

The AnswerSLA clock starts on the next business day after you submit. Requests submitted during holidays start when the holiday period ends.

### Holidays excluded from AnswerSLA

<AccordionGroup>
  <Accordion title="US federal holidays and observances">
    * New Year's Eve (Dec 31) and New Year's Day (Jan 1)
    * Martin Luther King Jr. Day (3rd Monday in January)
    * Washington's Birthday (3rd Monday in February)
    * Memorial Day (last Monday in May)
    * Juneteenth (June 19)
    * Independence Day (July 4)
    * Labor Day (1st Monday in September)
    * Columbus Day (2nd Monday in October)
    * Veterans Day (November 11)
    * Thanksgiving long weekend (4th Thursday in November plus the Wednesday before and Friday after)
    * Christmas holiday week (the entire week Christmas falls in)
  </Accordion>
</AccordionGroup>

To upgrade your AnswerSLA, contact your GetWhys representative or [book a call](https://calendly.com/d/ck6m-z8n-6sz/learn-more-about-compass-scale).

## Why "unlimited" matters

<Note>
  Most research tools make you think twice before running a query because every request costs you something. That changes how you work — you only validate the things important enough to justify the cost.

  Unlimited Research Requests change the behavior. You stop rationing. You validate the small calls too. Continuous validation, not occasional research.
</Note>

## Tracking status

Open **Research Requests** in the left navigation to see the full list with status:

* **Pending** — awaiting team review
* **In progress** — recruiting and interviewing
* **Completed** — findings are in your account

When a request completes, the new interviews are added to your account and become searchable from any Chat query.