GridIQ: research a list of companies in one table
Last updated September 25, 2026
GridIQ is a table where each row is a company and each column is a question. You ask the question once. Alkemy answers it for every row.
It is the fast way from "every company in this market" to "the five worth our time".
Grids and projects
A grid is the table itself. A grid can stand on its own.
A project groups grids, files and chats around one objective. Put a grid in a project when several grids share the same goal, the same background files, or the same standing instructions.
You do not need a project to start. Create the grid first.
Start a grid
Click New grid, then fill it with rows:
- Import a file — a CSV or Excel list of companies. See Importing companies.
- Ask Luna to find them — describe the market and let Luna build the list.
The three kinds of column
This is the part worth learning first, because it decides what costs credits and what does not.
KeyIntel (a question). Researched for every row. "Do they have a UK office?" is a KeyIntel. Every answer carries its sources, which you can open from the cell.
Input (yours to type). Your own note or value. Alkemy never researches it, but it reads it whenever a KeyIntel runs on that row. Use it to tell the research something it cannot find on its own.
Fact (came in with your rows). A value from the file you imported. Never researched, nothing to re-run.
Only KeyIntel columns spend credits.
Ask a question
Click Add columns, write the question, and save it. Then choose how to run it:
- Answer the blanks — answers only the rows with no answer yet. This is the cheap one.
- Research again — replaces answers that already exist. Use it when the question changed or an answer looks wrong.
The difference is money, so the menu names each one rather than offering a single "run".
You can add a note when you research again, for example "use the 2027 site, not the 2026 archive".
Steer the research
Grid instructions are standing instructions every run on that grid reads. Project instructions do the same for every grid in a project. Use them for the rules that apply to all your questions, not to one.
Files added to a project can be set to Read when answering or Held only. Read when answering means the research uses them.
Work with the table
- Filter rows with AND and OR conditions.
- Views save a set of filters so you can come back to it. Five per grid.
- Columns can be reordered by dragging and hidden by unchecking.
- Bulk actions run, research again, export, delete or promote the rows you select.
- Search finds a row by name.
Share a grid
Click the tag beside the grid name, then pick who can see it:
- Only you
- A team you are on
- Your whole organisation
Narrowing the sharing takes the grid away from people who can read it today, and they are not told, so the picker warns you before you do it.
You can also create a read-only link. Anyone with that link can read the grid but cannot change it or run research on it. You choose whether your Input columns travel with it.
Combine and copy grids
Save as a new grid copies the rows you are looking at, with their answers. Columns and research settings come across too.
Merge another grid in matches rows on a key you choose. Answers you already paid for come across instead of being asked again.
Finish the job
Export CSV downloads the table, or just the rows you selected.
Add to Key Accounts turns the rows you picked into key accounts. The answers already collected come with them, and so do their sources. See Key Accounts.
⏱️ What to expect: research runs in the background. The table fills in as each row finishes, and you can keep working while it does.
Common questions
Does every column cost credits?
No. Only KeyIntel columns, because only those are researched. Input and Fact columns cost nothing.
Why is a cell empty?
Either no run has reached it yet, or the research found nothing. Open the cell to see which. If it broke rather than came back empty, research again and it will be retried.
Where do the answers come from?
Each answer carries its sources. Click the cell and then See details to read them.
I deleted a column by mistake. Can I get it back?
No. Deleting a column removes the column and every answer in it, and asking again later spends the credits a second time. The confirmation says so before you delete.
Can I change a question after it has been answered?
Yes. The answers already collected still answer the old question, so Alkemy tells you how many there are and replaces each one as the new answer arrives.
Somebody else changed my grid. Who was it?
Ask us. We record who changed a grid and keep the old value beside the new one. See Live support.