Faster research without sacrificing quality
We're bringing synthetic panels to self-service online panels in Q4 2025 (Public Preview). If you've ever needed quick feedback on a concept but couldn't justify the time or cost of traditional panel recruitment, this is for you.
New to synthetic panels? Read this primer on what they are and how they differ from traditional research methods. Synthetic responses 101 for researchers.
Here's what you need to know:
Get fast responses: When you field a survey using synthetic panels, responses populate in as little as minutes in your Data & Analysis tab—no waiting for recruitment, quotas to fill, or manual data scrubbing. Gabb Wireless saw fielding timelines drop from 7 days to 4 hours (98% reduction in time-to-insight).
Built for research: Our fine-tuned synthetic model is informed by 20+ years of market research expertise and trained specifically on millions of human respondents answering hundreds of thousands of research questions. We've put it through a four-step validation framework testing for generalization, data shape, diversity, and transferability—and we publish our methodology transparently. In head-to-head comparisons, our model outperformed general-purpose AI models by 10-12x in matching human response patterns.
Flexible approach: You're not locked into one panel approach. For example, you could run a fully synthetic study to test five concepts quickly, then follow up with human panels on the top two. Loop Earplugs tested message resonance with both audiences and found alignment on two of the top three messages—giving them confidence to use synthetic for early-stage testing, then validate final decisions with human respondents.
Subscription model: Synthetic panels use a credit-based subscription model called Edge Audiences. Purchase credits upfront, then spend them on either synthetic or human panel studies as needed. Early customers like Booking.com are seeing around 50% cost reductions compared to traditional human-only panels.
When to use synthetic vs. human panels
Through customer pilots during Early Access, we've learned where synthetic panels work best:
Synthetic panels work well for:
- Early-stage exploration and concept testing
- Quick directional feedback
- Attitudes, preferences, and stated behaviors
- Projects where speed and cost are primary constraints
- Expanding sample sizes for harder-to-reach segments
Human panels are still your best bet for:
- High-stakes decisions requiring validation
- Deep qualitative insights about experiences
- Research requiring regulatory approval
- Situations where stakeholders specifically need human respondent data
The sweet spot? A blended methodology. Move faster on early-stage testing, then validate high-stakes decisions with human panels.
What's coming next
Our Q4 2025 public preview launched with U.S. General Population synthetic respondents. We're adding more based on customer feedback, including:
- Additional synthetic panel targeting criteria (2026)
- Additional model applications like generating new synthetic responses to follow-up questions within the same study and sample (2026)
- Text Entry question support (available at Public Preview launch)
- Data isolation support (available at Public Preview launch)
- Expanded survey builder feature support (2026)
- User-made templates (2026)
- More audience segments beyond U.S. General Population (2026)
We'd love your input
A few questions for this community:
- What types of research projects would you want to run with synthetic responses?
- What concerns or questions do you have about using AI-generated data?
- For those who've tried synthetic panels (any vendor), what's been your experience?
- What audiences or segments would you most want to access through synthetic panels?
Your feedback directly shapes what we build next.
Want to try synthetic panels? Reach out to your account team or check the customer hub for access information.
