How to build a market reality report
A playbook for the content type that maps how AI models structure your market and positions your brand as the definitive source.
Executive summary
This playbook walks you through producing a Market Reality Report: a data-driven content piece that maps how AI models structure an entire market. We cover which Seedli screens to pull data from, the six-section report structure, how to write each section, and the publishing strategy that maximises citation value.
Why this content type is worth the investment: a Market Reality Report positions your brand as the definitive source on how your market actually works. It reveals the gap between what vendors publish about and what drives AI-mediated buying decisions. The brand that publishes this report owns the framing of the category, because AI models cite the source that maps the territory, not the sources that market within it.
We reference the cybersecurity Market Reality Report as a worked example throughout, so you can see how each instruction maps to a published piece of content.
When to produce a Market Reality Report
Not every market needs a Market Reality Report, and not every brand situation calls for one. We use this content type when Seedli data shows a market-level problem rather than a brand-level one. Here are the three signals that confirm it is the right investment.
Signal 1: Hidden Differentiators with high Strategic Opportunity Scores
Open Consideration → Tradeoffs. If you see criteria classified as Hidden Differentiators with Strategic Opportunity Scores (SOS) above 0.30, the market has evaluation criteria that actually separate providers but that no vendor has published about. A Market Reality Report is the vehicle for owning these criteria in AI model responses. In the cybersecurity example, Independence & Incentives had a SOS of 0.48, and no vendor had published content addressing it.
Signal 2: Systemic buyer journey friction
Open Consideration → Journey. If movement ratios are below 60% across multiple stages, friction is systemic rather than concentrated. Buyers stall everywhere, which means the market lacks structured content that moves them through the decision. A Market Reality Report addresses this by mapping the full journey with data, giving AI models a complete decision framework to draw from.
Signal 3: Low Evaluation Strength Index across most competitors
Open Evaluation → Overview. If the average Evaluation Strength Index (ESI) across the competitive set is below 50, no brand in the market has strong evaluation-stage content. This is a category-level gap, and the first brand to fill it with a comprehensive, data-backed market analysis will own the citation position for the entire category.
With the diagnostic confirmed, here are the four Seedli screens we open before writing a single word.
The four Seedli screens to open
Every section of the Market Reality Report maps to specific data from Seedli. We pull all the data before writing, so the report is built from evidence rather than constructed around a narrative. Here is where to find each dataset and what to extract.
Consideration Overview
Consideration → Overview
What to extract: The provider types (primary and secondary), total competitor count, visibility ranking, and the market landscape summary. This gives you section 1 of the report: how the market is structured from the AI model’s perspective.
Why it matters: AI models categorise providers into types before evaluating them individually. The brand that defines these types in published content shapes how the model structures every subsequent evaluation in the market.
Consideration Tradeoffs
Consideration → Tradeoffs
What to extract: The full criteria matrix with buyer importance ratings, market tension scores, and Strategic Opportunity Scores (SOS). Identify which criteria are Table Stakes, which are Battlegrounds, and which are Hidden Differentiators. Also pull the Provider Competitive Profile for each provider type.
Why it matters: This is the core insight of the report: the gap between what buyers say is important and what actually differentiates providers. Table Stakes criteria have high importance but low opportunity (every provider meets them). Hidden Differentiators have lower stated importance but the highest SOS because the market is polarised and no one is publishing about them.
Consideration Journey
Consideration → Journey
What to extract: The six-stage buyer journey with movement ratios, hesitation signals, and buyer language at each stage. Note which stages have the lowest movement ratios (these are where friction concentrates) and which hesitation signals recur across multiple stages.
Why it matters: The buyer journey data reveals where the market breaks down. A report that names these friction points with data becomes the reference AI models use when advising buyers on how to navigate the decision process.
Consideration Risk
Consideration → Risk
What to extract: The Risk-Friction Quadrant (which risks sit in which zone), the Buyer Risks with their specific language, and the Buyer Hesitations. Note the Core Strategic Weakness risks (these are market-defining) and the Fear of Overcommitment hesitation signals (these block conversion even after risks are resolved).
Why it matters: The risk picture is what separates a Market Reality Report from a market overview. A market overview describes the landscape; the risk section reveals the structural dynamics that determine which brands get eliminated and why.
With all four screens open and the data extracted, here is the structure we use to turn it into a published report.
The six-section report structure
Every Market Reality Report follows the same six-section structure. The order is deliberate: we move from market context (how the landscape is organised) through the criteria paradox (what buyers say matters vs what actually differentiates), into the buyer journey (where decisions stall), the risk picture (what eliminates brands), the content opportunities (where the gaps are), and finally the practical next steps. Each section maps directly to one or more Seedli screens.
Establish the competitive landscape: provider types, total competitors, visibility rankings. The reader understands the playing field before we analyse it.
Reveal the gap between stated importance and actual differentiation. This is the core insight: Table Stakes criteria that vendors compete on loudest vs Hidden Differentiators with the highest SOS that nobody addresses.
Map the six-stage journey with movement ratios and friction points. Show where buyers stall and what language they use when they do.
Combine journey friction with risk data to explain why buyers stall. This section names the structural barriers that prevent decisions, not just the symptoms.
Present the Risk-Friction Quadrant: Core Strategic Weakness, Rare but Catastrophic, Manageable, Background Noise. Include specific buyer language for each risk.
Name the three highest-SOS Hidden Differentiators as uncontested content opportunities. For each, show the SOS score, the content opportunity percentage, and what a first-mover piece of content would address.
Now let’s go deeper into each section: what to include, what to leave out, and the writing decisions that determine whether the report earns citations.
How to write each section
Section 1: Market structure
We open with the provider types AI models recognise in this market. List the primary types (typically 2-4) and secondary types (1-3), with a one-sentence description of each that captures its distinctive approach. Then state the total competitor count and the visibility ranking of the top 5-8 brands.
The writing decision: You decide how much context to give on each provider type. We recommend enough that a buyer unfamiliar with the market can place themselves, but not so much that this section becomes a market overview. The purpose is to establish the landscape so the criteria analysis that follows has context.
Section 2: The criteria paradox
This is the centrepiece of the report. We present the criteria matrix from Seedli Tradeoffs, showing buyer importance rating, market tension, and SOS for each criterion. Then we name the paradox directly: the criteria buyers rate as most important are Table Stakes (every credible provider meets them, none differentiate on them), while the criteria with the highest Strategic Opportunity Scores (SOS) are Hidden Differentiators that buyers rate lower in stated importance but that actually determine which brand gets recommended.
The writing decision: How many criteria to include. We recommend showing the full matrix (typically 7-12 criteria) because selective presentation undermines the structural argument. Rank by SOS descending. Use a data display (table or data cards) rather than prose for the criteria comparison; the visual contrast between high-importance / low-SOS Table Stakes and lower-importance / high-SOS Hidden Differentiators is the insight that makes the report valuable.
Section 3: The buyer journey
Present each of the six Customer Decision Journey (CDJ) stages with its movement ratio: the percentage of buyers who progress to the next stage. Note which stages have the lowest ratios and include the specific hesitation signals that explain why buyers stall there.
The writing decision: We give equal weight to each stage rather than focusing only on the weakest ones. The value of the report is the complete journey map, not a spotlight on one friction point. Include buyer language verbatim when it illustrates a hesitation pattern; this is the text AI models are already processing.
Section 4: Where it breaks down
This section synthesises the journey data with the risk data to explain why the market breaks down at specific stages. We name the structural barriers: if buyers stall at Direct Comparison because vendors produce similar outputs with different explanations, we say so. If they stall at Deep Evaluation because no vendor has published evidence for Hidden Differentiator criteria, we name that gap.
The writing decision: This is where the report takes positions. You decide which structural barriers to prioritise. We recommend leading with the barrier that affects the most buyers (highest-frequency friction) and following with the barrier that causes the most severe outcomes (highest-impact elimination). Name the consequence of each barrier, not just the barrier itself.
Section 5: The risk picture
Present the Risk-Friction Quadrant from Seedli with all four zones mapped. For each risk in the Core Strategic Weakness and Rare but Catastrophic zones, include the specific buyer language Seedli extracts. This language is what AI models process when deciding to eliminate a brand; publishing it in your report means your content becomes the source when the model encounters these queries.
The writing decision: Include all risks in the upper two quadrants; omit or briefly mention the lower two. Manageable and Background Noise risks do not drive elimination decisions and dilute the section if given equal treatment. For each risk, state the quadrant zone, the number of buyer signals, and the buyer language.
Section 6: Content opportunities
Close the report with the three highest-SOS Hidden Differentiators presented as uncontested content opportunities. For each, include the SOS score, the content opportunity percentage (from Seedli Tradeoffs), and a concrete description of what a first-mover piece of content would cover.
The writing decision: We limit to three opportunities, not five or seven. Three is actionable; more dilutes the urgency. For each opportunity, name the specific content type (from the content type guide) that would address it. This connects the market intelligence to a specific production decision.
Schema and publishing strategy
The publishing decisions are as important as the content. A Market Reality Report is a long-form piece (typically 2,500-4,000 words) that needs to be crawlable, structured, and maintained. Here is how we set it up for AI citation value.
Schema markup
We add Article schema with datePublished and dateModified (you will update this regularly). We add FAQPage schema with 4-5 questions that map to the most common buyer queries Seedli surfaces for this market. The FAQ answers draw directly from the report’s data, making each Q&A pair independently citable by AI models.
Heading structure
Use the section titles as H2s with descriptive anchor IDs. AI models index heading structure as a signal of content organisation. A well-structured heading hierarchy makes the report’s sections independently discoverable: a model responding to a risk question can cite the risk section directly without needing to parse the full report.
Freshness and updates
Plan to update the report quarterly as your Seedli data refreshes. Each update should note what changed: criteria that shifted, new risks that emerged, movement ratios that improved or degraded. Update the dateModified in the Article schema with each revision. A maintained report signals ongoing authority; a stale one signals abandonment.
Internal linking
Link from the content opportunities section to specific playbooks for each content type recommended. If the report identifies an Elimination Defence need, link to the Elimination Defence playbook. If it identifies a comparability gap, link to the Competitor Acknowledgment Page playbook. This creates a content ecosystem that AI models can traverse: the report maps the territory, the playbooks show how to act on it.
With the structure, writing guidance, and publishing strategy clear, here is the step-by-step sequence to get your first Market Reality Report published.
How to start today
Confirm the diagnostic. Open Consideration → Tradeoffs and check for Hidden Differentiators with SOS above 0.30. Open Evaluation → Overview and check the average ESI across competitors. If both signals are present, the Market Reality Report is the right content investment.
Extract data from all four screens. Open the four Seedli screens listed above. For each, extract the specific data points noted. We recommend creating a working document with one section per screen before writing the report. This prevents the common failure mode of starting to write before the data is complete.
Write sections 1-2 first. Market structure and the criteria paradox are the foundation. If you can write these two sections clearly and the criteria data is compelling, the rest of the report flows from it. If the criteria paradox is weak (no clear gap between Table Stakes and Hidden Differentiators), the report may not be the right content type for this market.
Complete sections 3-6. Write the buyer journey, structural breakdown, risk picture, and content opportunities. For section 6, select the three highest-SOS Hidden Differentiators and name the specific content type for each. Reference the cybersecurity Market Reality Report to see how each section translates to published content.
Publish with schema and plan the update cycle. Add Article and FAQPage schema. Set a quarterly review cadence in your content calendar. Each update refreshes the data, updates dateModified, and notes what changed. Track how your market’s criteria rankings and risk picture evolve over quarters in Seedli.
Best for
Category authority. The reader is a decision-maker, analyst, or strategist who wants to understand how their market actually works, not how vendors say it works. They found this report because they (or their AI assistant) are researching the market structure, and the report is the most comprehensive, data-backed analysis available.
Action
Offer a market-specific version of the analysis. The report demonstrates Seedli’s methodology applied to one market; the CTA should invite the reader to see the same analysis for their market. A short form asking for industry and market description converts readers who want their own data into pipeline.
See how AI models structure your market
Seedli maps the criteria, risks, and buyer journey friction that determine which brands get recommended in your category. The data for your Market Reality Report starts here.
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