FAQ | Frequently Asked Questions

Platform & Research

Questions about franchise intelligence, AI workflows, and research capabilities.

• What is the Franchise Intelligence Platform?

  The Franchise Intelligence Platform is a conversational AI-powered research system designed for historical franchise intelligence, FDD analysis, benchmarking, and institutional due diligence workflows.

  The platform combines conversational AI with one of the industry’s largest historical Franchise Disclosure Document databases.

• What makes the platform different from standard AI tools?

  Most AI tools analyze a single uploaded document.

  The Franchise Intelligence Platform is designed around large-scale historical franchise intelligence across thousands of FDDs, multiple industries, and years of franchise market activity.

• How many FDDs are included in the platform?

  The platform is designed around a historical database containing more than 17,000 Franchise Disclosure Documents with approximately 3,000 new FDDs added annually.

• What types of questions can users ask?

  Users can ask natural-language questions related to:

  • franchise trends
  • growth analysis
  • royalty comparisons
  • disclosure analysis
  • industry benchmarking
  • historical franchise performance
  • litigation patterns
  • franchise market intelligence

• Is the platform designed for professional use?

  Yes. The platform is designed primarily for:

  • law firms
  • private equity firms
  • lenders
  • consultants
  • institutional advisors
  • professional franchise researchers

SECURITY & PRIVACY QUESTIONS

Questions about confidentiality, uploads, and project isolation.

• Are uploaded documents private?

  Yes. Uploaded documents are private to your project and are not made publicly available or added to the platform’s shared historical FDD collection.

  Documents remain associated with the project where they were uploaded and can be individually deleted at any time.

• Can other users access my projects?

  No. Your projects, conversations, research findings, and uploaded documents remain private to your individual account and cannot be accessed by other users.

  For organizational accounts, administrators can monitor usage and research costs by user and project, but they cannot view the questions, answers, conversations, or research findings within a user’s projects.

• Is my data used to train public AI systems?

  Uploaded project materials are designed to remain within the boundaries of the project workspace and are not automatically merged into broader platform intelligence systems.

• Are projects persistent over time?

  Yes. Projects remain available over time, allowing you to return to prior conversations, research, and uploaded documents without starting over.

  Project content is retained while your account remains active. If your account becomes inactive, your research and project content are retained for three months, giving you time to reactivate the account and continue where you left off. Individual uploaded documents can also be deleted at any time.

• Does the platform support organizational confidentiality?

  Yes. Organizational accounts are designed so each user’s projects, conversations, research findings, and uploaded documents remain private to that individual user.

  Administrators can monitor usage and research costs by user and project, but they cannot see the questions asked, responses received, conversations, or research findings. Content is also kept separate from other customers and is not added to the platform’s shared historical FDD collection.

Billing & Pricing Questions

Questions about pricing, usage tracking, and prepaid balances.

• How does billing work?

  The platform uses a prepaid account balance to cover usage-based research charges and a monthly infrastructure fee. Individual accounts require an initial payment of $25, and organizational accounts require $100, credited in full to the available balance. Usage-based research charges are deducted from your available balance as you use the platform.

  The monthly infrastructure fee supports storage and ongoing availability of your research history, conversations, and uploaded documents. It is $5 for individual accounts or $10 for organizational accounts plus $5 per sub-user. The fee is deducted from your balance on the first of each month, beginning the month after you open your account.

  Automatic replenishment is enabled by default. You can adjust its funding settings and trigger balance, or turn it off and add funds manually as needed. Turning off automatic replenishment does not stop monthly infrastructure fees while your account remains active. See our Pricing page for details about funding, account inactivity, and data retention.

• Is there a monthly subscription fee?

  There is no subscription plan required, but there is a monthly infrastructure fee to maintain your account and store your research history, conversations, and uploaded documents. Individual accounts are charged $5 per month. Organizational accounts are charged $20 per month, plus $5 per sub-user. Usage-based research charges are separate.

  The infrastructure fee is deducted from your prepaid account balance on the first day of each month, beginning the month after you sign up. It applies even during months when you do not conduct research and continues until you close your account or it becomes inactive.

• What happens when account balances run low?

  There is no subscription plan required, but there is a monthly infrastructure fee to maintain your account and store your research history, conversations, and uploaded documents. Individual accounts are charged $5 per month. Organizational accounts are charged $20 per month, plus $5 per sub-user. Usage-based research charges are separate.

  The infrastructure fee is deducted from your prepaid account balance on the first day of each month, beginning the month after you sign up. It applies even during months when you do not conduct research and continues until you close your account or it becomes inactive.

• Does turning off automatic replenishment stop monthly fees?

  No. Turning off automatic replenishment stops automatic deposits into your account. The monthly infrastructure fee continues to be deducted from your existing balance on the first of each month while your account remains active, even if you are not conducting research.

  Monthly infrastructure fees stop when you close your account or it becomes inactive. Your account becomes inactive if your balance reaches zero or is insufficient to cover the monthly infrastructure fee when it is due, and is not replenished. Any remaining funds stay in your account, and no additional monthly infrastructure fees accrue during inactivity.

  Adding funds automatically reactivates your account. If your account remains inactive for three consecutive months, your stored research history, conversations, uploaded documents, and other project content will be permanently deleted.

• Can organizations monitor usage activity?

  Yes. Organizational administrators can monitor usage by user and project, including the number and cost of questions asked. This provides visibility into how the organization’s research funds are being used.

  Administrators cannot see the questions, responses, conversations, or research findings. The substance of each user’s research remains private.

• Are refunds available?

  Funds added to your account are nonrefundable, including any unused balance if you stop using the platform or close your account. You can turn off automatic replenishment at any time and add funds manually to control future deposits.

  Turning off automatic replenishment does not close your account or stop monthly infrastructure fees, which continue to be deducted while the account remains active. If you believe a charge was made in error, please contact our support team for review.

ORGANIZATION & ACCOUNT QUESTIONS

Questions about sub-users, permissions, and account management.

• Can organizations create multiple user accounts?

  Yes. Organizations can create multiple user accounts under a single administrative account with centralized funding and billing. Each user has a separate login and private project workspace, while research charges and infrastructure fees are deducted from the organization’s shared prepaid balance.

  Organizational accounts have a monthly infrastructure fee of $10, plus $5 per sub-user, deducted from the shared balance on the first of each month, beginning the month after the organization opens its account. The designated administrator can manage users, monitor usage, and adjust or disable automatic replenishment.

• Can administrators monitor sub-user activity?

  Administrators can monitor each sub-user’s usage, including the number and cost of questions associated with their projects. This allows organizations to track research spending by user and project.

  Administrators cannot see the questions asked, responses received, conversations, or research findings. The substance of each sub-user’s research remains private.

• Can projects be separated by client or matter?

  Yes. Users can create separate projects for individual clients, matters, franchise systems, or research assignments. Each project maintains its own conversations, research history, and uploaded documents.

  Information within one project does not automatically become part of another, allowing users to keep unrelated research organized and separate.

• Does the platform support future enterprise permissions?

  The architecture is designed to support expanded organizational permissions and enterprise workflow controls over time.

• Is centralized billing supported?

  Yes. Organizational accounts use a centralized prepaid balance for research fees and monthly infrastructure fees. Research conducted by sub-users is charged against the organization’s account balance.

  Administrators can monitor usage and research costs by sub-user and project while individual research conversations and findings remain private.

• What happens to my research if my account becomes inactive?

  If your balance reaches zero or is insufficient to cover the monthly infrastructure fee when it is due, and is not replenished, your account becomes inactive. Your research history, conversations, uploaded documents, and other project content are retained for three months from the date your account becomes inactive.

  Adding funds automatically reactivates your account—no separate reactivation step is required. If you add funds within the three-month period, your stored research remains intact and the inactivity period ends. If your account later becomes inactive again, a new three-month retention period begins.

  After three consecutive months of inactivity, stored research content is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. Your account itself remains available for future use, but adding funds after deletion will not recover your previous research.

Uploads & Projects

Questions about uploads, storage, and project persistence.

• What file types are supported?

  The platform supports PDF, Word (.docx), plain text, and Markdown files, up to 60 MB or 600 pages.

  If a document is in another format, it can generally be saved or exported to PDF, Word, or text before uploading. For example, spreadsheets, presentations, and scanned documents may need to be converted to a supported format first.

• Can uploaded documents be deleted?

  Yes. You can delete individual uploaded documents from a project at any time. This allows you to use a document for research and remove it when you no longer want it retained with the project.

• Can the AI reference uploaded materials?

  Yes. Documents you upload become research materials within that project. You can ask questions about their contents, compare them with information in the platform’s historical FDD collection, and use them as context for further research.

  Uploaded documents remain associated with your project and are not added to the shared historical FDD collection.

• Are uploads shared across projects?

  No. Uploaded documents remain associated with the project where they were uploaded and are not automatically shared with other projects.

  If you want to use the same document in another project, you can upload it separately to that project.

• Can projects remain active long-term?

  Yes. Projects preserve your conversations, uploaded documents, and research history so you can return to previous work and build on it over time, provided your account remains active.

  If your balance reaches zero or is insufficient to cover the monthly infrastructure fee when it is due, and is not replenished, your account becomes inactive. Your stored research is retained for three months from the date of inactivity. Adding funds during that period automatically reactivates your account with your research intact.

  After three consecutive months of inactivity, stored project content is permanently deleted and cannot be restored. Your account itself remains available for future use.

Technical & Workflow

Questions about performance, citations, exports, and platform usage.

• Does the platform provide citations?

  Yes. When research draws from the platform’s historical FDD collection, responses can include citations identifying the source documents used. This allows users to trace findings back to the underlying FDDs and review the source material directly.

• Can research be exported?

  Yes. Individual research responses can be saved as PDF files, making it easy to retain, share, or incorporate findings into your own research and client materials.

• Is the platform web-based?

  Yes. The Franchise Intelligence Platform is entirely web-based and can be accessed from any device with a standard web browser and internet connection. No software installation is required.

• Does the platform support conversational research?

  Yes. The platform is designed for conversational research. You can ask questions in everyday language, review the results, and then ask follow-up questions that build on the research already conducted within the conversation.

  This allows you to explore a topic progressively rather than having to formulate every research question in advance.

• How fast are responses?

  Most research questions are completed within seconds, although more complex research may take longer. Response time depends on the scope of the question, the amount of information being analyzed, and the complexity of the research required.