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A research request is a question you hand to Ploti to answer from start to finish. You describe what you want to find out in plain words. Ploti checks which official records it needs, collects the missing ones from the county and city offices that publish them, answers the question, and emails you. The answer is a written summary with its sources, plus the maps, tables and files it produced. Collecting data can take hours or days, and you don’t need to keep the page open. For example: “Find parcels over 10 acres in Polk County, Florida, zoned for industrial use, outside the flood zone, and within a mile of I-4.” Ploti collects data only in your coverage areas, the counties your plan covers.

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From question to answer

1

You describe the goal

Say what you want to find out, where, and what matters. Add documents and outside sources if they help. See Create a research request.
2

Ploti checks the data

Ploti works out which datasets the question needs and checks which of them it already has there. A dataset is one table of records, such as a county’s parcels or a city’s permits. If your request is too vague to check, Ploti asks you up to three short questions first, on the request’s page.
3

You get a data readiness report

The request’s page shows a report with two lists: Datasets we already have and Data we still need. When nothing is missing, select Start research and the research runs right away.
4

Ploti collects the missing data

Each missing dataset in each county becomes a data request, a job for Ploti’s data agents (the AI software that does the collecting). Ploti files these itself as soon as the report is ready. The agents find the official source, such as a county’s permit portal, and build its records into a dataset. If a county doesn’t publish the data online, Ploti can email the county for it. Ploti does not collect for a place outside your coverage areas; it offers to add the county instead.
5

The research runs when the data is in

Nothing is needed from you. When every data request has either delivered its dataset or failed to find one, Ploti runs the research with what it has. If you don’t want to wait, the request’s page lets you run it early on the data already there.
6

You get an email

Ploti emails you Your research is ready, with a summary of what it found, what it produced, and any data it could not source. View your research opens the request.

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Statuses

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Credits

Collecting data draws on credits, the unit your workspace (your team’s Ploti account) pays for work with.
  • Each new dataset costs 3 credits. They are set aside when the data request starts, spent when the dataset is collected, and given back if it can’t be found.
  • Your first research request is free: the datasets it collects use no credits.
  • A research request starts up to 20 data requests on its own. If it needs more, the request’s page asks you before starting the rest.
Coverage areas and pricing says how many credits you start with and how to get more.

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Who can see it

A research request and its data requests are visible only to you, the member who filed it. The datasets Ploti builds become part of that county’s data for everyone who covers it.

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Emails

The data requests inside a research request don’t send their own emails. The next email you get is the finished research. Ploti also emails you if the research needs you to start it, or if none of the data could be sourced. Turn these on or off in your notification preferences under Research updates.