How market research firms can sell data to AI companies

A market research firm's archive holds two kinds of material. One is the firm's own craft: questionnaires, discussion guides, coding frames and analysis memos. The other is respondents' answers, collected under promises about how they would be used.

AI buyers want both. The second comes with some of the strictest consent rules of any industry, and the industry wrote many of them itself.

What market research data do AI companies buy?

AI companies buy market research data that shows expert method and judgment. Coded open-ended responses are already a labeled dataset: the coding frame is the label set, and each response carries a researcher's decision.

Your own methods documents are the simplest to clear. Transcripts and open-ends are worth more and carry the consent questions. Our guide to what data AI companies buy sets out what buyers' published briefs ask for.

How much is market research data worth to AI buyers?

Market research data has no published price. None of the buyers whose terms are public gives a market research range, so any figure quoted for a study archive is a negotiation, not a market rate.

General tiers give a frame. micro1 publishes $100,000 to $500,000 for a qualified partnership and asks for 30 or more full-time staff. Handshake AI, which lists professional services among its industries, headlines $100,000 to more than $4 million. Volume, years covered and how much text survives de-identification decide where an archive lands, and a free data valuation applies those factors to yours.

What do the research codes say about reusing respondent data?

The research codes say respondent data may be used only for the purposes participants agreed to. The Insights Association Code of Standards and Ethics, last updated September 2026, tells researchers in Section 6 to only use or share personal data for the purpose for which it was collected, and to obtain research subjects' consent before transferring personal data to a client, subcontractor or other third party.

Section 2 adds that researchers must obtain consent before using a subject's data in a manner materially different from what the subject agreed to, and Section 1 tells researchers to always distinguish between research and non-research activities.

The ICC/ESOMAR International Code, updated July 2025, sets the same line internationally. Article 1(e) says separate consent must be obtained for non-research purposes, and Article 2(c) says personal data must only be disclosed to third parties after obtaining consent.

Licensing respondents' answers to an AI developer is unlikely to be the purpose respondents agreed to. Unless your consent language covered it, plan to license only material that no longer contains personal data, and take advice on whether your de-identification meets that bar.

State privacy laws apply to survey and panel data wherever respondents are identifiable. The CCPA, at California Civil Code section 1798.140(ad), defines a sale as making a consumer's personal information available to a third party for monetary or other valuable consideration, and a license fee is valuable consideration.

Panel databases are the highest-risk asset. Profile data, past answers and incentive records link a named person to opinions, purchases and sometimes health conditions, and section 1798.140(ae) lists personal information collected and analyzed concerning a consumer's health as sensitive. Keep panel databases out of any package.

The FTC has warned that quietly changing terms to adopt more permissive data practices, such as AI training, could be unfair or deceptive. Updating your respondent notice now may not cover answers already collected.

Can you license focus group and interview recordings?

Focus group and interview recordings can be licensed only if they were lawfully made and participants' consent covers the new use. Federal law at 18 U.S.C. section 2511(2)(d) allows a recording where one party consents, but California Penal Code section 632 makes it an offense to record a confidential communication without the consent of all parties.

Video adds faces and voices. Illinois' Biometric Information Privacy Act lists a voiceprint and a scan of face geometry as biometric identifiers, and section 15(c) bars a private entity holding them from selling or otherwise profiting from them, with liquidated damages of $1,000 per negligent violation and $5,000 per intentional or reckless one. We recommend licensing redacted transcripts rather than recordings.

Do client contracts stop you licensing study data?

Client contracts often decide who controls study data and findings. The Insights Association code, in Section 8, says data collected solely for a specific client should be used only for its intended purpose and for that client.

Syndicated and omnibus studies you ran on your own account are different, because no client commissioned them. Start with those and with your methods documents before any custom study. Our licensing agreement checklist covers the clauses buyers will ask about.

If you hold UK or EU data

UK fieldwork falls under UK GDPR. Article 8A, fully in force from February 5, 2026, says that where personal data was collected on the basis of consent, a new purpose is compatible only in narrow cases, such as where the person consents to the new purpose. Respondent consent is the usual basis for survey data, so that limit applies to most UK archives.

ESOMAR members commit to the ICC/ESOMAR code wherever they work, so Article 1(e)'s rule on separate consent for non-research purposes applies to UK and EU studies as well as US ones.

How do you sell market research data through Sell My Data To AI?

You start with a consultation about your study archive, your respondent consent language and your client terms. We do not take custody of your raw data. Buyers see redacted samples under a mutual NDA, and full data moves only after you sign a license directly with the buyer.

Every buyer is verified for company identity, intended use, security and retention commitments and onward transfer limits before seeing a sample. You approve every buyer, every sample and every license term. Book a consultation, or read about telling staff and clients first.