Skip to main content
Custom Research lets admins and managers extend ShiftUp with their own AI-researched content blocks. Instead of being limited to ShiftUp’s built-in sections, you describe what you want researched, what the output should be, and where it should appear — and ShiftUp generates a tailored component that renders inside the right Account Plans and Strategies.
Companies are restricted to a total of 5 active custom research blocks.

​
How it works

A custom component is a saved template made up of three pieces:
  • Research — The research topic or question ShiftUp investigates each time the component runs.
  • Intent — What the output is for and how it should be presented.
  • Schema — The structured shape of the result. ShiftUp generates a schema from your research and intent, which you can then edit.
Each time an associated Account Plan or Strategy is generated or refreshed, ShiftUp runs the research, extracts the result against the schema, and renders the component inline.

​
Component types

When ShiftUp generates the schema, it picks the rendering type that best fits the output. You can change it during editing. A single card layout is supported by using Cards with a one-item view. Watch this video to learn how to build and link custom components to your ShiftUp Account Plans and Strategies

​
Building a component

Custom components are built in a guided two-pane editor: a chat-driven shaping assistant on one side and a phase editor on the other.
1

Open Components

From the ShiftUp left-hand menu, open Components.
2

Create a new component

Click New. Only admins and managers can create components.
3

Shape the research and intent

Describe the research you want ShiftUp to perform and what the output is for. The shaping assistant suggests values for research, intent, and schema as you go. Accept a suggestion to apply it to that phase, or edit it directly in the phase editor.
4

Preview the result

Click Preview to run the component end-to-end against mock data. The preview surfaces extraction confidence (high, medium, low) and any issues so you can tighten the schema before saving. To test a saved component against a real record, use a realistic preview.
5

Save the component

Click Save. Give the component a name and description and choose where it appears — Account Plans, Strategies, or both.
The editor preserves your chat history and unsaved work across the create-to-edit transition, so you can keep iterating after the first save.

​
Realistic previews

A realistic preview runs a saved component against the real data of an Account Plan or Strategy you choose. Use it to check how the research performs on an actual account before you activate the component or roll it out to more records. Realistic previews differ from the editor’s Preview button: Only admins and managers can generate or view realistic previews. Other users don’t see the Preview column.

​
Generate a realistic preview

1

Open the preview from the Components page

In the Preview column, click Generate preview on the component’s row. If the component already has a preview, click its status button instead.
2

Choose record

Pick the Account plan or Opportunity strategy tab and search for a record. You can choose any record you have access to, regardless of the component’s activation, seller profiles, target, or visibility filters. ShiftUp checks the record before you can start.
3

Start the preview

Click Generate preview. The dialog moves through Prepare context and Research, then shows the result at Preview ready.
A usable record needs:
  • Account intelligence (for an Account Plan source)
  • A linked account
  • A linked seller profile
A Strategy is usable when its Account Plan is. If the record can’t be used, the dialog explains why so you can pick another one. A Strategy source produces a Strategy-level result.

​
While the preview runs

  • Generation usually takes a few minutes and runs in the background. You can close the dialog and come back. Closing doesn’t stop the run.
  • The Components page shows how many previews are generating. When a run finishes while the page is open, a toast names the component and offers View preview or Try again.
  • Research actions appear in the preview but are disabled.
  • Previews use faster research, so production results may include more detail.

​
Preview statuses

The status button in the Preview column opens the dialog at the run’s current step.

​
When a preview is replaced or cleared

A component stores one realistic preview at a time.
  • Generating a new preview removes the current one immediately.
  • Saving a change to the component’s research, intent, schema, preferred renderer, or research actions clears the stored preview. A run started before the change doesn’t store its result.
  • Changes to activation, target, visibility filters, name, description, or seller-profile associations keep the stored preview.

​
Visibility

You control which Account Plans and Strategies a component appears on through the component’s Visibility section.

​
Seller profile association

Each component must be associated with at least one seller profile before visibility rules can be configured. The associated profiles also define which records can be used for value suggestions and the visibility impact preview. Use Associate on a component to manage its profiles.

​
Visibility modes

Per surface (Account Plans, Strategies, or both), pick how the component is targeted:
  • Always show — Show on every record on this surface. Filters are ignored.
  • All filters match — Show only when every advanced filter matches.
  • Any filter matches — Show when at least one advanced filter matches.
  • Only selected records — Show only on records you pick by name.

​
Advanced filters

Build filters on target-record fields. Operators are constrained to the field’s supported set. Single-value operators use a typeahead; multi-value operators (In, Not In) use removable chips. Value suggestions come from records on the associated seller profiles.

​
Record overrides

Independently of the mode and filters, you can:
  • Show records — Force-include specific records that wouldn’t otherwise match.
  • Hide records — Exclude specific records that would otherwise match.
A record can only appear in one list at a time.

​
Previewing visibility impact

Click Preview impact to evaluate the current (unsaved) visibility configuration against records associated with the component’s seller profiles. The preview shows Account Plan and Strategy impact separately with included and excluded counts and a capped list of affected records.
Visibility impact preview requires the component to be saved and to have at least one associated seller profile. In Always show mode, the preview shows a single summary of all matching records rather than included/excluded grouping.

​
Managing components

The Components page lists every component definition with filters for Owned by me and Show inactive only, plus search by name. From the row actions on any component:
  • Edit — Reopen the editor.
  • Activate / Deactivate — Toggle whether the component renders on its target records. Inactive components stay on the page but are not rendered.
  • Manage visibility — Change which surfaces the component appears on (Account Plan, Strategy, or both). Switching surfaces may delete existing rendered instances on the removed surface; the dialog reports the impact before you confirm.
  • Manage profiles — Associate or remove seller profiles.
  • Delete — Permanently remove the component and any rendered instances. If profiles are associated, the dialog warns how many associations will be removed.

​
How components render

Inside an Account Plan or Strategy, custom components appear in a Components tab. Each rendered instance shows:
  • The component output, rendered using the type’s renderer (Cards, Table, or Insight view).
  • An extraction status — Success, Partial, or Failed.
  • A confidence indicator (High, Medium, Low) for the underlying extraction.
  • A Sources section that lists the citations ShiftUp used to generate the result.
  • A Researching badge while a refresh is in progress; the component appears with its content on the next refresh.
If a component can’t be rendered, ShiftUp shows a clear failure message and surfaces any partial issues so you know what to fix in the definition.

​
Permissions

  • Account Plan — Where Account Plan custom components render.
  • Sales Strategy — Where Strategy custom components render.
  • Seller Profile — Profiles that scope which records a component applies to.