Software Reviews Lab guide

Sign in to each review site first

Clipper opens review pages in a background tab of your own Chrome, the way you would. These sites show far fewer are-you-a-human checks, and sometimes more reviews, to people who are signed in. So before you start:

1. 1

   Make a free account

   Create a free account on G2, Capterra, TrustRadius and Trustpilot. A normal user account is enough.

2. 2

   Stay signed in

   Sign in to each site in the Chrome profile where Clipper is installed, and keep that sign-in. Clipper never sees or stores your password.

3. 3

   Open each site once

   Visit it normally after signing in and finish any check it shows. Then switch it on in <a href="/docs/desktop-connect-clipper">Connect Clipper</a>.

Start with the sample

Open the sample: two made-up accounting tools with generated reviews on two sites each. It works offline, needs no Clipper and fills every view. Clear it when you are done.

Add a product and check it

1. 1

   Add a product

   Type its name, or paste a link to its page on any of the four sites, or both. One product keeps one page on each site.

2. 2

   Confirm the match

   With only a name, Desktop searches each site and ranks the hits as strong, likely or weak. Pick the right one. Nothing is fetched until you do.

3. 3

   Press Check

   The Lab shows the request count and the time before it runs. The first check takes 3 pages of the lowest rated reviews and 3 of the newest on each site. Later checks take the newest 2 and the lowest 1.

4. 4

   Watch it

   Turn on the weekly re-check while Desktop is open. Changes shows what is new.

The six views

• Ratings: star split, average, low rated share and the count per site next to the site's own rating.
• Complaints and requests: the top complaint, request and praise themes with counts, share, what is new and example quotes.
• Who reviews: reviewer role, company size and industry with the average rating of each, where the site shows them.
• Reviews: the reviews themselves with stars, date, role and size and a link to the site. Filter by site, stars, date or keyword.
• Compare: up to 5 products side by side, with one complaint matrix.
• Changes: new reviews since the last check, lowest rated first, and how each complaint theme moved.

When your AI reads a page

Sites change their layout. When a page does not match the app's reader, or a search page has no recognisable results, Desktop does not fail. It saves the page and your own AI reads it with the tools sitepage_pending_list, sitepage_read and sitepage_save_extract. The Lab shows "N pages are waiting for your AI to read".

• A review is kept only if its text is on the page word for word. The rating must be 1 to 5.
• Nothing is invented. A title, date, role or company size the page does not show is left empty.
• Reviewer names are never stored.
• Desktop still chooses the pages and the order: lowest rated first, star filters, newest. Your AI only reads.
• No hosted AI and no key of ours: the reading runs on your own AI plan.

Honest limits

• Counts are of the reviews fetched, not every review. Each check reads a few pages per site.
• If a site shows a check or asks you to log in, Clipper stops and the site shows Needs you. Deal with it in your browser, then press Resume. Clipper never tries to get past a check.
• A site has a daily page limit. When it is used up, the rest of the run waits for the next day.
• Some sites' terms limit automated access. Use it for your own research and keep checks small.
• Reviews are people's opinions. A theme is a count of words reviewers used, not proof a product is bad.

Pin, watch and ask

Pin a quote or a theme to the evidence board. Every action is an MCP tool: see the Software Reviews Lab and Pages your AI reads groups in the tools reference. To read one product across stores and forums in a single report, use Deep Research.