How to research a company before working with them
Updated 23 July 2026 · by Studio Baggio
Pre-engagement due diligence means checking what employees, customers and partners currently say about a company - before you take the job, sign the contract or place the order. Public discussion carries what references won't tell you.
Why the last 30 days is the window that matters
Companies change faster than their reputations: leadership exits, layoffs, payment problems and culture shifts show up in current discussion months before they reach review aggregators. The last 30 days is where the early warnings live.
The questions worth asking
- what do employees say about working at [company]
- [company] payment problems or late invoices
- [agency] client experiences
Where the honest signal lives
Reddit carries candid employee and customer threads, X carries public disputes and departures, LinkedIn signals hiring patterns, and the open web carries the news the discussions reference.
Researching with an AI assistant? Copy this prompt
I'm researching what people actually say about a company. Search recent discussion from the last 30 days across Reddit, X, YouTube, TikTok and the open web. I want: the main things people praise, the main complaints, any repeated patterns across independent threads, and a citation link for every claim. Separate strong multi-source signals from single-thread opinions.
Works in ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini - or run it in Last30Days, which does the multi-source sweep with citations built in.
Common questions
Isn't Glassdoor enough for company research?
Glassdoor skews to exit reviews and lags by months. Live discussion catches current problems - and current praise - while they're happening.
What should freelancers check before taking a client?
Recent payment complaints, how they talk about previous suppliers, and whether their public story matches their private reputation. Ten minutes of recent-discussion research prevents most bad engagements.
Is this only for big companies?
No - small firms and agencies often have the richest recent signal, because a single thread from a burned supplier or ex-employee is proportionally louder.
Related research guides
Last30Days searches Reddit, X, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube, Polymarket and the open web - and cites every claim.
Try Last30Days free