What's Actually in a Market Map (and What the Alternatives Cost)
Mathijs Bronsdijk5 min readUpdated October 17, 2026
On this page
- What does a Market Map actually contain?
- How does it get built that fast?
- Research runs in parallel, not start to finish
- Every figure gets checked before it ships
- What does it replace, and what does each alternative actually cost?
- The published numbers, not a rate card
- What it doesn’t replace
- Your own researcher
- A data subscription
- The through-line
- Sources
- FAQ
Search for what a “market map” actually contains and the descriptions stay vague on purpose: a custom scope, a bespoke deliverable, priced on request. That works for a staffed research firm selling hours. It doesn’t answer the question a firm actually has before it signs up for anything: what do I get, and what does the alternative cost me instead?
Here’s the honest version, module by module, for the one report we build.
What does a Market Map actually contain?
Every map ships the same six modules, every time. Nothing is added or dropped per client: the brief changes what goes into each module, not which modules exist.
| Module | What it answers | The method, in full |
|---|---|---|
| Market & sector sizing | How big is this market, and how many companies are actually in scope? | How to build a market map for an executive search |
| Compensation benchmark | What does this seat actually pay, sourced rather than guessed? | Executive compensation benchmarking |
| Talent pool, ringed | How deep is the pool, and who’s realistically in it? | Talent mapping for executive search |
| Comparable placements | Who got hired into a similar seat recently, and from where? | A worked market map example |
| Feasibility & search kit | What’s the real timeline and cost, and what could block it? | The executive search process |
| Sources & verification | What backs every figure, and has it actually been checked? | Every source re-fetched before the map ships, see below |
Each of those links is the full method behind one module, written so you could build it yourself by hand. That’s deliberate: the method is public, and a Market Map is the finished version of the same work, built faster and checked before it ships.
See all six modules built on your own brief.
Book a callHow does it get built that fast?
Research runs in parallel, not start to finish
Each module runs as its own research pass over the primary record, SEC filings, wage data, company registries, press, in parallel rather than as one long report written start to finish. That’s the difference between a map ready before your kickoff call and a researcher’s week.
Every figure gets checked before it ships
Then it gets checked. A verification gate re-fetches every source cited in the report and confirms the figure still holds on the page before anything ships. Anything it flags goes to a human before the map does. Every number that survives carries a label: fact, estimate, or inference, the same discipline behind every guide on this site.
That step is the one three separate professional-services firms skipped before a client-facing AI report went out with fabricated citations. Re-fetching every source is exactly the check that catches it.
What does it replace, and what does each alternative actually cost?
The published numbers, not a rate card
The figures below are our own estimates of what each alternative typically costs, set against a base from $2,495 a month that includes two searches. Our pricing page carries only that starting price.
| The alternative | What it typically costs | What’s still on you |
|---|---|---|
| A staffed talent-research report | $17,500 to $30,000 per report | Weeks of turnaround, then a static document |
| A full-time research analyst | $6,000 to $7,000 a month, before ramp | Managing, training, and finding a mandate worth loading them onto |
| A market-intelligence data subscription | $1,000 to $4,000 a month | The raw data and the search bar; the sizing, sourcing, and write-up are still a job on someone’s desk |
| A MergeSearch Market Map | From $2,495 a month, two searches included | Nothing. It’s ready before your kickoff call |
The real comparison isn’t the monthly number anyway. It’s one mandate: a single won search covers a year of this many times over. How to win an executive search mandate walks through the other side of that same math: what the evidence in the map actually changes about the pitch.
Read the real comparison against your own numbers, not a rate card.
Book a callWhat it doesn’t replace
Your own researcher
A Market Map doesn’t replace a firm’s own researcher. That researcher isn’t idle; they’re loaded on the mandates already signed, which is where they should be. A Market Map exists for the pitch that isn’t won yet, the one nobody puts a loaded researcher against because the week costs the same whether the pitch lands or not.
A data subscription
It doesn’t replace a data subscription either. LinkedIn Recruiter and PitchBook are seats in a platform you operate yourself: real data, but the sizing, the sourcing pattern, and the write-up stay a job on somebody’s desk the week before the pitch. A Market Map is the finished document instead, built on your brief, not another tool to learn.
The through-line
A Market Map is fixed, not custom: the same six modules, sourced the same way, ready before the kickoff call, whatever the brief. That’s what makes it comparable to the alternatives at all: a bespoke research engagement has no rate card because every one is different, and this one does, because every one isn’t.
Read the module methods yourself, then see what one built on your own brief looks like. Book a call: a sample on a brief of your choice, and the Opportunity Monitor on your market from the day you start.
Sources
- MergeSearch, pricing (the starting price only). The alternative-cost figures above are MergeSearch estimates, not sourced to a third party.
- MergeSearch, how a Market Map is built and checked (the research-agent and verification-gate description quoted above).
Frequently asked questions
What's actually included in a Market Map?
Six fixed modules: market and sector sizing, a compensation benchmark, a talent pool scoped into rings, comparable recent placements, a feasibility and search-execution plan, and the full source list behind every figure. Every map ships all six, not a subset chosen per client.
How much does a Market Map cost compared to hiring an analyst?
A full-time research analyst runs $6,000 to $7,000 a month before ramp time, and that's before you manage or train them. Our own estimate puts a staffed talent-research report at $17,500 to $30,000 per report, and a data subscription at $1,000 to $4,000 a month with the write-up still on your desk.
A base from $2,495 a month includes two searches, with extra searches a la carte.
How is a Market Map built so fast?
Each module runs as its own research pass over the primary record, filings, registries, wage data, press, in parallel rather than one long report written start to finish. A verification gate then re-fetches every cited source and confirms the figure still holds before the map ships, with every number labeled fact, estimate, or inference.
Does a Market Map replace an in-house researcher or a data subscription?
No, and it isn't meant to. A firm's own researcher is usually loaded on signed mandates, not idle, so a Market Map covers the pitch that hasn't been won yet. A subscription like LinkedIn Recruiter or PitchBook still gives you the data and the search bar; a Market Map is the finished, sourced document built from your brief.