Fill a Google Sheet with research using Automatio
Ask the agent to research a topic online and save the findings into a spreadsheet. It searches the web, extracts the data, and appends each result as a new row in your chosen sheet.
What to ask
Type it in the Automatio chat. Send it as written, or change the details to fit your case.
Research 10 sustainable packaging manufacturers in [Europe]. Create a new spreadsheet titled 'Eco Packaging Vendors' and append each company name, their website link, and their primary material to a new row.
How it works
- 1
Connect Google Drive
In Automatio, go to Integrations, find the
Google Drive & Sheetstile, and sign in with your Google account. - 2
Define the research task
Tell the agent in the chat what to search for and how to organize the results, such as by company name, location, or price.
- 3
Verify and write
The agent searches the web and proposes a plan to create a sheet or append rows; check the data in the chat before it writes to your spreadsheet.
What you get
The agent creates a new spreadsheet or adds rows to an existing one based on its web findings. Each cell contains text or numbers entered exactly as if you had typed them.
You should review the sheet to ensure the AI extracted the correct details from the websites it visited. The data is plain text, so check that any links or numbers were captured in the columns you requested.
Good to know
- The agent cannot add formatting, charts, pivot tables, or new tabs to existing spreadsheets.
- Creating a spreadsheet or appending rows costs 1 credit per action plus the AI model's usage cost.
- For sheets not created through Automatio, you must paste the spreadsheet link into the chat so the agent can access it.
Variations to try
Competitor pricing log
Research the current monthly pricing for [List of 5 Competitors]. Open my 'Price Comparison' sheet and append the date and each price to the end.
Daily industry news
Find three major news articles from today about [AI and healthcare]. Create a sheet called 'Morning Briefing' and list the headline, source, and a one-sentence summary for each.
Technical specification search
Find the screen resolution and battery capacity for the [latest three smartphone models]. Create a sheet titled 'Device Specs' and list them in a table format.
Questions
Does it cost extra to research and write to a sheet?
The AI's research work is paid in standard credits. Creating a new spreadsheet or appending rows to an existing one adds 1 credit per action to the total cost.
Can the agent find any sheet in my Google Drive?
It can list up to 100 sheets that were created or previously opened through Automatio. If you want to research into a different sheet, you must paste its link directly into the chat.
Is my Google account data kept private?
Yes, your access token is held by Automatio's integration service. Your data follows the Google API Services User Data Policy and is not used to train AI models.
Can it summarize a website and put the summary in a cell?
Yes, the agent can use its web research capability to read a site and then use the append_values tool to put that summary into a specific row.
More guides
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