The Link Group review

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 20% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 8 · Strong 3 · Adequate 2. The typical agency here scores Excellent, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Question-method fit, hypotheses, instruments, bias controls, analysis plan, limitations, and reproducibility are explicit.

Scores low — Defensible design scores 4-5; a survey template and charts score 1-2.

What we found — The provider demonstrates custom strategy, global quant, TURF, and question-specific method selection.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 17% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 5 · Strong 5 · Adequate 1 · Poor 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 5 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Transparent recruitment, screening, incidence, sample size, panel/source, fraud checks, incentives, and representativeness score 4-5.

Scores low — Opaque panels, bots, convenience samples, or unverifiable synthetic respondents score 1.

What we found — Global audience work is visible, while source, fraud, and validation details are limited. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

Evidence: vendor stated — the agency’s own claim, recorded as theirs rather than ours.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 13% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 9 · Strong 2 · Adequate 2. The typical agency here scores Excellent, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Can select and execute interviews, ethnography, focus groups, diary studies, surveys, conjoint, segmentation, pricing, or experiments appropriately.

Scores high — Method breadth with specialists scores 4-5.

What we found — Both qual and quant work are core, supported by mixed-method examples.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 16% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 9 · Strong 1 · Adequate 3. The typical agency here scores Excellent, and none scores higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Moves from evidence to clear decisions, segments, opportunities, product/brand implications, and prioritized actions without overstating certainty.

Scores low — Decision impact scores 4-5; data dumps score 1-2.

What we found — Cases focus on prioritization, reach, pricing, innovation, and ambiguous strategic decisions.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Strong — 4 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 12% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 5 · Strong 5 · Adequate 1 · Weak 2. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 5 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Named clients, independent reviews, and examples where research changed a launch, product, positioning, pricing, or investment decision score 4-5.

Scores low — Testimonials without method or impact score 1-2.

What we found — Named cases and senior-buyer testimonials support impact, but independent review depth is limited. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Strong.

Evidence: vendor stated — the agency’s own claim, recorded as theirs rather than ours.

Adequate — 3 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 8% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 1 · Strong 8 · Adequate 2 · Weak 1 · Poor 1. The typical agency here scores Strong, and 9 of them score higher than this one.

What this dimension measures: Consent, PII handling, recording/transcript security, respondent rights, retention, regulated populations, and any synthetic/AI use are explicit.

Scores low — Strong governance scores 4-5; silence scores 1-2.

What we found — No detailed public current privacy certification or AI-use policy was established.

Evidence: unknown

Excellent — 5 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). This dimension carries 8% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 10 · Strong 3. The typical agency here scores Excellent, and none scores higher than this one.

Scores high — Experience recruiting and interpreting the buyer's actual audience, geography, language, and category scores 4-5.

Scores low — Generic consumer panels for niche B2B or clinical audiences score 1-2.

What we found — Visible work spans technology, DTC, consumer, innovation, marketing, and global audiences. That is the high band above, which is why it scored Excellent.

B2B — business-to-business: selling to companies rather than consumers — longer deals, more decision-makers.

DTC — direct-to-consumer: brands selling on their own site rather than through retailers.

Evidence: verified — checked against a named source you can open; the links under Sources below are where to check it yourself.

Not disclosed — 2 of 5 on this rubric’s scale, from Poor (1) to Excellent (5). Nothing was published about this, so it scores at the bottom of the scale — that is a finding about what the agency discloses, not about the quality of its work. This dimension carries 6% of the total score.

Benchmark — across the 13 other agencies evaluated in this discipline, this dimension runs Excellent 2 · Strong 2 · Adequate 6 · Weak 3. The typical agency here scores Adequate, and 10 of them score higher than this one.

Scores high — Transparent scope, sample assumptions, pass-through costs, timeline, change control, raw-data access, recordings, instruments, and IP ownership score 4-5.

Scores low — Hidden panel markups or no raw-data access score 1-2.

What we found — No useful public pricing, standard timeline, or research-ownership terms were located. That is what the low band describes, and nothing published resolves it.

Evidence: unknown

Stronger here: PlanBeyond scores Excellent on the same dimension.