# Focus groups with AI agents

Canonical page: https://www.questionpunk.com/support/focus-groups

Run AI-moderated focus group discussions with multiple synthetic personas.

Time: 10-20 minutes

Level: Intermediate

Audience: Researchers, Product teams, UX teams

## Steps

### 1. Open Focus Groups

From Home, filter your studies by **AI focus groups** to open the focus groups page, or open a survey and go to its **Focus Groups** tab. Click **New Focus Group**.

### 2. Step 1: Describe your research question

In the **Brief** step, write what you want to find out. Click **Draft the guide** to have AI write discussion topics and probe questions for you (uses a small number of credits), or continue and write them yourself.

### 3. Step 2: Write a discussion guide

In the **Topics** step, add up to 5 discussion topics. For each topic, write a main question and optional probe questions (up to 5 probes per topic). Set a round limit per topic to control discussion depth. Optionally attach a **stimulus** (title and content) to give all participants shared context for the discussion.

### 4. Step 3: Select participants

In the **Personas** step, choose 2-6 AI personas to participate. Use existing personas from your [Audiences](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/audiences) library or create new ones. Each participant is color-coded for easy identification in the transcript.

### 5. Step 4: Configure the session

In the **Config** step, choose the AI model, set a **moderator style** (neutral, challenging, or empathetic), pick a **group dynamic** (natural, debate, or consensus), and set the maximum number of rounds (5-50). You can also create **grounded participants** — digital twins conditioned on real respondent answers from a previous survey.

### 6. Review the transcript and summary

Watch the discussion unfold in a color-coded, real-time transcript with topic dividers. When the session completes, an AI-generated summary highlights key themes, points of agreement and disagreement, notable quotes, and per-participant analysis.

## Details

Focus groups complement synthetic testing by generating qualitative discussion rather than individual survey responses.

Each persona brings a unique perspective shaped by their demographics, attitudes, and background. Participants speak in round-robin order, and the AI moderator steers the conversation based on your discussion guide.

After the session, an auto-generated summary includes 3-5 key themes, points of consensus and conflict, notable participant quotes, and a per-participant analysis showing key contributions and stance evolution.

**Stimulus support:** Attach a stimulus (title and content) to a focus group session to give all participants shared context. The stimulus text is shown to every participant and the moderator, grounding the discussion in a specific concept, ad, or product description.

**Grounded respondents (digital twins):** Instead of generic AI personas, you can create grounded participants conditioned on real respondent answers from a previous survey. The AI persona mirrors a real respondent's views and behavior, producing more realistic and data-driven discussion outcomes.

Use focus groups early in research design to identify blind spots, test question wording, and discover topics you may have missed.

## Related articles

- [Synthetic testing with AI personas](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/synthetic-testing.md)
- [How AI interviews work](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/ai-how-it-works.md)
- [Audiences and respondent management](https://www.questionpunk.com/support/audiences.md)