Before you invest months writing your book, wouldn’t it be great to know exactly what your readers will cheer for—and what will make them roll their eyes? If you research a non-fiction book before you start writing, you can make smarter decisions about your content, structure, and marketing.
One of the fastest ways to do this is to analyze Amazon book reviews with AI. Using ChatGPT’s deep research feature, you can sift through hundreds of reviews in minutes and uncover patterns that would otherwise take you hours to spot.
This method works whether you’re studying competing titles, exploring your genre, or figuring out how to improve your own manuscript. It’s simple, effective, and can give you clear, actionable ideas for both writing and promotion.
Step 1 – Pick the Books You Want to Study
When you research a non-fiction book, start by finding similar books on Amazon. Search by keywords (for example, “parenting books”) or look up specific titles in your niche.
To speed things up, try the free Chrome extension DS Amazon Quick View. It displays Best Sellers Rank (BSR) and category details directly in the search results, helping you quickly see which books are performing well. Once you’ve found titles worth studying, copy their ASINs.
Step 2 – Open ChatGPT and Start Deep Research
To analyze Amazon book reviews with AI, open ChatGPT, click the “+” button, and choose deep research. Then paste this prompt (adjust it as needed):
Analyze these Amazon book reviews. [Paste your list of ASINs here.] Summarize the overall sentiment, highlight recurring praise, common complaints, and trends related to writing style. Then suggest ways an author could improve based on this feedback. This goes beyond summarizing—it gives you actionable takeaways that you can apply to your own book.
Step 3 – Review the Insights
It usually takes about 10–15 minutes for ChatGPT to process the reviews. Once complete, you’ll see patterns such as:
- Recurring praise from readers
- Common frustrations or dislikes
- Gaps in the market that you can fill
You can also ask ChatGPT to highlight marketing angles for promoting your book or request additional suggestions for improving your content.
Step 4 – Turn Insights Into Action
The final step in how to research a non-fiction book is to use what you’ve learned. Bring your AI-generated findings into a tool like NotebookLM to shape your outline, refine your writing style, and avoid mistakes common in your genre. Learn more in my article Google NotebookLM for Authors: Write Your Book Faster.
If you want your book to resonate with readers, don’t rely on guesswork. When you analyze Amazon book reviews with AI, you tap directly into what real readers love, what frustrates them, and what they still wish they could find in a book. Amazon reviews aren’t just feedback—they’re a ready-made research tool that can help you write a stronger, more marketable non-fiction book from the very beginning.
