What The Link Group does

The Link Group (TLG) is a full-service custom market research firm founded in 1994 by two Fortune 50 marketers and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with a second office in Durham, North Carolina. The firm serves Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 enterprise clients across healthcare and life sciences, retail and apparel, beauty, finance, food and grocery, and technology verticals, with healthcare/pharma cited as the largest and most prominent vertical serving more than half of the top 50 global pharma companies. TLG designs and executes fully custom research engagements that integrate qualitative methods (focus groups, in-depth interviews, dyads, digital ethnography), quantitative methods (surveys, MaxDiff, TURF, KANO), and ethnographic methods (on-driveway ethnographies, in-store shop-alongs), supported by named proprietary methodologies — CustomLink segmentation, LinkEQ behavioral economics, DigitalPersona, Lights.Insights.Action, WorldBuilding, and Bridge Groups — and more recently AI-Assisted Stakeholder Synthesis. The firm operates a consultative, relationship-driven go-to-market through direct enterprise sales to senior insights, marketing, and brand leaders, with no reseller or channel distribution; pricing is quote-based and project-scoped and not publicly disclosed. TLG has 101–250 employees, is 100% employee-owned via an ESOP established in 2024 (after founders rejected a private equity sale), and reports 95%+ of revenue from repeat clients and a 99% client retention rate as of 2025, indicating a long-tenure, partnership-style revenue model rather than a transactional or subscription software business.

Name

The Link Group

Legal name

The Link Group

Website

https://tlg.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Link Group is a full-service custom market research firm that designs and executes qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic studies for Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 brands, with deep penetration into healthcare, pharma, and retail verticals and proprietary methodologies such as CustomLink, LinkEQ, and Bridge Groups.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Custom Market Research Services: TLG designs and executes fully custom market research studies for enterprise clients, blending qualitative, quantitative, and ethnographic methods. Revenue is generated through project-based professional services engagements. The firm has maintained 95%+ revenue from repeat clients, indicating a subscription-like relationship model with long-term client retention rather than one-time transaction billing.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Link Group (TLG) is a full-service market research firm that designs and executes custom market research studies for enterprise clients. The firm blends qualitative methods (focus groups, in-depth interviews, dyads, digital ethnography), quantitative methods (surveys, MaxDiff, TURF analysis, KANO analysis), and ethnographic methods (on-driveway ethnographies, in-store shop-alongs, immersive observational studies) to produce decision-ready insights. Outputs are delivered through workshops, executive summaries, podcasts, infographics, and strategic guidance rather than templated decks.

Product overview

The Link Group (TLG) is a full-service market research firm offering a comprehensive portfolio of research services rather than a software product platform. Their offerings are organized around three core research methodologies—qualitative research (focus groups, IDIs, dyads, digital ethnography), quantitative research (surveys, MaxDiff, TURF analysis), and ethnographic research (on-driveway ethnographies, in-store shop-alongs)—supplemented by proprietary analytical techniques including CustomLink segmentation and LinkEQ behavioral economics framework. TLG also employs AI-assisted stakeholder synthesis and has developed specialized research techniques including Lights.Insights.Action, WorldBuilding, DigitalPersona, and Bridge Groups. Deliverables include workshops, executive summaries, and strategic guidance.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Qualitative Research Services

Quantifiable outcome

• 95%+ repeat client revenue — indicating highly sticky, long-term client relationships
• +7 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Remote Area Medical (RAM)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 June 2026TLG has partnered with Remote Area Medical (RAM), a nonprofit that operates pop-up clinics delivering free medical, dental, and vision care to underserved communities. In 2026, TLG made an initial $20,000 cash donation to support RAM's clinic operations and assembled $7,000 in patient care kit supplies. Linkers volunteered together on June 1, 2026 in Atlanta and Durham. TLG is also exploring opportunities for Linkers to volunteer at RAM clinics directly and conversations about pro bono research support to help RAM better understand the communities they serve.
• Arthritis FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTLG partnered with a global pharmaceutical leader and the Arthritis Foundation on gout treatment communication research. The Bridge Groups and Exam Room Simulations developed in this project were adopted by the Arthritis Foundation as a new national gold standard for patient-physician dialogue. The Foundation now hosts these resources on their national platform, serving as a primary toolkit for thousands of gout patients and rheumatologists across the country. TLG's research output was integrated directly into the Foundation's ongoing patient education programs.

Scale indicators9 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Hall & Partners: Hall & Partners is a global brand and communications research firm of similar scale serving Fortune 500 clients across healthcare, consumer, and B2B verticals. Like TLG, it specializes in custom qualitative and quantitative brand research with proprietary frameworks, and competes directly for enterprise brand strategy mandates.
• C Space: C Space is a mid-sized customer insights and market research firm known for proprietary community-based research and customer engagement programs. It serves similar enterprise clients with custom qual/quant work and competes with TLG for brand and customer experience engagements.
• Kelton Global: Kelton Global is a full-service market research and insights consultancy of comparable size offering custom qualitative, quantitative, and segmentation services to enterprise clients. It competes with TLG for healthcare, consumer, and brand research mandates.
• Material: Material is a strategy and insights consultancy combining market research, brand strategy, and innovation services for enterprise clients. It overlaps with TLG in custom brand and consumer research, particularly across healthcare, retail, and consumer verticals.
• PSB Insights: PSB (Penn Schoen Berland) is a global insights firm offering custom qualitative and quantitative research for Fortune 500 clients across consumer, healthcare, and corporate sectors. It is comparable in scale, methodology, and enterprise client mix to TLG.
• Northstar Research Partners: Northstar Research Partners is a mid-sized custom market research firm specializing in healthcare, consumer, and B2B research for enterprise clients. It offers custom qual/quant capabilities similar to TLG and competes for healthcare and consumer brand engagements.
• Savanta: Savanta is a mid-sized market research and analytics firm offering custom qualitative, quantitative, and segmentation services to enterprise clients across industries including healthcare and financial services. It is comparable in scale and service mix to TLG.

Broad incumbents

• Ipsos: Ipsos is one of the largest global market research and analytics firms with integrated syndicated and custom offerings across healthcare, consumer, and retail. It competes with TLG for large enterprise mandates but operates at vastly greater scale with a broader service portfolio.
• Kantar: Kantar is a global insights and consulting powerhouse offering brand tracking, consumer research, and analytics at scale. It competes for the same Fortune 500 client spend as TLG but provides broader, tech-enabled, syndicated-data-driven offerings rather than purely custom qualitative research.

Emerging players

• Radius Insights: Radius Insights is a boutique market research firm offering custom qualitative and quantitative services with a focus on health and consumer research. It is smaller than TLG but competes for similar mid-sized healthcare and consumer mandates with custom research offerings.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ConnectionPointPodcast
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-link-group

Compliance3 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Link Group