Probe Research

What Probe Research does

Probe Research Inc. is a privately held, US-based market research recruiting firm founded in 2005 and headquartered at 122 E 42nd St., New York. The company provides nationwide participant recruitment services for focus groups, in-depth interviews (IDIs), ethnographies, usability tests, product trials, and mystery shopping, organized across three core verticals: Consumer, Business-to-Business (B2B), and Medical/Pharmaceutical. Underlying the service is an extensive internal opt-in database spanning consumer, B2B, and medical professional respondents, refreshed through advertising, street teams, referrals, email, and direct mail campaigns, combined with a four-step confirmation procedure designed to maximize participant show rates. The firm is differentiated by specialized recruiting expertise in hard-to-reach audiences (physicians, transplant surgeons, rare-condition patients) and trained screeners capable of handling complex skip patterns and medical terminology.

The business model is B2B professional services revenue: Probe charges client fees for qualifying and delivering respondents, while also administering participant compensation (typically $50-$400 per standard study, up to $850 plus equipment for specialized medical studies). Go-to-market is sales-led, driven by direct relationships with research agencies, field services firms, and corporate market research departments, supported by reputation and referrals rather than aggressive outbound marketing. Notable client relationships include Panasonic USA, Takeda USA, Russell Research, Focus Suites, Voxgen, and The Parkel Navigation Group, with several partnerships spanning 5-10+ years. A self-serve participant sign-up portal complements the B2B motion by continuously feeding the respondent pipeline. Probe Research holds a sister-company relationship with Fleischman Field Research in San Francisco, providing West Coast coverage, and operates with a HIPAA, GDPR, CCPA, and COPPA compliance posture to support healthcare and cross-border engagements. The firm is led by President Lynette Eberhart and Executive Vice President Sheila Farland, with no disclosed institutional funding, parent company, or M&A activity.

Name

Probe Research

Legal name

Probe Research, Inc.

Website

https://probemarket.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Probe Research is a privately held, New York-based market research recruiting firm providing nationwide focus group, IDI, ethnography, and usability test participant recruitment across consumer, B2B, and medical verticals for research agencies and corporate clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Market Research Recruiting Services

NAICS

Marketing Research and Public Opinion Polling (54191)

SIC

Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Syndicated Market Research (Panels, Omnibus, Tracker Studies) (MPAAALAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

B2B / Industrial Market Research (MPAAALAA)

Keywords

• Market research recruiting
• Focus group recruitment
• Qualitative research services
• Medical respondent recruiting
• B2B participant recruitment

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

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. Market Research Recruiting Services: Probe Research generates revenue by providing recruiting services for market research studies including focus groups, ethnographies, IDIs, interviews, and usability tests. The company recruits participants on behalf of clients and earns fees for qualified respondent recruitment.
2. Participant Compensation Administration: Focus group participants are paid between $50 and $400 per study, with more specialized studies offering higher compensation (e.g., $850 for health studies). The company administers participant payments as part of their service delivery.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Probe Research is a nationwide market research recruiting firm that recruits qualified participants for focus groups, in-depth interviews (IDIs), ethnographies, usability tests, product trials, and mystery shopping studies. The firm operates three core recruiting verticals—Medical, Consumer, and B2B—backed by an extensive internal opt-in database of respondents and a four-step confirmation quality control process, serving research agencies and corporate clients across all major U.S. metropolitan markets.

Product overview

Probe Research is a nationwide market research recruiting firm that operates as a single integrated service platform rather than a modular software product. The company provides comprehensive participant recruitment services organized into three primary recruiting categories—Medical Recruiting, Consumer Recruiting, and B2B Recruiting—which form the foundation of its offerings. Supporting these core recruiting services are additional service modules including Qualitative & Quantitative Recruiting, Questionnaire Development, Web Site Usability, Focus Groups, Ethnographies & IDIs, Mystery Shopping, Product Trials, and International Field Coordination. The company leverages its extensive internal opt-in database of consumer, business-to-business, and medical professional respondents to recruit participants for focus groups, interviews, and market research studies across all major U.S. metropolitan markets.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Medical Recruiting Specialized recruiting services for medical and pharmaceutical market research studies, reaching hard-to-contact medical professionals from paramedics to transplant surgeons, as well as patients with specific medical conditions including rare diseases. Designed for pharmaceutical clients, clinical research organizations, and healthcare-focused market research firms.
• Consumer Recruiting Recruiting services for consumer market research studies (focus groups, product trials, advertising testing, usability tests), utilizing advertising, street teams, referrals, email, and direct mail campaigns to maintain an updated consumer respondent database. Designed for advertising agencies, CPG companies, and consumer research firms.
• B2B Recruiting Business-to-business participant recruiting that leverages long-held executive relationships and industry networks to reach professional respondents for B2B market research studies. Designed for B2B research firms and corporate clients needing executive-level or specialized professional audiences.
• Focus Groups Traditional in-person focus group participant recruiting with multi-step confirmation procedures and quality control protocols to ensure high show rates. Designed for market research agencies, focus group facilities, and corporate research departments.
• Ethnographies & IDIs Recruiting for ethnographic studies and in-depth interviews (IDIs) conducted in office, in-home, or phone settings. Designed for qualitative research firms and corporate insights teams running deep-dive consumer or professional studies.
• Usability Tests User experience and usability testing participant recruitment services for websites, apps, and physical products. Designed for UX research teams, product managers, and design agencies.
• Mystery Shopping Mystery shopping services for evaluating customer experience, service quality, and operational compliance across retail and service environments. Designed for retailers, restaurant chains, hospitality operators, and brand experience teams.
• Product Trials Recruiting participants for product trial and testing studies, including in-home usage tests and central location tests. Designed for CPG companies and consumer insights teams.
• Questionnaire Development Screener and questionnaire development services with complex skip patterns and algorithms for qualified respondent identification. Designed for market research firms needing screening logic for hard-to-qualify audiences.
• Custom Hybrid Methodologies Custom research methodologies combining multiple qualitative and quantitative approaches tailored to specific study requirements. Designed for clients with unique or non-standard research designs.
• Nationwide and International Field Coordination Field coordination services for research studies conducted across multiple domestic and international locations. Designed for clients running multi-market or multi-country research programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• Zero no-shows or quickly addressed if they occur
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Fleischman Field ResearchminorOthersSister company based in San Francisco that operates in a related market research field, providing additional geographic coverage and potential client referrals.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• L&E Research: US-based qualitative market research firm offering focus group recruiting, screener development, and B2B/medical research services. Directly comparable to Probe Research's qualitative recruiting and B2B specialization.
• Drive Research: Full-service market research firm offering custom qualitative and quantitative research with recruiting and fieldwork capabilities. Comparable to Probe Research's custom research support model for B2B clients.
• Schlesinger Group (now Sago): One of the largest US qualitative market research firms, offering nationwide focus group recruiting, facility services, and field coordination for consumer, healthcare, and B2B studies. The most direct comparable to Probe Research given similar service mix and national reach.
• Plaza Research: Operates focus group facilities across major US markets with consumer and B2B participant recruiting services. Directly comparable to Probe Research's core focus group recruiting business.
• Fieldwork: Operates a network of qualitative research focus group facilities across the US with full recruiting and field services. Directly comparable to Probe Research's nationwide recruiting and field coordination model.

Broad incumbents

• Dynata: One of the largest first-party data and panel providers globally, serving research buyers with automated sample and panel services. A broad incumbent adjacent to Probe Research's participant recruitment focus but operating at far greater scale with technology-led delivery.
• Toluna: Global online panel and consumer insights platform with millions of panelists. A broad incumbent in the recruitment and panel space that competes with Probe Research for online and quantitative studies, though Probe's offline recruiting expertise is differentiated.

Emerging players

• Respondent: Online marketplace that connects researchers with research participants for B2B, consumer, and professional studies. An emerging player whose self-serve platform model competes with traditional recruiting firms like Probe Research for certain segments, though offline and medical recruiting remain differentiated.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Probe_Research
• Facebookfacebook.com/probemarketresearch
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/probe-research-inc

Compliance4 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 Probe Research