Step by step 6 steps

1. 1

   Step 1 of 6

   Copy the Notion database template

   • Open the Market Research Dashboard template.
   • Click Duplicate in the top-right corner.

   

   • Open the database and verify these properties exist:
   • Research Topic (Title)
   • Industry/Competitor (Select)
   • Sources (Multi-select: X, Web, News, RSS)
   • Status (Select: New → Report Ready → Reviewed → Archived)
   • Date
   • Research Output
   • Action Items
   • Citations

2. 2

   Step 2 of 6

   Get your xAI API key

   

   • Go to console.x.ai and sign in.
   • Click API Keys in the sidebar, then Create new secret key.
   • Name it “Market Research” and copy the key immediately.
   • Save it somewhere safe. You will not see it again.

   Note: When you sign up for an xAI developer account, you will need to fund it with at least $5.

3. 3

   Step 3 of 6

   Import the Make.com blueprint

   

   • Download the blueprint from the resources section.
   • Log in to Make.com and go to Scenarios → Create a new scenario.
   • Click the three dots (⋯) in the top right, then choose Import Blueprint.

   

   • Upload the JSON file, then click Save.

   After importing, you will see four modules:

   • Webhook: triggers from Notion.
   • xAI: calls Grok.
   • Notion: Append Page Content: writes the full report.
   • Notion: Update Database Item: updates properties.

4. 4

   Step 4 of 6

   Connect your accounts

   Connect xAI:

   • Click the xAI module, which is Module 2.
   • Click Add next to Connection.
   • Paste your API key from Step 2, then click Save.

   Connect Notion:

   • Click the Notion: Append Page Content module, which is Module 3.
   • Click Add, then authorize access to your Market Research Dashboard.
   • Use the same connection for Module 4, Update Database Item.

5. 5

   Step 5 of 6

   Set up the Notion webhook trigger

   This is how Notion tells Make.com to run the automation. If you duplicated the provided Notion template, skip to sub-step 4.

   • Open your database in Notion, then click ⚡ Automate → + New automation.
   • Set the trigger: When: “Page is added to database”; Database: Market Research Dashboard; Filter: Status is “Start Research.”
   • Add the action: click New action → Send webhook.
   • Get your webhook URL: go to Make.com, click the Webhook module, which is Module 1, and copy the webhook URL.
   • Back in Notion, paste the webhook URL into the URL field.
   • Make sure the Research Topic, Date, Industry/Competitor, and Sources properties are selected to be sent to Make.com.

   

6. 6

   Step 6 of 6

   Test the workflow

   Time to see it work.

   • In your Notion database, click New.
   • Fill in the page with: Research Topic: “Customer complaints about ChatGPT”; Industry/Competitor: “OpenAI”; Sources: X, Web; Status: Start Research.
   • Create the page by clicking away or pressing Enter.
   • Wait 30–60 seconds, then refresh your database.
   • Open the page you created.
   • Ask Notion’s AI assistant to reformat the markdown for you. You can also ask Claude or ChatGPT if you do not have Notion AI.

   

Background and context

Who This Is Useful For

• Business owners
• Startup employees
• People looking for new AI workflows

What You Will Build

You will build a reusable market research dashboard and automation that creates research memos in Notion using Grok, Make.com, and an xAI API key.

• A Notion Market Research Dashboard database
• A Make.com scenario that receives a Notion webhook
• A Grok-powered research flow that writes a full report back into Notion
• Database properties for status, sources, research output, action items, and citations

What You Need

• X Premium or Premium+ account ($3)
• Notion Plus plan ($10)
• Make.com account; the free tier includes 1,000 operations/month
• xAI API key from console.x.ai
• At least $5 to fund the xAI developer account
• Expected monthly cost: $13–$30, depending on usage

Going Further

• Set up a trigger that creates a new research memo on the same topic each day.
• Send the webhook from that trigger each day, or manually turn it on each day to save tokens.