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The moment it happens

Create a research brief on a client or property in Google Docs

Send a client name or a property address and get a Google Doc with background, recent news and talking points, built from fresh search results.

Runs
The moment it happens
Apps
Google Docs, SerpApi
AI
Yes, uses the built-in AI allowance
Access
SerpApi key; folder shared with service account

Send this to your assistant

Create a ClickRuntime automation: when I send a client name or address to this link, search the web and news with SerpApi, write a brief with background, news and talking points into a new Google Doc, and email me the link.

Paste it into your assistant. It tells you what it will send or change before it runs live.

First time? Adding ClickRuntime to your assistant takes about two minutes.

Why use it

Why teams use this automation

A commercial real estate broker meets new owners, tenants and investors every week. Before each meeting they want a page of context: who the company is, what has been in the news, what the building or area is known for. Pulling that together from search results takes an hour they rarely have, so they often go in with only what is in the CRM.

This automation produces the page. They send a name or address to the trigger link, it searches Google web and news through SerpApi, and AI writes a brief with background, recent news and talking points. It lands as a Google Doc in a shared folder, so colleagues on the deal can read it too.

What you get out of it

  • Walk into meetings prepared

    A brief with recent news and talking points makes for a sharper conversation. Clients notice when you already understand their situation.

  • Shareable with the whole deal team

    Briefs are Google Docs in a shared folder. Everyone involved in a deal reads the same background.

  • An hour of research in a minute

    Searching, reading and summarising happen in one step. The time goes into preparing your pitch instead.

  • Sources for every fact

    Each brief lists the pages it drew on. You can confirm a detail before relying on it in a negotiation.

How it works

What happens, step by step

  1. When a name or address arrives at the automation's trigger link, ClickRuntime searches Google web results and Google News for it through SerpApi.

  2. AI writes a brief with background, recent news and talking points from those results, and lists the sources.

  3. A new Google Doc named after the client or property is created in your shared folder.

  4. You get an email with a link to the brief.

Before it runs live

  • Connect Google Docs
  • Connect SerpApi
  • Paste your automation's link into the other app's webhook settings

What you get

RunsThe moment it happens
Create a research brief on a client or property in Google Docsjust nowSucceeded
Email · Brief readyBrief ready: 400 Harbor Street, Oakland. Background: six-storey office building owned by Northwind Properties since 2019...

Build your own

Need it to work differently?

This template is a starting point. Copy the prompt and change it, or describe a different automation from scratch, with your own conditions, more apps or an AI step. Your assistant writes it, tests it and runs it on ClickRuntime.
  • Your own rules

    Conditions, thresholds, filters and exceptions, written the way you'd explain them to a colleague.

  • Any number of apps

    One automation can read from one app and update several others. Over 248 apps are ready, and anything with an API works too.

  • AI where it helps

    Summaries, classification, extraction and drafts use ClickRuntime's built-in AI, with no extra key.

  • On a schedule or on each event

    Runs as often as every 5 minutes, or the moment an app sends an event, and keeps track of what it already handled.

Changes you can ask for

  • Act only on the items that match your own rules, and skip the rest
  • Change what the AI looks for, or how it writes the result
  • Add another app, for example also send it to Slack
  • Combine it with other Google Docs and SerpApi steps into one automation

Under the hood

The code that runs this automation

This is the Python script that runs each time the automation starts. Your AI assistant writes it for you when you send the prompt, and you allow each step in your assistant. To change how the automation works, describe the change to your assistant and it updates the script for you. For every function it can use, see the script reference.
client_or_property_brief_report.pyexample
from google.oauth2.credentials import Credentials
from googleapiclient.discovery import build
from clickruntime import on_event, credentials, http, ai, notify

FOLDER_ID = "your-drive-folder-id"

def new_doc(title, text):
    creds = Credentials(credentials.connection("google", "work"))
    docs = build("docs", "v1", credentials=creds, cache_discovery=False)
    doc_id = docs.documents().create(body={"title": title}).execute()["documentId"]
    docs.documents().batchUpdate(documentId=doc_id, body={"requests": [{"insertText": {"location": {"index": 1}, "text": text}}]}).execute()
    build("drive", "v3", credentials=creds, cache_discovery=False).files().update(fileId=doc_id, addParents=FOLDER_ID, fields="id").execute()
    return f"https://docs.google.com/document/d/{doc_id}/edit"

@on_event
def handle(event):
    name = ((event.json or {}).get("name") or "").strip()
    if not name:
        return {"error": "no name"}
    key = credentials.secret("SERPAPI_API_KEY")
    web = http.get("https://serpapi.com/search", params={"engine": "google", "q": name, "api_key": key}).json().get("organic_results", [])[:6]
    news = http.get("https://serpapi.com/search", params={"engine": "google", "q": name, "tbm": "nws", "api_key": key}).json().get("news_results", [])[:6]
    lines = "\n".join(f"- {r['title']}: {r.get('snippet', '')} ({r['link']})" for r in web + news)
    brief = ai.generate(f"Subject: {name}\n{lines}", system="Write a brief with sections: Background, Recent news (with dates), Notable facts, Talking points, Sources.", max_output_tokens=1200).text
    url = new_doc(f"Brief: {name}", brief)
    notify.email_me(f"Brief ready: {name}", url)
    return {"doc": url}

FAQ

Common questions

What can I send it?
A company name, a person's business name, or a property address. Add a city if the name is common so the search finds the right one.
What does the brief cover?
Background, recent news with dates, notable facts and three talking points, with sources at the end. You can change the sections to suit your work.
Where are the briefs saved?
In the Drive folder you choose, owned by the Google account you connect.
What permissions does it need?
SerpApi key; folder shared with service account. Nothing else in your accounts is used.
Does it need AI?
Yes. It uses ClickRuntime's built-in AI, so you don't need an OpenAI or Anthropic key. Every plan includes a monthly AI allowance.
How many runs does it use?
One run for each event the app sends.
Can I change how it works?
Yes. Describe the change to your AI assistant, for example a different schedule, channel or filter. It updates the automation, tests it and tells you what changed.

Set up “Create a research brief on a client or property in Google Docs” from your assistant

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