In the pack: ChatGPT, Claude & Gemini Prompts for Data Analysis, Excel & Google Sheets
Clarifying Questions Before You Start an Analysis
Prompt
The request as it was given to me, word for word: {{ORIGINAL_REQUEST}}
Who asked and what I know about their goal: {{REQUESTER_AND_GOAL}}
The data I believe is available: {{AVAILABLE_DATA}}
Deadline and how the result will be used: {{DEADLINE_AND_USE}}
Help me turn the request into a brief:
1. Restate what you think they are really asking, in two different readings if the request is ambiguous.
2. Write the ten most important clarifying questions, grouped as: purpose and decision, definitions (period, population, metric), data and sources, format and audience, and constraints. Mark the three I must ask before starting.
3. For each of the three, say what goes wrong if I assume the answer.
4. Draft a short message I could send to the requester, polite and under 150 words, with the questions numbered.
5. Draft a one-paragraph scope statement I can confirm in writing once they answer, with explicit "out of scope" lines.
Don't answer the analysis itself. Don't assume what the data contains beyond what I listed.
Customize this prompt
Fill in the variables below to personalize this prompt:
Model Settings
Recommended Models
Temperature
Max Tokens
Additional Notes
About this prompt
“Clarifying Questions Before You Start an Analysis” is a free prompt for ChatGPT in the Business category, 177 words long, added to The Prompt Index on October 28, 2026 by The Prompt Index. Copy it with the button above, paste it into ChatGPT or any other AI chat assistant, and send it.
It has 4 placeholders to fill in first:
{{ORIGINAL_REQUEST}}, {{REQUESTER_AND_GOAL}}, {{AVAILABLE_DATA}}, {{DEADLINE_AND_USE}}.
Use the “Customize this prompt” fields to personalise it before you copy.
Recommended models: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini.
0 upvotes, sent to an AI tool 0 times, viewed 6 times.
Browse all Business prompts, the AI prompt database or use the AI prompt finder to search every prompt.