Build an AI Research Workflow with n8n (Step-by-Step)

August 26, 2025

Build an AI Research Workflow with n8n (Step-by-Step Tutorial)

Introduction

If you’re a creator, business owner, student, or educator, you’ve probably felt the pain of information overload. Dozens of tabs open, endless news feeds, and hours wasted on filtering what actually matters.

What if, instead of chasing information, you received a clean digest every morning at 9 AM IST—summarized, categorized, and ready to use?

That’s what an AI research workflow with n8n can do. In this guide, I’ll show you how to build it step by step.

Why Automate Research?

Manual research is slow:

  • You open 10+ websites daily.
  • You skim headlines and hope you didn’t miss anything important.
  • By the time you summarize, it’s already outdated.

With automation:

  • Consistency: Every morning at 9 AM, your digest is ready.
  • Clarity: Only the most relevant summaries, not noise.
  • Productivity: You save 2–3 hours daily—time you can spend writing, teaching, coding, or running your business.

This workflow works for bloggers, small businesses, teachers, researchers, marketers, and even students preparing for competitive exams.

Step-by-Step AI Workflow

  1. Trigger (Cron)–
    • Node: Cron
    • Set to 08:55 IST so emails land in your inbox at 9 sharp.
    • Why 9 AM? Because that’s when most people start their day—perfect time to skim fresh updates.
  2. Collect Sources
    • You decide where your research comes from. A few great options:
    • RSS Feeds: Blogs, news outlets, Substack newsletters.
    • Google News API: Fetch fresh articles based on your keyword (e.g., “AI tools India”).
    • Reddit API: Collect top discussions from niche communities (e.g., r/SEO, r/Artificial).
    • Twitter/X API (optional): Track trending posts in your niche.
    • n8n can merge all these into one pipeline.
  3. Clean and Normalize Data
    • Node: Function
    • Clean titles, trim text, and remove duplicates.
    • Keep only: title, url, snippet.
    • This ensures AI works with clean input.
  4. Summarize with AI
    • Node: OpenAI (or any LLM integration in n8n).
    • Prompt: “Summarize this article in 3 bullet points (under 60 words total). Include the key fact, one quote if available, and the main takeaway. Return JSON with keys: title, summary, source, link.”
      This step turns long reads into snackable insights.
  5. Categorize by Topic
    • Node: AI or Function
    • Example categories: “AI Tools,” “Business Automation,” “Education,” “Finance.”
    • Prompt: “Given this list of article summaries, assign each to one of these categories: [AI, Business, Education, Finance]. If none match, create a new category.”
      This way your digest isn’t random—it’s structured.
  6. Deliver Digest
    • Now decide how you want the output:
    • Google Docs/Notion → Append to a running “Daily Digest” page.
    • Google Sheets → Log every summary for search later.
    • Email → Subject: “Your Daily Research Digest – {date}”

Example email output:

Topic: AI Tools

  • “New AI tool helps teachers create lesson plans in 10 minutes.”
  • “Survey shows 65% of Indian businesses exploring AI automation.”

Topic: Business Automation

  • “Small agency scales from 3 to 30 clients using n8n workflows.”

Example AI Article Output

  1. Topic: AI in Education
    • “EdTech startup launches AI-powered tutoring tool in India.”
    • “Experts highlight ethical concerns in student data privacy.”
    • “Survey shows 65% of teachers willing to adopt AI assistants.”
  2. Topic: Business Automation
    • “Small businesses in India cut costs 20% with workflow tools.”
    • “Case study: agency scales from 3 to 30 clients using n8n.”

Pro Tips

  1. Start small: Add 1–2 sources first, then expand.
  2. Customize prompts: Use India-specific context (“Include rupee pricing,” “Highlight adoption in India”).
  3. Human review: Skim summaries for accuracy before relying on them.
  4. Version your workflow: Save versions of prompts and nodes as you refine.

Benefits Recap

  1. Save 2–3 hours/day on research.
  2. Stay consistent—never miss key updates.
  3. Gain structured insights you can use in blogs, reports, or lessons.
  4. Scales with you: add more sources, more categories, more outputs as you grow.

Benefits of using AI Research Workflow

If this workflow saves you time, I’m building it into a ready-to-use Novamind Labs agent.

👉 Prefer plug-and-play? You’ll soon be able to buy it directly.
👉 Prefer to learn? I’ll be teaching the full step-by-step in my upcoming workshop/webinar.

Either way, the goal is the same: free up your hours so you can focus on creativity and growth.

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