Your position, alternatives, and related research

What this article covers

Open any decision and the workspace that loads is a stack of panels: a header, an AI-written synthesis paragraph, then a run of sections that frame the choice, then the buttons and the plan. This article is about three of those framing sections, in the order you meet them on the page:

• Your Position, your number next to the peer number for the same metric.
• Alternatives, other vendors or products worth weighing against the one the decision is about.
• Related Research, short write-ups and benchmark notes tied to this specific decision.

For the rest of the page (the header, the Act / Not now / Ignore buttons, the plan, and Outcome tracking), see the decision workspace and acting on decisions. For how the peer numbers themselves are built, see how benchmarks work and reading a benchmark.

Where to find it

1. 1Open Decisions in the sidebar. This lands on /decisions, the list of everything Verinode has surfaced for you.
2. 2Click into any decision. Verinode opens the workspace at /decisions/[id].
3. 3Scroll past the header and the synthesis paragraph. Your Position and Alternatives sit directly beneath, before the action buttons.
4. 4Related Research sits much further down the same page, below the plan and the "what peers did" panel, above the Outcome section.

A Back to Decisions link sits at the top of the page (hidden when the decision is open inside a slide-over rather than its own page) and again at the bottom, in the footer row.

Your Position

What it is. A side-by-side of the metric behind the decision: the number Verinode found in your own data, and the number for peers doing the same thing. This is the comparison that justifies the decision existing at all, so it comes first.

What you see.

• A label above your number (for example, "Monthly cost," "Days to pay," or "Approval rate") and, below it, your value in large bold type, formatted for the metric (a dollar figure, a day count, or a percentage).
• On the right, the same treatment for Peer average, labeled and shown in the same large bold type.
• Between the two, a rounded pill:

- If Verinode has a gap percentage, the pill reads a signed number, for example "+18% vs peers" or "-9% vs peers." The color follows whether the gap is good or bad for that particular metric, not just the sign. On a metric where lower is better (a cost, a day count), a positive percentage is colored Ember Red because you are paying or waiting more than peers, and zero or negative is colored Deere Green because you are at or below the peer number. On a metric where higher is better (an approval rate, a score), the colors flip: a negative percentage is red, zero or positive is green. - If there is no gap percentage but Verinode has your percentile rank among peers, the pill instead reads "Nth percentile." It's colored red at or below the 30th percentile, green at or above the 70th, and yellow (Hard Hat Yellow) in between. - If neither is available, no pill shows, just the two numbers.

• The position bar. When Verinode also has the peer distribution for this metric (not just an average), a horizontal bar appears beneath the two numbers: a shaded band running from the 25th to the 75th percentile of peers, a thin tick marking the median, and a solid copper dot marking where your value falls. Three labels sit underneath the bar: P25, Median, P75. This bar only appears when Verinode has enough peer distribution data to compute those percentiles; on a metric where it only has a peer average, you'll see the two numbers and the pill with no bar underneath.
• A metadata line beneath the numbers, in small type, made up of whichever of these Verinode has: "Based on [N] peers," the comparison scope in Title Case (for example, "Regional scope" or "National scope"), and, when there is a dollar cost to the gap, a green line reading "~$[amount]/mo potential savings." That monthly figure is specific to the size of the gap on this metric. It is a different number from the larger dollar figure in the page header, which is the decision's full estimated impact for its stated period (often annual); don't expect the two to match.
• A consequence line, in italics, when Verinode has one: a short plain-language sentence on what stays true if nothing changes.
• Proof points, small rounded pills along the bottom of the section, each a short label and a value (for example, a specific line item behind the number). These only appear when the underlying evidence included them, and they sit below a thin divider line separating them from the rest of the section.

Empty state. When a decision doesn't carry a comparable operator value and peer value for the same metric (a decision built from a note, an internal observation, or anything without a benchmark backing), the entire Your Position heading and body are absent. There's no placeholder message: the page simply goes from the synthesis paragraph straight to Alternatives (if any) or the action buttons.

Alternatives

What it is. A short list of other vendors or products Verinode has on file that could serve the same purpose as the one the decision is about. This only appears on decisions where the underlying signal is about a vendor or product choice (a cost outlier, a renewal, a switch candidate), not on decisions about your own process, a client, or a carrier relationship.

What you see. A grid of small tiles, two or three per row depending on your screen width. Each tile shows:

• The alternative's name.
• When Verinode has scored it, a rounded Verinode Score pill next to the name. It's colored green at 70 and above, yellow from 40 up to 70, and gray below 40. When there's no score on file for that alternative, the tile shows just the name with no pill.

What to do. Use this list to sanity-check the plan's default recommendation, or as your starting point if you decide the answer here is to switch rather than renegotiate or hold. Alternatives is informational: clicking a tile doesn't do anything on its own; it's there so you can weigh named options before you act, and bring one into the plan or a conversation with your agent by name.

Empty state. When Verinode has no alternatives on file for this decision, the whole section, heading included, doesn't render.

Related Research

What it is. Short reference material specific to this decision: a playbook on why a particular timing or tactic works, an industry data point, or a benchmark note. It's the "why this recommendation, beyond just your numbers" layer.

What you see. A grid of cards, two per row on wider screens. Each card shows:

• A small uppercase badge in the top-left corner, labeling the entry's type: Alternative (teal), Benchmark (purple), or Report (copper). Any entry that isn't specifically tagged alternative or benchmark falls back to the Report badge, so most playbook- and industry-data-style write-ups you'll see here are labeled Report.
• A title.
• A short summary paragraph underneath, in a slightly muted color.
• When the entry has a link, a View details line in copper below the summary. Clicking it opens the link in a new tab. When there's no link, the card ends at the summary with no click target.

What to do. Read these as backup for the recommendation above them on the page, particularly useful for a decision you'd otherwise second-guess (a renewal, a vendor switch, a process change). They're written to be handed to a partner or a team member as the "here's why" if you need to make the case beyond your own numbers.

Empty state. When the decision's plan carries no related-research entries, the Related Research heading and grid don't render at all. There's no message; the page moves from whatever sits above it (the plan, the "what peers did" panel, or the process-gap panel, depending on the decision) straight to Outcome, or to the footer if the decision isn't far enough along for Outcome to show yet.

How to use all three together

1. 1Start with Your Position to confirm the gap is real and see how big it is relative to peers, not just relative to last month.
2. 2If Alternatives is present, scan it for a name you already trust or recognize, and note its Verinode Score before you commit to renegotiating versus switching.
3. 3Skim Related Research for anything that changes your read, especially an industry pattern that says the timing (a renewal window, a seasonal rate change) matters more than the headline number.
4. 4Then move to the action row: Act to have your agent draft or refine the plan, Not now to park it, or Ignore it if it isn't relevant. See acting on decisions for what each of those does.