Product Guide — Ascent Performance Lab

Last Updated: September 12, 2026

Everything the Ascent HI Chrome extension does, surface by surface. For quick answers see the Support & FAQ page; for policies see the Terms of Service.

Getting started

Install the extension and create an account with your work email — the free 7-day trial requires a business email domain (personal domains such as gmail.com aren't eligible), and no credit card. The trial includes 10 research briefs and 1 practice call every day. After signing up you'll verify your email with a 6-digit code, then land in the extension signed in. Open the panel from the puzzle-piece extensions menu, the Ascent HI toolbar icon, or the optional floating launcher button on web pages.

Research tab — Find & Research Prospects

The form. Three inputs: the prospect's name (also accepts a pasted LinkedIn URL), an optional email (a strong search key — we can research from the address alone), and the company (recommended: it is the strongest signal for finding the right person, especially for common names). A pill above the form shows research sessions remaining.

LinkedIn detection. With a LinkedIn profile open in the active tab (a linkedin.com/in/… address), the panel shows "LinkedIn profile detected" and pre-fills the name from the tab's web address only — the extension never reads page content. Some profile addresses don't spell out a name: the extension then asks you to type the name as shown on the page, or pre-fills a partial guess (often just a first name) and asks you to complete it. "↻ Use profile" re-adopts the open tab after you've typed something else.

Why URL-only? Two reasons, in this order. First, respect for LinkedIn's terms: LinkedIn's User Agreement prohibits automated collection of profile page content, so the extension is built to never read, scrape, or inject into any web page — it uses only the address in the tab's URL bar. Second, data minimization: reading nothing from the page means we collect and handle less of your browsing data, which keeps our privacy footprint small. The brief itself is then assembled from public web sources (search engines, company sites, news) with source links — not from LinkedIn.

Running research. Click Research (with a name only, the extension first suggests adding the company). A brief takes roughly 30–90 seconds and fills in as results arrive. If several distinct people match the name, the extension shows a chooser — pick the right person and their research runs; that ambiguous search is not counted against your briefs. If we can't reliably identify anyone, the brief says so honestly instead of guessing — and a search that finds nothing isn't counted.

What a brief contains. A short professional summary; title, company, and industry (backfilled into editable fields — your typed values are never overwritten); a reason to reach out (up to 3 time-sensitive, source-linked events); common ground with your background (set it in Settings); website and social links; and a conversation opener. Everything is assembled from public web sources with source links — review, edit, and verify against the profile you have open before relying on it.

Is the research accurate? Treat every brief as informational research only — never a source of truth. It is AI-assembled from public web data, which can be incomplete, outdated, or wrong: people change roles faster than the public web records it, and "deliverability verified" means a mailbox accepts mail — not that it belongs to, or still reaches, that person. Verify independently before any outreach, business decision, or transaction, and use contact details in line with applicable outreach and privacy laws. The brief is fully editable for exactly this reason.

Email discovery. When a business email is found it appears with its provenance: ✓ Deliverability verified (green — checked with our verification provider), found on the public web — unverified (with the source page), a company mailbox caption (a shared inbox like info@ — may reach a front desk), or a note when the mailbox doesn't match the person's name. If nothing is found the card says "No published email found" — you can add one yourself and we'll verify its deliverability. We never construct addresses from name patterns.

Phone discovery. The person's own published number when one exists, else the company's main line (labeled "company number"), always with the source page. "No public phone found" means exactly that — we don't use data-broker sites.

Contact card. The ⤓ button downloads a vCard (.vcf); the ▦ button shows a QR code you scan with your phone to add the prospect to your contacts. Copy-brief copies the whole brief as text.

On-device storage. Every researched prospect is saved on your device only (never on our servers) and appears under History → Prospects, with CSV export. The one exception: the edited brief you choose to practice with is attached to that practice session in your account.

Practice Session

Pick the skill/topic you want to work on, choose the prospect voice if you like (research suggests one only from evidence in sources), and start the call — a live voice conversation with an AI version of your prospect, grounded in the brief you reviewed, up to ten minutes. Chrome will ask for microphone permission the first time; if it was declined, re-enable it under Chrome Settings → Privacy and security → Site settings → Microphone. Call audio is processed in real time to run the conversation and is not recorded. Sessions-available and briefs pills show your remaining credits.

Debrief — your coaching report

Every call ends with a scored coaching report: overall score, what worked, where to improve, and what to try next time, viewed through the sales methodology you choose. The full transcript is included and PDF export is one click. Reports live in History.

History

Two views: Sessions (your practice calls with scores and reports — star the ones worth revisiting, select-mode to delete) and Prospects (every researched brief stored on this device, expandable, with CSV export). "Practice again" reloads a stored brief into the Research form.

Account & billing

Free trial: 7 days, business email, no card — 10 research briefs and 1 practice call per day. One company's domain supports a limited number of trials; when your company's are used, email support@ascenthi.com to request more.

Performance Plan — $29/month: 5 practice sessions and 50 research briefs per month. Monthly allocations reset each billing period; unused sessions and briefs do not roll over.

Top-up packs — $10 each: a research pack ($10 — 50 research briefs) or a practice pack ($20 — 5 practice sessions), bought separately from the Account tab, quantity adjustable at checkout. Top-up credits never expire while your subscription is active, and are spent after your monthly allocation. The Account tab shows both buckets.

Managing your subscription: Account tab → Manage subscription, or the Stripe billing portal (enter your account email; Stripe sends a sign-in link). Payments are processed by Stripe — we never see your card.

Cancellation and refunds — policy, quoted: "Canceling your subscription forfeits all remaining credits at the end of your billing period — monthly sessions and briefs and purchased top-up credits alike." This is disclosed at purchase and in the Terms of Service, which govern refunds; for any refund or billing-dispute question, email support@ascenthi.com.

Settings

Floating launcher — the small button at the edge of web pages that opens the panel in one click. It only draws itself; it never reads or changes anything on the page. Toggle it off here. Dark mode — panel appearance. Your background — employers, certifications, communities, notable clients; research uses it to spot genuine common ground with each prospect. It stays on this device only. "Draft for me" researches you the same way we research a prospect (uses 1 research brief) and you edit before saving.

Support tab

Ask-a-question AI chat (answers from these docs, escalates to email when unsure), Help & FAQ, email support, feedback, Terms, Privacy — and Permanently delete account: cancel any active subscription first (deletion does not stop billing by itself), then confirm; your account, profile, history, and credits are permanently removed.

Privacy in one paragraph

The extension never reads the pages you visit — only a LinkedIn profile tab's web address, to pre-fill a name. Research briefs come from public web sources and live on your device. Live call audio is processed in real time and not recorded; transcripts and coaching reports are saved to your account. No analytics or ad trackers. Full policy: Privacy Policy.

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