Firesearch: The Go-To Tool For CIEs

Nichefire's "Firesearch" is more than just a search bar, and we'd like to prove it.

Author

Nichefire Newsletter
January 16, 2026

In partnership with

Welcome back to FireStarters—your weekly spark of cultural insight that drives real, strategy-shaping action.

You may have noticed we’re posting a lot more about cultural intelligence engineers, and it’s true. It’s at the forefront of our minds as we build out our certification.

But we also know that certification or not, there cultural intelligence engineers and C-suite leaders doing this work daily.

So we’re breaking down the most popular feature that our existing Cultural Intelligence Engineers are using: Firesearch.

It’s built to ensure CIEs truly understand cultural movements in time to actually act on them.

Because here’s a hard truth: Every meeting, research sprint, or focus group for a product that underperformed probably looked great on paper. But when launch day came, it didn’t land.

Why? It showed up too late, entered an already crowded space, or worse, it didn’t actually resonate with the people it was built for.

Firesearch changes that. It’s a launch team’s secret weapon for making sure their product hits on time and on culture.

What you’ll get in this edition:

  1. What Firesearch is

  2. Rayhaan’s CTO perspective

  3. A chance to see Firesearch in action

What is Firesearch, and how does it help CIEs?

Firesearch is the starting point for all research in Nichefire. It helps CIEs stay current, culturally attuned, and agile. Here’s how it works:

Just type in what you want to explore, anything from “gut health” to “clean luxury,” and Firesearch instantly scans platforms like Reddit, forums, news media, and social chatter. But that’s just half of it.

What really sets Firesearch apart is the instant, at-a-glance cultural analysis it delivers for every search.

It tells you more than just stats on mentions, hashtags, and sentiment. Firesearch analyzes the culture of the topic and uncovers deeper opportunities for innovation that aren’t just mimicking what’s already out there.

For instance, if you Firesearched “Korean BBQ” after seeing some social media buzz, you’d find “why” behind Korean BBQ’s popularity, and uncover fresh innovation opportunities, like at-home “DIY” dining experiences tied to diaspora flavors (more on that here →)

For social intelligence and consumer insights teams, that’s a game-changer.

Firesearch saves hundreds of hours usually spent sifting through noise. It helps you quickly spot the most culturally resonant opportunities for deeper research within Nichefire, and gives you enough lead time to act while it still matters.

Did you know you can get access to Firesearch for 7 days free? Set up a meeting with Khalil to get in →

Experience Firesearch action with Khalil

Watch Khalil use Firesearch to unpack cultural conversations around “DIY experts.”

Khalil breaks down real cultural movements in the Nichefire platform every week in his newsletter “Lil’ Signals.” Check it out today →

Ship the message as fast as you think

Founders spend too much time drafting the same kinds of messages. Wispr Flow turns spoken thinking into final-draft writing so you can record investor updates, product briefs, and run-of-the-mill status notes by voice. Use saved snippets for recurring intros, insert calendar links by voice, and keep comms consistent across the team. It preserves your tone, fixes punctuation, and formats lists so you send confident messages fast. Works on Mac, Windows, and iPhone. Try Wispr Flow for founders.

A CTO’s take: Rayhaan Iqbal

Meet the man behind Firesearch — and the whole of Nichefire’s tool: Rayhaan Iqbal. He’s excited not just about how Firesearch works, but how it truly empowers the user:

“Firesearch doesn’t just summarize the internet—it models how real people are interacting with culture in real time. That’s what makes it so powerful. It’s the foundation for smarter strategy, not just faster answers.”

Time to dig into Nichefire?

It’s one thing to read about the features that empower CIEs, it’s another thing to try them out for yourself.

Firesearch doesn’t require a certification to use - you can get access today and start exploring the cultural movements and trends you want to turn into revenue.

Did you know you can get access to Firesearch for 7 days free? Set up a meeting with Khalil to get in →

You may say, “Who signs up for a demo from a newsletter?” but that’s not what we’re doing.

Try the tool out for a week, plug it into your workflows, and use it as your base for downstream social listening.

Until then, we’ll keep you updated on our certification.

Drop us a note with any questions. We’ll see you next week!