Plain-language answer
Does this proposed category exist beyond our own language?
The category evidence matrix separates buyer and market evidence from company assertion.
Short answer
Use evidence that can survive a second reader.
- A confirmed category row requires a buyer problem, budget owner, multiple plausible members, and at least one independent use of the term.
- Contradictory evidence outranks supporting assertion.
- Missing evidence produces Missing or Untested, never a reassuring score.
Worked example
See the decision in a fictional case.
- Buyer Problem
- Senior teams cannot tell which market assumptions have expired.
- Search Phrase
- strategy assumption audit
- Budget Owner
- Chief Strategy Officer
- Alternatives
- Consulting review, planning offsite
- Members
- Strategy firms, research platforms, planning teams
- Independent Use
- Two industry newsletters use the term
Use Category Evidence BuilderInspect the full methodTake it into the matching Petrichor work
What this answer cannot establish
- The method does not prove market size, adoption, or demand velocity.