review-funnels-g2-stinger

The procedural arsenal for review-funnels-g2-worker-bee. This Stinger encodes the full review-collection and reputation-management lifecycle for SaaS products, grounded in 2026 platform policies and practitioner-level research.

Paired Angel: ai-tools/agents/review-funnels-g2-worker-bee.md Command Brief: ai-tools/command-briefs/review-funnels-g2-worker-bee-command-brief.md Research: ai-tools/skills/review-funnels-g2-stinger/research/ (populated 2026-05-20 by scripture-historian)

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Critical 2026 Context

Before reading any guide, internalize these four structural changes that invalidate older advice:

1. G2 acquired Capterra (February 5, 2026). G2 now owns Capterra, Software Advice, and GetApp. "Diversify across G2 and Capterra" is obsolete -- they are the same company. Strategy must be built around one G2-family account. See research/external/2026-05-20-g2-capterra-acquisition-consolidation.md.

2. G2 badge policy changed (Summer 2025). Category Leader and High Performer badges now require a paid G2 Marketing Solutions subscription (~$2,999+/year). Free profiles can only display the "Users Love Us" badge (20 reviews, 4.0+ rating minimum). See research/external/2026-05-20-g2-badges-social-proof-conversion.md.

3. FTC Consumer Reviews and Testimonials Rule took effect October 21, 2024. Conditioning an incentive on positive sentiment is a civil-penalty violation. Disclosure is required for all incentivized reviews. See research/external/2026-05-20-ftc-endorsement-guidelines-reviews.md.

4. AI citation gate. Review platform presence (G2 rating, Trustpilot score) is now a prerequisite for AI assistant citations (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity product queries). Platform prioritization should factor in AI citation surface area.

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Folder structure

review-funnels-g2-stinger/
+- SKILL.md                              (this file)
+- README.md                             (one-page overview)
+- guides/
|  +- 00-principles.md                   (policy-first principle, happiness-check-first, badge hierarchy)
|  +- 01-platform-selection.md           (G2 vs Trustpilot vs PH vs AppSumo decision matrix)
|  +- 02-g2-incentive-policy.md          (G2 rules, FTC rule, disclosure language)
|  +- 03-review-request-ux.md            (two-step pattern, trigger timing, channel mix)
|  +- 04-product-hunt-launch.md          (00:01 PT, first-6-hours, hunter sourcing, day-of timeline)
|  +- 05-negative-review-response.md     (acknowledge/clarify/resolve/close framework)
|  +- 06-badge-deployment.md             (badge taxonomy, embed specs, conversion placement)
+- examples/
|  +- happy-path-g2-review-funnel.md     (end-to-end from 0 reviews to Leader badge)
|  +- product-hunt-launch-day.md         (hour-by-hour execution of a PH launch day)
+- templates/
|  +- review-request-email.md            (three email variants: milestone, NPS promoter, renewal)
|  +- negative-review-response.md        (fill-in-the-blank by star-rating band)
|  +- product-hunt-launch-timeline.md    (30/14/7/3/1 day + day-of hour-by-hour checklist)
+- reports/
|  +- README.md                          (how reputation audit reports accumulate)
+- research/                             (DO NOT MODIFY -- owned by scripture-historian)

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Seven actions this Stinger supports

Each action maps to a guide:

Action	Guide
Platform audit and recommendation	guides/01-platform-selection.md
Profile setup checklist	guides/01-platform-selection.md (§ Profile setup)
Review-request UX design	guides/03-review-request-ux.md
Incentive-compliance audit	guides/02-g2-incentive-policy.md
Product Hunt launch playbook	guides/04-product-hunt-launch.md
Negative-review response	guides/05-negative-review-response.md
Badge deployment spec	guides/06-badge-deployment.md

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First action when this Stinger is loaded

1. Read guides/00-principles.md for the non-negotiables.
2. Identify which of the seven actions the user is asking for.
3. Read the corresponding guide.
4. If copy or a structured output is needed, open the relevant template under templates/.
5. Check research/research-summary.md for any open questions that might affect the advice being given.

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Open questions from research (flag to user if relevant)

These were unresolved after the normal-depth research sweep. If they affect the current advisory:

• G2 third-party gift card platforms (Sendoso, Reachdesk): Current policy page does not address explicitly. Recommend manual check at https://documentation.g2.com/help/docs/understanding-gift-card-eligibility.
• Capterra post-acquisition review policy: Post-February 2026, Capterra's own policy page was not fetched. Treat as G2-equivalent rules until confirmed.
• AppSumo and Software Advice current listing requirements: Not fetched; flag before advising on those platforms.
• Trustpilot paid-plan requirements for invitation collection: Not fetched; some features (invitation API, bulk invitations) may require a paid Trustpilot plan.

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Forged by stinger-forge from review-funnels-g2-worker-bee-command-brief.md and scripture-historian research (2026-05-20). Part of the Legion AI Tools Factory by Mario Aldayuz a.k.a @thenotoriousllama.