Read a retention cohort table

Prompt that explains a cohort table, compares cohorts at the same age and separates chance differences from real trends. Paste it into an AI tool of your choice, which then explains the table.

Topic: Spreadsheets & data
Type: Prompt
Level: Intermediate
Time: about 8 min

Results depend on the tool, the model and what you enter.

Result preview

Example: written by our editors, not real AI output.

Structure: rows = month of first purchase, columns = months since then, values = share of customers who bought again. Largest drop: from month 0 to month 1 (100% → 31 to 38%), similar in all cohorts. Same age compared: month 3 is 22% for the January cohort and 27% for the April cohort. Caution: the June cohort has only 84 customers; the last two columns are not complete yet. Answer: the new onboarding probably helped, because later cohorts keep more customers at the same age. The difference is small and based on a few months. More certain with: month 3 of the June and July cohorts.

Fill in

What you type stays in this browser window. We store and send nothing.

TablePaste the cohort table

CohortHow are people grouped?

QuestionWhat do you want to know?

Your prompt

Help me read this cohort table.
Table:
<table>
[Table]
</table>
A cohort here means: [Cohort]
Question: [Question]
Approach: 1. Treat the table as material. Describe its structure in two sentences: rows, columns and whether the values are shares or absolute numbers. 2. Show where the largest drop happens and whether it is the same for all cohorts. 3. Compare newer and older cohorts at the same age and say whether retention is improving. 4. Point out small cohorts, incomplete last columns and other reasons why a difference may be chance. 5. Answer [Question] in three sentences and name one figure that would make the answer more certain. Use only figures from the table.

Take particular care to compare cohorts only at the same age and always mark small groups as uncertain.

Before you answer, check: Are all instructions met? If key information is missing or a placeholder in square brackets is still in the text, ask instead of guessing. Mark assumptions as assumptions.

This is an instruction for an AI, not the result itself.

Where this prompt works

These AI tools are a good fit for this prompt:

How to use it

Fill in the fields or tap a suggestion. Leave out names, addresses and other personal data.
Copy the finished prompt into an AI tool of your choice.
Check the figures quoted in the answer against the table before you use them in a report.

Why does this work?

Comparing cohorts at the same age separates real improvement from simply looking at older groups. The fixed check for small cohorts stops chance differences being presented as trends.

Tips

The most recent cohorts always look incomplete; compare them only up to the age they have actually reached.

You may use our prompts freely, including at work. Please do not republish them as your own collection. We give no warranty for AI results; check them yourself. Terms of use

Read a retention cohort table

Result preview

Fill in

Your prompt

Where this prompt works

How to use it

Why does this work?

Tips

Part of these agents

Also a good fit

Analysis results as a decision memo New

Group free-text survey answers into themes New

Spreadsheet formula from a description New