- What the Six Content Areas Actually Are
- How the Course Assessments Work
- CI BluePrint: The Framework Everything Hangs On
- CI 101/202: Planning and Collection
- CI 301: Competitive Blindspots
- CI 302: Cross-Competitor Analysis
- CI 303: Structured Analysis Techniques
- CI 304: Reporting and Communication
- Sequencing the Six Areas Across Your Prep
- Source Caveats Worth Knowing
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CIP here means Competitive Intelligence Professional Level 1, issued through the Academy of Competitive Intelligence (ACI), scope CIP-I Core.
- The six content areas are unweighted required-course topics, not a weighted exam blueprint.
- Each course assessment is online, with 12 multiple-choice questions and a passing grade of 75.
- Results are immediate, and you get one free alternate-form retake before your assigned deadline.
What the Six Content Areas Actually Are
Before diving into each area, it helps to be precise about what you are studying. The Competitive Intelligence Professional Level 1 Certification (CIP-I Core) is delivered by the Academy of Competitive Intelligence, which has operated under the FGH Academy name and is currently branded ACI. Earning the certification means completing the required courses and passing the course assessments that the issuer administers. It is a course-based credential, which makes it structurally different from certifications built around one large proctored exam.
That distinction matters for how you read the phrase "exam domains." The six headings in this guide are the topics of the required courses: CI BluePrint, CI 101/202, CI 301, CI 302, CI 303 and CI 304. They are a preparation curriculum. They are not a weighted blueprint with published percentages, and nothing here claims the list is an exhaustive map of every question you could meet. If you have seen domain-weight tables for other credentials that share the "CIP" acronym, discard them. They describe different programs.
| Area | Course | Core question it answers |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | CI BluePrint | How should a CI function be framed and organized? |
| 2 | CI 101/202 Planning & Collection | What do we need to know, and where do we get it? |
| 3 | CI 301 Competitive Blindspots | What are we failing to see about the market? |
| 4 | CI 302 Cross-Competitor Analysis | How do rivals compare against each other and us? |
| 5 | CI 303 Structured Analysis Techniques | How do we turn data into defensible conclusions? |
| 6 | CI 304 Reporting & Communication | How do we deliver intelligence people will act on? |
For a broader look at how to approach the whole program, see the CIP Study Guide 2026: How to Pass on Your First Attempt. If you are still orienting yourself on the credential itself, What Is CIP Certification? covers the basics.
How the Course Assessments Work
The format is the first thing to internalize, because it shapes how you prepare. According to the ACI curriculum, each course carries an online assessment of 12 multiple-choice questions, with a passing grade of 75. These are per-course figures. Do not multiply them into a single comprehensive-exam question count, because the certification is not structured that way.
The delivery mechanics are candidate-friendly:
- Each candidate receives individual login credentials.
- You can save your progress and resume before the assigned deadline.
- Results are immediate once you submit.
- You get one free alternate-form retake before that deadline.
Two things were not verified in the sources reviewed: a fixed assessment timer and the current public price of CIP-I. Treat any specific time limit or dollar figure you encounter elsewhere with caution until confirmed with ACI directly. For the cost question, our CIP Certification Cost 2026: Complete Pricing Breakdown explains what is and is not known, and CIP Passing Score 2026: Exactly What You Need to Pass goes deeper on the 75 threshold.
CI BluePrint: The Framework Everything Hangs On
CI BluePrint is the first of the six areas and the one most easily overlooked, partly because of a quirk in ACI's own materials. The displayed "Core Courses" list shows five numbered courses, yet the certification requirements and the main FAQ also require CI BluePrint. (A duplicated older FAQ omits it.) The safe reading: plan for all six, including BluePrint.
Domain 1: CI BluePrint®
Think of this as the orienting framework for the program. It establishes the vocabulary and structure that the later courses assume you already hold.
- Learn the framing the Academy uses for how competitive intelligence is organized as a discipline.
- Pay attention to terminology; later assessments reuse these terms without redefining them.
- Treat it as the map you will return to when a later course feels abstract.
Because the public descriptions of BluePrint are less detailed than those of the numbered courses, rely on the course material itself rather than outside summaries. Candidates who skip it or treat it as optional background often find later content harder to anchor.
CI 101/202: Planning and Collection
Domain 2: CI 101/202 Competitive Intelligence Planning & Collection
This is the operational foundation: defining what the organization needs to know and gathering information systematically rather than opportunistically.
- Translating a business concern into a focused intelligence need.
- Choosing collection approaches and weighing the sources behind them.
- Benchmarking as a collection discipline (the course materials connect collection with benchmark-style comparison).
- Distinguishing raw information from intelligence that has been evaluated.
Multiple-choice questions in this area tend to reward process thinking: given a scenario, which step comes first, which source type fits, which collection choice best serves the stated need. Practice reading a scenario and naming the intelligence question underneath it before looking at the answer options.
Planning and collection also sets up everything downstream. Weak collection produces weak analysis, so expect later courses to assume you understand source quality and coverage gaps. If you want to test that readiness, the CIP practice test is a useful way to find out where your scenario reasoning is thin.
CI 301: Competitive Blindspots
Domain 3: CI 301 Competitive Blindspots
This course addresses what organizations fail to notice about their markets and rivals, and why.
- How blind spots form: assumptions, internal bias, and habitual ways of defining the competitive set.
- Recognizing signals that sit outside the traditional competitor frame.
- Methods for surfacing overlooked threats and opportunities.
- Why a team can be well-informed about known rivals and still be surprised.
This is the most conceptual of the six, and candidates who prefer procedural content sometimes find it the slipperiest. The key move is to learn the failure modes by name. Questions are likely to describe an organizational situation and ask you to identify what kind of blind spot is at work or what would best reduce it. Build a short personal glossary of each blind-spot type with one real-world example apiece.
CI 302: Cross-Competitor Analysis
Domain 4: CI 302 Cross-Competitor Analysis
Where earlier courses focus on gathering and on perception, this one focuses on comparison across multiple rivals at once.
- Comparing competitors against one another rather than only against your own organization.
- Identifying patterns, clusters and strategic groupings in a competitive field.
- Using comparative views to anticipate moves and spot positioning gaps.
- Keeping comparisons fair by using consistent criteria across competitors.
The common trap in this area is analyzing each competitor in isolation and then stacking the results. Cross-competitor analysis is about the relationships between profiles. When you practice, force yourself to produce a conclusion that could not have come from examining any single rival alone.
CI 303: Structured Analysis Techniques
Domain 5: CI 303 Structured Intelligence Analysis Techniques
This is the analytic engine of the program: repeatable techniques that turn evidence into conclusions you can defend.
- Applying structured techniques rather than relying on intuition or gut feel.
- Testing assumptions and weighing alternative explanations.
- Distinguishing evidence, inference and judgment in your reasoning.
- Choosing a technique that fits the question you are actually asking.
Technique-selection questions are where many candidates lose points. Memorizing a list of method names is not enough; you need to know when each is appropriate and what its limits are. A useful drill is to take one business question and sketch how two different techniques would frame it, noting what each would miss.
Key Takeaway
For CI 303, study each technique as a pairing of question type and method. If you can state "use this when the problem looks like that," you can handle scenario items without recalling definitions word for word.
CI 304: Reporting and Communication
Domain 6: CI 304 Reporting & Communication of Intelligence
Analysis that never reaches a decision-maker in usable form has no value. This course covers the last mile.
- Tailoring intelligence products to the audience and the decision they face.
- Presenting conclusions, confidence and caveats clearly.
- Choosing formats and delivery approaches that drive action.
- Separating what you know from what you are estimating.
Expect questions that present an audience, such as a senior executive or a sales team, and ask what kind of product or framing fits. The pattern is consistent: lead with the decision-relevant point, be explicit about uncertainty, and match depth to the reader. This area also pays off in interviews, since reporting skill is highly visible to hiring managers. For the career angle, review CIP Salary Guide 2026: Complete Earnings Analysis and Is the CIP Certification Worth It? Complete ROI Analysis 2026.
Sequencing the Six Areas Across Your Prep
Because the six areas build on one another, order matters more than it would for a flat list of topics. The courses are also assessed separately, so you can sequence them to match when each is released or assigned to you. A reasonable pacing, if you control your own schedule, looks like this:
BluePrint and Planning Foundations
- Work through CI BluePrint and note the core vocabulary.
- Start CI 101/202 and practice turning scenarios into intelligence needs.
Collection and Blind Spots
- Finish collection and source-evaluation material.
- Cover CI 301 and build your blind-spot glossary.
Comparison and Technique
- Study CI 302 with a focus on relationships between competitor profiles.
- Begin CI 303 and pair each technique with its best-fit question type.
Communication and Review
- Complete CI 304 and practice audience-matched framing.
- Revisit weak areas before your assigned deadline.
The logic: BluePrint and planning first because later content assumes them; blind spots before comparison because perception errors undermine analysis; technique before reporting because you cannot communicate conclusions you have not yet learned to reach. Because you receive one free alternate-form retake and can save and resume, build a small buffer before the deadline rather than finishing the last course at the last minute. For a quick refresher format once you are through the material, see the CIP Cheat Sheet 2026: One-Page Review of Must-Know Facts.
Source Caveats Worth Knowing
Being straightforward about what is and is not confirmed is part of using this guide well. The information here was checked against ACI's published curriculum, FAQ and course description pages. Several points remain unverified or are inconsistent in the source material:
- BluePrint inclusion: The Core Courses list shows five numbered courses, while the requirements and main FAQ also require CI BluePrint. Plan for all six.
- Assessment timer: No fixed time limit was confirmed.
- Current price: No current public CIP-I price was verified.
- Renewal: No certification-renewal rule was verified. Course CEUs are educational credits and should not be read as proof of a renewal requirement.
Because the 2026 traditional offering is limited to virtual delivery for in-house teams of at least eight, scheduling questions are best settled with ACI or your employer's training lead. Our CIP Exam Dates 2026: Testing Windows, Deadlines & Scheduling article walks through what is known about timing, and How Hard Is the CIP Exam? Complete Difficulty Guide 2026 helps set expectations for the assessment style. When you want to check your recall under test-like conditions, the CIP Exam Prep practice questions are built around these six areas.
Frequently Asked Questions
No. The six areas are unweighted topics from the required courses. They are a preparation curriculum, not a weighted exam blueprint, so no published percentage tells you how much any one area counts.
Each course assessment is online with 12 multiple-choice questions and a passing grade of 75. These figures apply per course; they should not be combined into one comprehensive-exam question count.
Yes. Candidates receive one free alternate-form retake before their assigned deadline. Results are immediate, so you know right away whether a retake is needed.
The certification requirements and main FAQ list it, although the displayed Core Courses list shows only five numbered courses and an older duplicated FAQ omits it. The safest approach is to study all six areas.
The 2026 traditional CIP-I offering is virtual and available only to in-house teams of at least eight participants. Individuals should confirm current options directly with the Academy of Competitive Intelligence.