- What CIP Training Actually Covers
- How the Training and Assessments Work
- CI BluePrint and CI 101/202: Planning and Collection
- CI 301 and CI 302: Blindspots and Cross-Competitor Analysis
- CI 303 and CI 304: Analysis Techniques and Reporting
- Who Can Enroll: The In-House Team Model
- Sequencing Your Course Work
- What the Public Sources Do Not Confirm
- Frequently Asked Questions
- CIP-I Core training is a sequence of required courses: CI BluePrint, CI 101/202, 301, 302, 303 and 304.
- Each course ends with an online assessment of 12 multiple-choice questions and a passing grade of 75.
- Candidates get immediate results and one free alternate-form retake before their assigned deadline.
- The 2026 traditional CIP-I offering is virtual and limited to in-house teams of at least eight participants.
What CIP Training Actually Covers
"CIP" is shared by several unrelated credentials, so a precise definition matters before any training discussion. On this page, CIP means the Competitive Intelligence Professional Level 1 Certification (CIP-I Core) offered through the Academy of Competitive Intelligence (ACI), formerly branded FGH Academy of Competitive Intelligence. It is not the E-CIP, CIP-II or CIP-III tracks, and it has nothing to do with AIIM's similarly abbreviated credential. If you are still sorting out terminology, our explainers on what CIP certification is and what CIP stands for cover the naming in more detail.
The training itself is course-based. Certification requires completing the required courses and passing the issuer-administered course assessments. There is no single sit-down comprehensive exam described in the public curriculum; instead, you work through a series of courses, each with its own assessment. That structure shapes everything about how you should prepare.
The required study comprises six components:
- CI BluePrint
- CI 101/202 Competitive Intelligence Planning & Collection
- CI 301 Competitive Blindspots
- CI 302 Cross-Competitor Analysis
- CI 303 Structured Intelligence Analysis Techniques
- CI 304 Reporting & Communication of Intelligence
These six headings are an unweighted course curriculum. They are not a weighted exam blueprint, and you should not assume any one course counts for a particular share of your result. Each course stands on its own assessment. For a topic-by-topic breakdown, see our guide to all six CIP content areas.
How the Training and Assessments Work
The delivery mechanics are unusual compared with proctored certification exams, and understanding them removes a lot of uncertainty.
Assessment Format
According to the ACI curriculum, each course carries an online assessment of 12 multiple-choice questions with a passing grade of 75. These figures apply per course. Do not add them together into a single 72-question comprehensive exam; the public sources do not describe one. For more on how scoring works, see our breakdown of the CIP passing score.
Access, Pacing and Retakes
- Candidates receive individual login credentials.
- You can save and resume an assessment before the assigned deadline.
- Results are immediate.
- You get one free alternate-form retake before that deadline.
The save-and-resume feature means assessments function more like open-window course exercises than a single high-pressure sitting. The retake uses an alternate form, so memorizing one set of questions will not carry you through. Understanding the material is the only reliable path.
| Feature | What ACI Describes |
|---|---|
| Assessment style | Online, multiple choice |
| Questions per course | 12 |
| Passing grade | 75 |
| Login | Individual credentials |
| Pausing | Save and resume before deadline |
| Results | Immediate |
| Retake | One free alternate-form retake before deadline |
| Fixed assessment timer | Not verified in public sources |
CI BluePrint and CI 101/202: Planning and Collection
The first two components establish the foundation. Everything downstream, from blindspots to reporting, depends on whether you define intelligence needs and gather information well.
CI BluePrint
The opening component frames the competitive intelligence discipline and process. Treat it as the vocabulary and workflow layer that later courses assume you already know.
- Learn the intelligence process as a connected cycle rather than isolated tasks.
- Be able to explain how needs definition, collection, analysis and communication relate.
- Note the CI BluePrint is listed as a required component even where the core course list omits it.
CI 101/202 Competitive Intelligence Planning & Collection
This course covers how to scope an intelligence effort and gather the information that feeds it. ACI's course material for this area emphasizes collection planning and benchmarking sources.
- Define who needs the intelligence and what decisions it will support.
- Match collection methods and sources to the question being asked.
- Distinguish primary from secondary collection and understand where each is strongest.
- Recognize ethical and legal boundaries in gathering competitor information.
Candidates coming from marketing, strategy or product roles often find planning and collection familiar but underestimate how much the course expects a disciplined, repeatable process rather than ad hoc research. Expect questions that test whether you can choose the right approach to a stated scenario, not merely recall a definition.
CI 301 and CI 302: Blindspots and Cross-Competitor Analysis
The middle courses shift from gathering information to interpreting the competitive landscape and the gaps in your own view of it.
CI 301 Competitive Blindspots
Blindspots are the areas where an organization's assumptions about competitors, customers or its market are incomplete or wrong. This course trains you to identify and address them.
- Understand how internal assumptions and biases distort competitive judgment.
- Recognize common categories of blindspots, such as overlooked rivals or misread signals.
- Know how to surface blindspots through structured questioning rather than gut feel.
CI 302 Cross-Competitor Analysis
This course compares multiple competitors side by side to reveal patterns, relative strengths and strategic positioning.
- Build comparisons across several competitors rather than treating each in isolation.
- Identify differences in strategy, capability and positioning that a single-competitor view hides.
- Translate comparative findings into implications for your own organization.
Key Takeaway
CI 301 and CI 302 reward scenario thinking. When reviewing, practice stating what an assumption might be hiding (301) and what a comparison across rivals reveals that a single profile cannot (302).
CI 303 and CI 304: Analysis Techniques and Reporting
The final two courses cover the step where raw information becomes a decision-ready product.
CI 303 Structured Intelligence Analysis Techniques
This course introduces disciplined analytic methods intended to reduce bias and improve the rigor of conclusions.
- Apply structured techniques to organize evidence and test competing explanations.
- Understand why structure matters: unstructured analysis tends to reinforce existing beliefs.
- Be able to choose an appropriate technique for a given type of question.
CI 304 Reporting & Communication of Intelligence
Intelligence has no value if decision-makers do not understand or act on it. This course covers how to package and deliver findings.
- Tailor the format and depth of a report to its audience.
- Lead with implications and recommendations, not a data dump.
- Communicate uncertainty and confidence honestly.
Because the six courses build on each other, weakness early compounds later. A shaky grasp of the process in CI BluePrint will make structured analysis and reporting harder to apply. Our CIP study guide walks through how to connect the courses into one coherent mental model, and our CIP cheat sheet condenses the must-know facts for last-minute review.
Who Can Enroll: The In-House Team Model
This is the detail most likely to surprise candidates. The 2026 traditional CIP-I offering is virtual and available only to in-house teams of at least eight participants. In practice, that means CIP-I training is typically purchased by an employer for a group rather than booked individually by a solo candidate.
That has several implications for planning:
- Your path to enrollment likely runs through your employer or a training manager who can assemble a team.
- Deadlines and pacing are set at the program level, so check the assigned deadline for your cohort.
- If you are an individual who wants to pursue CIP-I, contact ACI directly to learn whether any alternative arrangement exists. The public sources checked here do not describe one.
For details on eligibility and prerequisites as publicly described, see our overview of CIP requirements, and for scheduling considerations see CIP exam dates and deadlines. On the money side, the current public CIP-I price was not verified, so rather than guess, review our CIP certification cost page and request a quote from ACI.
Sequencing Your Course Work
You do not need a generic study system here. What helps is ordering the work to match how the courses build on each other, and leaving buffer before your assigned deadline so the free alternate-form retake remains a genuine safety net rather than a scramble.
Foundation: CI BluePrint and CI 101/202
- Learn the intelligence process end to end before touching later courses.
- Take the assessments early so any weak points surface while there is time to fix them.
Interpretation: CI 301 and CI 302
- Study blindspots and cross-competitor comparison together, since both concern how you read the landscape.
- Practice applying each idea to a scenario from your own industry.
Production: CI 303 and CI 304
- Pair structured analysis with reporting: analyze a question, then draft a short deliverable from your findings.
- Reserve final days for reviewing any course where your result was close to 75.
Save your retake for a course where you genuinely need it, and use the immediate results to decide where to focus. If you want extra practice between course assessments, the CIP practice tests on our main site let you drill scenario-style questions on each topic area.
What the Public Sources Do Not Confirm
Trustworthy preparation means knowing the limits of what is publicly documented. As of the sources checked on October 5, 2026, the following were not verified:
- A fixed assessment timer for the course assessments.
- The current public CIP-I price.
- Any certification-renewal rule.
Course CEUs are educational credits and should not be read as evidence that renewal is required. If you are weighing the credential's long-term value, our analyses of whether the CIP certification is worth it, CIP salary considerations and CIP jobs discuss career impact qualitatively. Also see the CIP pass rate page, which explains why a single published pass rate does not exist for this course-based structure. For hands-on practice, visit the main practice test site.
Key Takeaway
Verify price, timing and renewal directly with ACI before committing. Everything else in this article reflects what the issuer publicly describes about the CIP-I Core program.
Frequently Asked Questions
CIP-I Core training comprises CI BluePrint and CI 101/202, 301, 302, 303 and 304. The curriculum page lists five numbered courses, but the certification requirements and main FAQ also include CI BluePrint, so plan for all six components.
Each course has an online assessment with 12 multiple-choice questions and a passing grade of 75. These are per-course figures and should not be combined into a single comprehensive-exam question count.
Yes. Candidates receive one free alternate-form retake, which must be used before their assigned deadline. Results are immediate, so you can see right away whether a retake is needed.
The 2026 traditional CIP-I offering is virtual and available only to in-house teams of at least eight participants. Individuals should contact ACI directly to ask whether any other option exists, as public sources do not describe one.
A certification-renewal rule was not verified in the public sources checked. Course CEUs are educational credits, not proof of a renewal requirement, so confirm any renewal terms with ACI directly.