Compare YouTube videos, find conflicting opinions, and uncover useful insights without manually analyzing every source.
You have five YouTube videos on the same topic. Each is an hour long, and every creator has a slightly different opinion.
You could watch all five, take notes, and try to compare everything yourself.
Or you could use Google NotebookLM to analyze all five sources together.
Here's a practical example of how it works.
What I Tested
I uploaded five YouTube courses about affiliate marketing in 2026 into NotebookLM.
The videos covered similar topics: choosing profitable niches, finding affiliate programs, driving traffic, and generating sales.
I wasn't looking for five separate summaries.
I wanted to know:
- Which recommendations do most creators agree on?
- Where do their opinions contradict each other?
- What useful ideas appear in only one video?
- Which conclusions deserve further research?
One comparison prompt generated a structured report showing agreements, differences, and unique insights across the sources.
What NotebookLM Found
1. YouTube vs. SEO: Which Drives Better Results?
Josh Burns Tech reported that video content generates more than 90% of his $40,000 monthly affiliate revenue.
Marketer Milk argued that SEO-driven blogs can be more effective because YouTube viewers sometimes search for products directly instead of clicking affiliate links.
Alex Micol presented a different approach: selling through TikTok Shop without building a traditional website.
Three different strategies, presented side by side.
Instead of simply summarizing what each creator said, NotebookLM made the differences between their approaches easier to identify.
2. Is Amazon Associates Worth Using?
Adam Enfroy criticized Amazon's relatively low commissions and short attribution window.
Josh Burns Tech recommended Amazon Associates as a starting point for beginners because of its accessibility and established customer base.
The difference becomes clearer when you compare their priorities: higher commissions versus a lower barrier to entry.
Neither position automatically applies to every business. But the comparison reveals what each recommendation is based on.
3. Do You Actually Need a Website?
Santrel Media and Marketer Milk emphasized the importance of owning a website for credibility, affiliate approvals, and building an email audience.
Alex Micol described an approach that relies on TikTok Shop instead.
NotebookLM identified these competing recommendations without requiring me to manually organize the five courses.
These findings reflect the claims identified in the uploaded video transcripts, not independently verified earnings or business results.
It Also Found Ideas That Weren't Repeated Everywhere
The analysis highlighted several additional techniques:
1. The Vitamin vs. Painkiller Framework
Marketer Milk differentiated between products people would like to have and products that solve an immediate, important problem.
2. Direct Brand Partnerships
Several creators discussed contacting brands directly to negotiate custom affiliate commissions instead of relying exclusively on public affiliate networks.
3. ManyChat Automation
Santrel Media described using ManyChat to automatically deliver resources and affiliate links when users comment specific keywords on short-form videos.
4. AI Search Optimization
Adam Enfroy discussed structuring article headings around specific questions to make content more discoverable in AI-powered search.
5. Professional Media Kits
Josh Burns Tech highlighted the importance of presenting audience demographics and performance metrics when pitching brands.
These ideas were scattered across different courses. NotebookLM organized them into one comparison, making it easier to identify which techniques deserved a closer look.
How to Do This Yourself
You can repeat this workflow with almost any research topic.
Step 1. Open Google NotebookLM
Go to notebooklm.google.com and create a new notebook.
Step 2. Add Your Sources
Choose three to five YouTube videos about the same topic.
Click Add sources → YouTube and paste the video URLs.
NotebookLM uses available transcripts, so choose public videos with accessible captions.
Step 3. Run the Comparison
Once your sources have been processed, paste the following prompt into the NotebookLM chat.
Copy This Prompt
Role:
Act as a research analyst specializing in comparing multiple sources.
Context:
I have uploaded several sources covering the same topic.
Task:
Analyze all sources together and identify:
1. Ideas and recommendations that multiple sources agree on.
2. Direct contradictions between sources.
3. Unique insights mentioned by only one source.
4. Important details that some sources overlook.
5. Practical conclusions supported by the material.
Constraints:
- Use only the uploaded sources.
- Include source citations for major findings.
- Do not invent missing information.
- Distinguish actual contradictions from different perspectives.
- If evidence is insufficient, say so explicitly.
Output Format:
1. Comparison table.
2. Shared conclusions.
3. Contradictions with supporting evidence.
4. Unique insights.
5. Key takeaways.
6. Questions worth researching further.
Step 4. Review the Results
NotebookLM will organize the findings into a structured comparison.
Pay particular attention to:
- Recommendations supported by multiple sources.
- Contradictory claims worth investigating.
- Insights mentioned by only one creator.
- Questions that remain unanswered.
Use the source citations to verify important conclusions before making decisions based on them.
Where Else Can You Use This?
This workflow isn't limited to YouTube courses or affiliate marketing.
Learning
Compare lectures from different educators to understand how they explain the same concept.
Research
Analyze several sources to identify recurring arguments, conflicting evidence, and missing information.
Buying Decisions
Compare product reviews to see which advantages and disadvantages multiple reviewers consistently mention.
Business
Compare expert strategies, case studies, or industry analyses before deciding which approach deserves further investigation.
Content Creation
Analyze multiple tutorials or articles to identify useful perspectives and research gaps before developing your own content.
The Real Value of This Workflow
The most useful part of NotebookLM isn't simply getting a shorter version of a long video.
It's being able to ask one question across multiple sources and see how their answers compare.
Instead of asking:
“What does this video say?”
You can ask:
“What do these sources agree on, where do they disagree, and what important information am I missing?”
That turns a collection of videos into a structured starting point for research.
And you can apply the same process to almost any topic.
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