If your company is looking to see if R&D credits are available, consult with an established major accounting firm or R&D-specialist firm. (But not cde-v's firm.) Most firms that do R&D work will charge a percentage of the R&D credit recovered rather than an out-of-pocket fee, so you generally won't have any financial outlay if your business doesn't qualify.

Generally speaking, any US-based systemic research- or experimentation-based process that results in the development of new or improved (cheaper, better, etc.) business components (broadly meaning goods, services, processes) can qualify for the R&D credit.

Sounds like even sales funnel optimization with A/B testing would qualify.

Honestly, as evidenced by the rabid response above, reading the actual regulations is the best way to understand this topic.

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-regs/research_credit_basic_sec41...