Deep Research

Deep Research lets AI conduct web research on your behalf. It searches, evaluates sources, analyzes data, and produces a structured report with citations, visualizations, and audio narration.

Starting a Research Session

Start a new research session from the Create menu in the sidebar or from the home page. Type your research question or topic into the input field to begin.

Starting from AI Chat

You can also start a research session directly from any AI chat conversation. Ask the AI to research a topic -- for example, "research the effects of sleep on memory" or "do a deep dive on quantum computing applications." The AI asks clarifying questions to narrow the scope, then runs the research in the background. When the report is ready, it appears inline in your chat conversation.

This is useful when a chat conversation naturally leads into a topic you want explored in depth without leaving the conversation.

Source Type Filters

Before starting, you can focus your research on specific types of sources. Choose one or more source types from the filter bar:

• Academic papers — Peer-reviewed journals and scholarly articles.
• News — Recent news articles and reporting.
• Textbooks — Educational and reference materials.
• Government reports — Official publications and data.
• Encyclopedias — General knowledge and reference sources.

Leave all filters off to search across all source types.

Linking Your Library

Link content from your Scholarly library as additional context for research. Click the link button to attach:

• PDFs you have uploaded
• Pages you have written
• Library files — your saved notes, outlines, CSVs, code, and other text/data files
• Flashcard decks
• Lecture recordings (with their transcripts)
• Podcasts (with their transcripts)
• Previous research reports

You can also pick Google Drive files directly from the link picker — Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, PDFs, Word docs, PowerPoints, or text files — no downloading and re-uploading. See Connected Apps.

Attaching Files Directly

You can also attach a file directly into a research session — Deep Research now reads PDFs, PowerPoint, Word, and text files, not just images. Your real source documents are used as part of the research instead of being left out. Drop them into the question box the same way you'd attach an image.

The AI uses this linked content alongside web results to produce more targeted, relevant research. Linking a previous report is especially useful for building on an earlier investigation — the new report can extend or refine what you already had instead of starting over.

Clarifying Questions

Before starting research, the AI asks multi-choice clarifying questions to narrow the scope. Each question includes a recommended option. You can also add extra context in an optional free-text field.

If the questions are not relevant, skip them to jump straight into research.

Research Depth

Choose how thorough you want the research to be:

• Normal -- Balanced depth. Searches multiple sources and cross-references information.
• Overdrive -- Intensive deep research. The AI spends significantly more time searching, evaluating, and synthesizing information.

Research Plan and Progress

Once research begins, a progress checklist appears showing each step the AI is taking. Each step shows its current state: pending, in progress, or completed.

You can watch in real time as the AI searches the web, evaluates sources for credibility, and extracts key information.

Code Execution

The AI can run Python code, analyze data, and create visualizations during research. This happens automatically when the research involves data processing or when charts and graphs would strengthen the report.

Results

The final output is a structured report with:

• Sections — Organized by topic or subtopic for easy reading.
• Inline source pills — The site behind each claim shows as a small clickable chip right in the text, so you can see and check sources as you read.
• Citations — Sources are cited inline so you can verify any claim.
• Relevant images — Diagrams, figures, maps, and photos are pulled in alongside the writing where they make the report clearer.
• Charts and graphs — Data visualizations created by the AI and embedded directly in the report.
• Clean, readable formatting — Spacing, headings, and quote styling tuned for long-form reading.

Creating Files from Research

Deep Research can build downloadable files for you as part of the research itself — a study guide, a comparison table, a dataset (CSV), a timeline, or a one-page summary.

Pick "Add a file" under the question box before you run your research and choose what you want made. No special wording needed in the prompt; the AI knows to deliver an actual file alongside the written report.

Any files Research makes appear next to the report — easy to spot, ready to open, download, or save to your library as a Library file.

Audio Narration

New research reports automatically generate an audio narration after the written report finishes. The report is readable immediately while audio renders in the background, and the player appears as soon as the narration is ready.

Report Timeline

The sidebar shows a clickable timeline of all reports in the session. Click any entry to jump directly to that report. Linked content from your library is also visible in the sidebar.

Follow-Up Questions

After the initial report is delivered, you can ask follow-up questions in the same session. The AI builds on its previous findings, so follow-ups are faster and more targeted than starting from scratch.

Actions from Research

After a report is complete, you can branch directly into other workflows:

• Create Page -- Turn the report into an editable page.
• Create Flashcards -- Generate flashcards from the research findings.
• Create Quiz -- Build a quiz based on the report.
• Improve Report -- Ask the AI to expand or refine the report.

Sharing

Share a completed research report with others. Recipients can view the full report including all sections, citations, and visualizations.

Archive and Restore

Archive research sessions you no longer need from the home page. Archived sessions are hidden from your main content list but not deleted. Restore them at any time to bring them back.

Research Index

The research page opens to your past reports with the question box pinned at the top. Click any past session to jump back in, scan a previous report, or ask follow-up questions. Deleted sessions disappear right away — you don't need to refresh.

Limits

Deep Research draws from your shared AI creation allowance — the same pool that powers flashcards, podcasts, video lectures, slides, and other AI tools. On Free, those are lifetime free credits and do not reset. You can spend your free creations however you like instead of being capped on a separate research limit. Paid plans raise the allowance. See Plans and Limits.