AI Vocabulary · 03 Working with AI
What is Deep Research?
An AI mode that searches many sources over several minutes and writes a structured report with citations.
Deep research is a feature in several AI assistants. Instead of answering immediately, the assistant works like an agent: it plans searches, reads dozens of web pages or documents, follows leads and then writes a longer report with references. A run can take several minutes.
It is a good example of an agentic workflow that non-technical users can use today. The results are grounded in sources, but sources can be weak, outdated or misread, and the summary can still contain hallucinations.
Why it matters for you
Deep research can turn a day of desk research, such as a market scan, competitor overview or regulatory summary, into a first draft in minutes. It is a strong starting point, not a finished deliverable.
Own it
Treat the report like work from a fast junior researcher: open the key sources, check the numbers, and add what only you know. Your judgement is the part that makes it valuable.
Where it comes from
Google launched Gemini Deep Research in December 2024, and OpenAI and Perplexity released features with the same name in February 2025 (Simon Willison's overview). The idea behind them is an agent that searches and reads many sources over several minutes and writes a cited report, instead of answering in one quick pass.
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