Learn how to use deep research for thorough external research tasks
July 23, 2025 · Last updated on August 7, 2025
What is deep research?
Deep research is an agent that uses reasoning to quickly gather, summarize, and interpret extensive information from across the web, helping you perform comprehensive research efficiently.
Why it’s useful at work
Deep research is perfect for any knowledge worker who needs thorough, precise, and reliable research. Every output is designed to be documented, with clear citations to sources, making it easy to verify and reference the information. Deep research is particularly effective at finding niche, non-intuitive information that would require browsing numerous websites. Deep research can free up time by allowing you to offload and expedite complex web research with simple prompting - potentially saving you hours of time
Please note that recordings may show a different or previous version of the ChatGPT UI.
Using deep research in a workflow
Getting started
Open ChatGPT and select deep research
2. Ask a clear and detailed prompt
Spell out your topic, goal, timeframe, and key details. If deep research needs more context, it will automatically ask follow up questions.
I’m researching [topic] for [audience/decision/meeting]. Provide a report including recent key opportunities and risks, and 3-5 actionable insights.
3. Review your report
Deep research may run for 5–30 minutes while it explores the web; you’ll get a notification when your report is ready.
Ask follow-up questions or request further analysis and deep research will refine as needed.
