An in-depth analysis of a topic by an AI-based tool that is created from a user's question. Deep research uses language models like the ChatGPT and Gemini chatbots; however, they also behave like autonomous AI agents, which means they use many more sources of available information including websites, articles, blogs and data repositories.
The results of deep research are also more thorough and in-depth than chatbots alone. In the future, deep research capability is expected to be integrated into many chatbots. However, as of mid-2025, OpenAI's Deep Research and ChatGPT were separate products. See
AI agent and
AI glossary.