How to get the most out of Deep Research

The Rundown : In this guide, you’ll learn what Deep Research is and how to use it to generate in-depth, cited reports from multiple verified sources. Who is this useful for: Founders & executives who use AI to validate markets Marketers & strategists who build campaigns on real customer data Sales & revenue teams who rely on exhaustive intelligence Product managers & innovators who make data-driven roadmap decisions This feature lets an AI agent autonomously browse the web for 5–30 minutes, analyze dozens of pages, and produce structured, reference-backed insights. STEP 1: Getting started with Deep Research Open ChatGPT, start a new chat, click the plus icon (+), scroll down, and select “Deep Research.” This activates an autonomous agent built into ChatGPT that performs multi-step web research. It searches multiple sources, compiles insights, and generates a fully cited report. The process is compute-intensive, so usage is limited by subscription tier. Most leading LLMs: ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Grok offer similar capabilities, but ChatGPT’s Deep Research currently leads, ranking highest on the “Humanity’s Last Exam” benchmark for reasoning accuracy and factual depth. Difference from Web Search: Web Search returns quick summaries from a handful of pages. Deep Research conducts multi-stage reasoning, reviews dozens of documents, and produces a verified, structured report with citations. STEP 2: Describe your research Inside the Deep Research interface, clearly describe your goal. The more context, the better the report. Here’s the prompt I used for a marketing use case: I am starting a robotics company making humanoids that specialize in doing household chores. Conduct comprehensive market research into this niche and identify who our ICP is, identify all the keywords and pain points they use that we can target in our marketing. Analyze our competitors and set a clear strategy for distribution. Base it on the best practices of companies in this niche. Deep Research will then ask clarifying questions - such as region, price range, audience type, and product scope - to lock in accuracy before it starts. Be as detailed as you can here. STEP 3: Submit your research request Once happy with your prompt, it's time to submit. Click Submit to launch your prompt. Here’s what happens next: ChatGPT asks a few follow-up questions to refine parameters. Once confirmed, the agent autonomously browses the web. You’ll see a live activity feed showing sources and progress. While Deep Research runs, you can continue other tasks or launch parallel research sessions. The model will notify you when the report is finished. STEP 4: Review and download your report Once complete, the output appears as a structured, cited report that may include: Market overview and emerging trends ICP analysis with customer language and pain points Competitor and pricing breakdowns Recommended distribution, positioning, and partnerships Every source is listed below for verification. Click Share - Download PDF to export it or Copy Link to share it directly. You can also attach this research report to create a custom GPT for your company. STEP 5: Advanced use cases Beyond marketing or strategy, Deep Research can be applied across departments: Sales: Generate prospect intelligence, funding summaries, and competitor insights. Customer Success: Identify customer sentiment and churn risks from public sources. Finance: Review M&A activity, regulations, and cost structures. Operations & Logistics: Map suppliers, assess dependencies, and identify global disruptions. Each use case delivers a complete, verifiable report that replaces hours of manual analysis, and saves you $$$. Pro Tip: Use Deep Research when you need verified, multi-source insights - not just quick answers. Be specific by giving lots of context and include measurable objectives for best results.

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