How Can ChatGPT Enhance the Process of Creative Writing (2025 Guide)

The latest AI assistants can now conduct "deep research" – autonomously searching the web, analyzing dozens of documents, and synthesizing the findings into a detailed report. OpenAI introduced ChatGPT Deep Research in early 2025 as "a new agentic capability that conducts multi-step research on the internet for complex tasks". In practice, you give it a query and the AI "will find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources to create a comprehensive report at the level of a research analyst". This is far more than a quick chat reply: Deep Research can scour dozens of sites, extract key data (even compiling statistics), and organize the answer into structured sections and tables. The result is an almost report-ready answer, complete with citations, which saves users hours of manual searching.

Modern deep-research tools integrate advanced language models with live web access. Instead of relying on a fixed knowledge base, they browse the internet, read articles and PDFs, and reason through the information step by step. In effect, these AI assistants act like virtual researchers: OpenAI's blog explains that Deep Research "independently discovers, reasons about, and consolidates insights from across the web" to handle tasks that would otherwise take a human many hours.

Both ChatGPT and Google's new Gemini assistant now offer such deep research modes, aiming to make complex queries – from market analyses to technical literature reviews – fast and thorough.

1. What is Deep Research?

Deep Research refers to AI modes designed for autonomous, multi-step inquiry. Unlike a normal ChatGPT query that returns an answer from its trained model, Deep Research actively plans and executes an information-gathering strategy. As OpenAI explains, Deep Research "digs deep into the public web, gathering, analyzing, and synthesizing information from hundreds of sources," whereas a standard query gives only a quick summary. In other words, Deep Research can be thought of as having a built-in research analyst: you pose a question and the AI goes off to search and compile the data it finds. For example, rather than simply asking "What is the global electric car market?", you could use Deep Research to get a multi-page report with market size, trends, and citations.

ChatGPT Deep Research

OpenAI introduced it as an agentic tool: once started, it spends up to 5–30 minutes autonomously exploring documents and web pages.

Gemini Deep Research

Google's Gemini likewise added a Deep Research mode around late 2024, leveraging Google Search in an iterative way.

According to Google, Gemini Deep Research "tackle[s] your complex research tasks by breaking them down, exploring the web to find answers, and synthesizing findings into comprehensive results". In practice, the assistant might show you a step-by-step plan of what it intends to research, ask clarifying questions if needed, and then proceed to gather information. Both systems present the user with an end-to-end report. For example, OpenAI notes that Deep Research can produce tables, charts, and even plans to make its output more useful.

2. How ChatGPT Deep Research Works

ChatGPT's Deep Research is a special mode of ChatGPT that can access current web content and tools. To use it, a user (with the appropriate subscription) switches to the "Deep Research" option in the ChatGPT interface and enters a query. ChatGPT then proceeds without further prompting. It may ask an initial clarifying question or two, then buses itself off to browse, search, and read. Over the course of several minutes, it digests news articles, reports, and databases. When finished, it returns a detailed answer in the chat, complete with headings and citations.

Key features of ChatGPT's Deep Research include:

Automated Planning

Once you start the task, the AI autonomously plans its approach. It decides what sub-questions to ask and in what order to tackle them.

Multi-Modal Inputs

You can give it files or images as context (e.g. spreadsheets, PDFs, or photos) and it will incorporate them into its research.

Iterative Refinement

During the run, ChatGPT shows a "thinking" sidebar summarizing its progress (in newer versions). After the full report arrives, you can continue asking follow-up questions in the same chat, essentially treating the answer as a draft to refine.

Structured Output

The final answer is organized and ready-to-use. ByteBridge notes that Deep Research "delivers information in a ready-to-use format," often with a formal introduction, bullet-point sections, and source links.

Example Prompt: "You are a market research analyst. Provide a comprehensive report on the global electric vehicle (EV) market, including market size, key players, recent trends, and future projections. Cite sources for all major data points."

3. How Google's Gemini Deep Research Works

Google has implemented a similar capability in its Gemini AI assistant, also labeled Deep Research. In late 2024, Google announced that Gemini (the successor to Bard) would include an agentic research mode. Like ChatGPT, Gemini's Deep Research multiplies human effort by automating the grunt work of online research.

Plan

Gemini formulates a detailed research plan, breaking problems into manageable sub-tasks

Execute

Uses Google Search and browsing tools to collect information step by step

Synthesize

Compiles findings into comprehensive reports with key themes and sources

For the user, interacting with Gemini Deep Research often looks like this: you enter a query in the Gemini chat interface, review the proposed research plan (tweaking it if needed), and click "Start research." Then you wait a few minutes while the agent works. The result is presented as a clean report in Gemini's chat window. Google envisions Deep Research helping with things like competitor analyses, product comparisons, or any "topic understanding" that requires gathering info from multiple perspectives. In all cases, the goal is the same: let the AI do the time-consuming digging and synthesis.

4. What Deep Research Can Do (Use Cases)

Deep Research tools are useful whenever you need a thorough, compiled answer rather than a quick fact. Both OpenAI and Google highlight similar kinds of use cases:

Business & Market Research

Competitive analysis and market landscape mapping
Product comparisons and feature analysis
Due diligence on companies and industries
Sales and marketing intelligence

Academic & Content Creation

Academic literature reviews and technical overviews
Content creation support for writers and marketers
Trend spotting across news and social media
Personal research tasks and fact-checking

In essence, Deep Research is best for multi-part questions and data-intensive tasks. It shines when you need a big picture or high confidence in accuracy.

5. Getting Started and Best Practices

1

Access Requirements

Paid ChatGPT plans (Plus, Team, Enterprise) or Google Gemini with query limits

2

Initiate Research

Select "Deep Research" mode, enter prompt, and wait 5-30 minutes for results

3

Refine Output

Review structured report with citations and ask follow-up questions

Best Practice Prompt Example:

"You are a technology analyst. Provide a detailed report comparing the top three cloud computing platforms (e.g. AWS, Azure, Google Cloud). Include sections on pricing, performance, popular use cases, and market share. Cite recent statistics and sources for each point."

6. Limitations and Tips

Important Considerations:

Information quality: The AI is only as good as the data it finds and may struggle to distinguish trustworthy facts from rumors
Scope and context limits: May miss details on extremely broad topics and only searches publicly available content
Time and cost: Each query takes 5-30 minutes and is limited to paid subscribers
User oversight: Human judgment is still needed to verify critical details and sources
Evolving technology: Both OpenAI and Google continue to improve these systems with new features

In summary, Deep Research tools represent a major advance in AI-assisted research: they can dramatically speed up complex information gathering and deliver well-structured insights. According to OpenAI, this brings us "a significant step toward" their goal of having AI tackle real-world problems that require extensive context and analysis. For professionals, marketers, students, or anyone needing in-depth answers, Deep Research can be an invaluable new assistant – provided you guide it carefully and always verify the findings.