Rating · evidence to 26 Sept 2026
Not enough evidence
- Trust B
The Register / Research agents / ChatGPT deep research
Register entry · Research agents · updated 26 Sept 2026
ChatGPT deep research
OpenAI · Research agents
Deep research is an agentic mode inside ChatGPT, launched in February 2025, that proposes a research plan the user can edit, then searches the public web, uploaded files and eligible connected apps (read-only) and produces a structured report with citations. Research can be restricted to or prioritised on specific sites, followed live and interrupted. It runs on OpenAI's latest model by default (GPT-5.2 from February 2026 per OpenAI), with legacy models selectable, and usage is capped per plan.
What reviewers and users praise
- Produces long, structured reports that need little editing (Future Factors, Superkind)
- Users report it saving substantial research time, e.g. for travel planning and medical literature (HN)
What they criticise
- Slow and quota-limited; users on r/ChatGPTPro and HN report quality declines in 2026
- Citations less consistently reliable than Perplexity's; narrative can outrun sources (Superkind)
- Weak for comparison shopping in SEO-dominated product categories (HN)
Experts vs the crowdneeds both scores
Experts—
Crowd41
| Price | Custom |
|---|---|
| Use it via | Web app, Desktop app, Mobile app |
| Runs on | web, macos, windows, ios, android |
| Licence | proprietary |
| Updated | Evidence collected 26 Sept 2026 |
How the rating was worked out
Weights for Research agents: adoption 35%, experts 40%, crowd 25%. Fewer than two pillars have enough evidence. The method.
| Adoption & momentumweight 35% | — | No public reach signal found |
|---|---|---|
| Expertsindependent reviews · weight 40% | — | Only 2 independent reviews (3 needed) |
| Crowdcommunity sample · weight 25% | 41 | 11 dated posts from hackernews, reddit: 3 positive · 2 mixed · 6 negative (positive + ½ mixed) ÷ n, averaged toward 50 for small samples |
| Rating | — | Not rated: fewer than two pillars have enough evidence. |
Evidence checks. 3 items removed: date does not match the source (3). 1 review from tool directories, AI-written pages or unnamed authors not counted. 2 items could not be checked at the source (the page could not be fetched, or the quote is from a comment under the linked post); kept and marked “unverified”. How evidence is checked.
Trust & safety
Seven dimensions graded A–D from documented facts. Overall: B.
B
Permission model
The user reviews and can modify a proposed research plan before it starts, can interrupt at any time, and connected apps are used with read actions only ('It does not use app write actions as part of research'). No per-action approval; runs in OpenAI's hosted environment. source
A
Data access scope
Research can be restricted to user-specified sites/domains; connected-app access respects provider permissions and workspace settings; Enterprise/Edu admins control access via RBAC. source
B
Data storage
Cloud service; deep research results follow the conversation's retention policy and deleting the chat deletes its research outputs; workspace retention settings apply for business plans. source
C
Data retention & training
Deep research follows regular ChatGPT data controls. For consumer plans, conversations train OpenAI models unless 'Improve the model for everyone' is turned off (opt-out); business plans are not trained on by default. source
n/e
Incident history (24 months)
Not researched in depth for deep research specifically. A 2025 third-party report of a connector-based data-exfiltration issue in deep research could not be verified with the tools available.
A
Compliance
OpenAI Trust Portal: SOC 2 Type 2 covering API Platform, ChatGPT Enterprise, Edu and Team; ISO 27001/27017/27018/27701 certified. Consumer plans are not listed in the SOC 2 scope. source
B
Transparency
Closed source; detailed help-centre documentation and ChatGPT release notes. source
The experts
2 named independent reviews found; dated reviews from the last 12 months are scored.
- mixed
Slow, and its citations, while present, are less consistently reliable than Perplexity’s; it can present a confident narrative that outruns its sources.
Henri Jung (Superkind; sells a 'Company Brain' product) · 30 Jul 2026 · superkind.ai - mixed
Use ChatGPT Deep Research when the run needs explicit source controls and portable output.
Jet New (Atlas Workspace; sells a source-verification tool) · 5 Jul 2026 · atlasworkspace.ai
The crowd
11 coded posts from hackernews, reddit.
3 positive2 mixed6 negative
- positive
I've been planning vacations with ChatGPT's Deep Research since it became available. Absolutely brilliant!
Siri AI (comment by nickpp) · 9 Jun 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
I fed all the data I got into ChatGPT deep research and it came back with an NIH study
ChatGPT Health (comment by linsomniac) · 8 Jan 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - positive
It has unironically saved me a lot of time I would have otherwise spent going down rabbit holes.
OpenClaw is a security nightmare dressed up as a daydream (comment by volkercraig) · 22 Mar 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
The current AI-meta-shopping-research experience (using e.g. ChatGPT Deep Research) is largely garbage
Global Intelligence Crisis (comment by formerly_proven) · 22 Feb 2026 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
ChatGPT deep research does this but it’s weird and forced because it asks one series of questions and then goes off to the races
The "confident idiot" problem (comment by wincy) · 8 Dec 2025 · news.ycombinator.com - mixed
if you’re an expert, you’ll quickly spot errors since the breadth is huge but the depth and accuracy are only so-so.
Grokipedia by xAI (comment by nake13) · 28 Oct 2025 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
Deep Research works better than OpenAI's deep research given their search expertise.
Microsoft has a problem: lack of demand for its AI products (comment by outside1234) · 8 Dec 2025 · news.ycombinator.com - negative
strangely enough, ChatGPT nerfed its Deep Research offering
ChatGPT lost 22 points of web share in a year (comment by OutOfHere) · 16 Aug 2026 · news.ycombinator.com
Pricing
As published, checked 26 Sept 2026.
| Plan | Price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Plus / Pro / Business / Enterprise | Custom | Deep research is included in ChatGPT plans with per-plan monthly task allowances ('Deep research usage varies by plan'); plan prices and exact allowances could not be read (chatgpt.com/pricing returned 403). OpenAI paused new sign-ups to the $200 Pro 20X plan from 10 Sep 2026 (help-centre search snippet). |
Recent changes
- 20 Feb 2026
Deep research updated to run on GPT-5.2, with connected apps and site-specific search (per an OpenAI post cited on HN and OpenAI's 'Updates to deep research in ChatGPT' video). source
Sources
Every figure above traces to one of these, observed up to 26 Sept 2026.
- OpenAI Help Center: Deep research in ChatGPT (read via Bright Data; page 'Updated: 4 days ago')
- OpenAI video 'Updates to deep research in ChatGPT' (search snippet: 'Deep research in ChatGPT is now powered by GPT-5.2')
- About ChatGPT Pro tiers (search snippet: new Pro 20X sign-ups paused from Sep 10, 2026)