ChatGPT Deep Research

Deep Research is an AI agent integrated into ChatGPT,^[1][2] which generates cited reports on a user-specified topic by autonomously browsing the web for 5 to 30 minutes.^[3]

Deep Research
Developer(s)	OpenAI
Initial release	February 3, 2025; 5 months ago (2025-02-03)
Type	AI agent
Website	openai.com/index/introducing-deep-research/

Agent

Deep Research can interpret and analyze text, images, and PDFs.^[4] It is based on a specialized version of OpenAI's o3 model.^[4]

Deep Research scored 26.6% on the "Humanity's Last Exam" benchmark, outperforming rivals like DeepSeek's model R1 (9.4%) and GPT-4o (3.3%).^[5]

According to OpenAI, Deep Research occasionally makes factual hallucinations (errors) or incorrect inferences.^[4] It may also reference rumors, and may not accurately convey uncertainty.^[6]

In April 2025, OpenAI announced a "lightweight" version of Deep Research that would be available to free users, based on o4-mini instead of o3.^[7]

As of June 2025, ChatGPT Pro subscribers ($200/month) receive 250 queries per month (half of which are "lightweight"), Plus, Team and Enterprise users receive 25 queries per month (15 of which being "lightweight"), and free users receive 5 "lightweight" queries per month.^[8]

Usage limit

OpenAI introduced "Deep Research", an autonomous research mode inside ChatGPT, in February 2025.^[9][10] According to the company's support documentation, ChatGPT Plus, Team and Enterprise subscribers are allotted 10 "full-model" Deep Research queries every 30 days, followed by 15 additional queries on a cheaper "lightweight" model; Pro subscribers receive 125 + 125 queries, while free users get 5 lightweight queries.^[11] These figures have been corroborated by independent technology outlets covering the feature's rollout.^[12][13][14] The quota is not displayed proactively in the ChatGPT interface; users are informed of the limit only after exhausting their allowance, at which point a banner states when new queries "will be available again."^[15][16] Tech journalists and users have criticized this reactive disclosure, arguing that the uncertainty incentivises heavy users to upgrade to the US $200-per-month Pro tier that offers larger allowances.^[17][18]