ChatGPT Deep Research

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

Agent

Deep Research can interpret and analyze text, images, and PDFs. It is based on a specialized version of OpenAI's o3 model.
Deep Research scored 26.6% on the "Humanity's Last Exam" benchmark, outperforming rivals like DeepSeek's model R1 and GPT-4o.
According to OpenAI, Deep Research occasionally makes factual hallucinations or incorrect inferences. It may also reference rumors, and may not accurately convey uncertainty.
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.
As of June 2025, ChatGPT Pro subscribers receive 250 queries per month, Plus, Team and Enterprise users receive 25 queries per month, and free users receive 5 "lightweight" queries per month.

Usage limit

OpenAI introduced "Deep Research", an autonomous research mode inside ChatGPT, in February 2025. 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. These figures have been corroborated by independent technology outlets covering the feature's rollout. 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." 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.