Best AI tools to research a topic
Get answers with sources you can check, or let an AI dig through the web and papers for you.
14 tools, ranked by how well reviewers rate them, how much people are talking about them this week, and how easy they are to start with. Filter by price, skill or device →
All tools for this task
Grok
Finding out what people are saying on X (Twitter) right now, and breaking news.
Perplexity
Quick answers with links to sources, so you can check where facts came from.
NotebookLM
Same family: Gemini
Asking questions about your own files, like PDFs, class notes, or reports, and getting answers based only on them.
Claude
Writing that sounds natural, careful thinking through tricky problems, and long documents.
ChatGPT
Everyday help with almost anything: questions, emails, plans, ideas, and pictures. Its voice mode lets you just talk.
Blumify People
Keeping up with what AI leaders are saying, in a few minutes a day.
Elicit
Students and researchers who need to sort through many research papers quickly.
Glean
Big companies that want one search box for all their work apps.
Consensus
Quickly checking what science says about a question, like 'Does creatine help memory?'
Harvey
Large law firms.
Masala (formerly Panel)
A research workspace where the AI can build its own panels and tools as it goes.
easyread
Read English research papers in Chinese, side by side with the original, and ask AI questions as you go.
ONGRID
A research engine for checking AI decisions. Very technical.
Carbon-A Database Explorer
A tool for scientists searching genome data. Nothing to do with everyday AI.