What is deep research?
Also: Research mode, agentic research
Deep research is an assistant mode that works for minutes, not seconds: it plans a task, runs many searches, reads dozens of pages and writes a long, cited report. ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity offer such modes. Reports cite many sources, so thorough, well-structured pages have a chance of being used.
Why it matters for GEO
Buyers use these modes for big decisions such as choosing software. The sources they read are broader than in a quick answer, so clear comparison, pricing and documentation pages count.
Example: asked to compare project tools for a 50-person firm, an assistant works for several minutes and returns a cited report with 30 sources.
Read more: How ChatGPT chooses which brands to recommend