How to research a topic with AI and get sources you can actually cite
You need to understand a topic quickly and back up what you write with real sources, but chatbots sometimes invent references.
Best pick: PerplexityUp to 4h savedAI for research
Reading, summarizing and fact-checking in a fraction of the time.
Guides
- Best pick: PerplexityUp to 4h saved
How to summarize a long PDF or contract with AI (without missing the important parts)
You have a 60-page report or contract and need the key points, numbers and risks today, without reading every page.
Best pick: ClaudeUp to 2h savedWhat is an AI model, and why do new ones come out every week?
Every week brings a new AI model with a confusing name, and you can't tell which ones matter for your work.
Tools for research
All tools
Consensus
by Consensus
Searches peer-reviewed papers and summarizes what the research says.
Free; Pro $20/mo or $144/yr; Deep $65/mo
Privacy & risks
- Trains on your data
- No
- Minimum age
- 13+
· Checked Oct 2026
Elicit
by Elicit
Finds, screens and pulls data from academic papers for literature reviews.
Free; Plus $11/user/mo billed yearly
Gemini
by Google
Google's assistant, built into Gmail, Docs, Sheets and Search.
Free; AI Plus $4.99/mo; AI Pro $19.99/mo; AI Ultra from $99.99/mo (US)
Privacy & risks
- Conversations can be read by human reviewers. Activity auto-deletes after 18 months by default (you can change this); temporary chats are kept for up to 72 hours.
- A proposed class action over Gemini data tracking (Thele v. Google) was dismissed with leave to amend in July 2026. Google moved to dismiss the amended complaint in September 2026.
Julius AI
by Julius AI
Analyzes spreadsheets and data files and makes charts from plain-English questions.
Plus $20/mo ($16/mo yearly)
Privacy & risks
- Trains on your data
- No
- Minimum age
- 18+
- Says it does not train on your personal information.
· Checked Oct 2026
Kimi
by Moonshot AI
Assistant for long documents, research and coding, powered by the open-weight Kimi K3.1 models.
Gemini Notebook
by Google
Formerly NotebookLM. Upload your own sources and ask questions grounded in them.
Privacy & risks
- Trains on your data
- No
- Google renamed NotebookLM to Gemini Notebook on July 16, 2026.
- Your sources and chats are not used for training unless you send feedback. Workspace and education accounts are not reviewed by humans.
Perplexity
by Perplexity AI
Answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources.
Privacy & risks
- Trains on your data
- Yes, opt-out
- Minimum age
- 13+ (minors need a parent's acceptance)
- "AI Data Retention" (use of your data for training) is on by default for Free, Pro and Max. Enterprise data is never used for training.
- In August 2026 the Ninth Circuit vacated a preliminary injunction Amazon had won against Perplexity's AI agent shopping on its site.
ResearchRabbit
by ResearchRabbit
Maps citation networks so you can discover related papers visually.
Free; RR+ $10/mo yearly ($12.50 monthly)
Scite
by Research Solutions
Shows whether later papers support or dispute a study's claims.
7-day trial; Basic $12/mo billed yearly
Privacy & risks
- Trains on your data
- No
- Minimum age
- 13+
- Its terms say customer data is not used for training.
· Checked Oct 2026
Undermind
by Undermind
Search agent that reads hundreds of papers to find the ones you actually need.
Pro $16/mo billed yearly
Privacy & risks
- Minimum age
- 18+
· Checked Oct 2026