AI Search and Deep Research Tools Compared: Perplexity vs ChatGPT vs Gemini vs Claude vs Grok vs Google in 2026
Update, July 2026: xAI has since announced Grok 4.5. See our Grok 4.5 breakdown, and our Grok 4.3 review for the model DeepSearch runs on today. A single Perplexity Deep Research query now runs dozens of searches, reads hundreds of sources, and delivers a cited report in 2 to 4 minutes. On the heavier end, ChatGPT Deep Research can browse the web for up to 30 minutes and pull from hundreds of pages. In 2026, every major AI tool has shipped its own version of search, deep research, or both, and the gap between “ask a question” and “commission a research assistant” has collapsed into a single click. This guide […]
