O1 / Research

Research a decision. See the sources.

Frame the question, compare the evidence, and decide what to check next.

Explore the public preview. Live AI requires a verified account; supported workflows depend on enabled tools and account limits.

See how it works

ResearchWORKFLOW WALKTHROUGHExample

EXAMPLE REQUEST

I am choosing between a one-page portfolio and a multi-page portfolio for a freelance photographer. Compare the maintenance, navigation, and search tradeoffs. Search current primary sources, link the evidence, separate facts from your recommendations, and give me three questions to answer before choosing.

Illustrative research outline

Decision: One page or several pages? Evaluate against the photographer's work, services, and ability to maintain the site.
Evidence to collect: Primary documentation on crawlable links and page titles; examples of the actual content that needs its own page.

More example details

Unknown: How many distinct services and projects need to be found? Ask before recommending a structure.
Next step: Make a content inventory, then compare both structures against the same requirements.

01 / THE WORKFLOW

What can o1 help you do?

An AI research assistant is useful when a question has several plausible answers and you need to understand the tradeoffs. Start with the decision, the alternatives, and what would make an answer useful. In the signed-in o1 workspace, enabled web search can retrieve current information and present source links alongside the response.

Use o1 to organize the evidence before choosing a supplier, planning a launch, or learning an unfamiliar topic. Ask it to separate a source's claims from its own interpretation and to name the information it could not verify. The result is a starting point for your review; a fluent answer alone is not proof.

02 / THE BRIEF

Start with a specific prompt

Use this as a starting point. Replace the example details with your own task and constraints.

YOUR REQUEST
I am choosing between a one-page portfolio and a multi-page portfolio for a freelance photographer. Compare the maintenance, navigation, and search tradeoffs. Search current primary sources, link the evidence, separate facts from your recommendations, and give me three questions to answer before choosing.

This prompt is an example. Its outcome depends on the tools enabled in your workspace and the information you provide.

03 / GET STARTED

How to use the research

01
Give o1 a decision
Describe what you are choosing, who the answer is for, and your constraints. Include a time range, region, or budget when those would change the answer.
02
Request sources explicitly
In your signed-in chat, enable web search if available and ask for current primary sources. A planning-only reply or a reply without retrieved sources should not be treated as completed web research.
03
Ask for a comparison
Request a small table of criteria, evidence, and unresolved questions. Follow up on the weakest assumption instead of asking for a longer answer.
04
Review and act
Open the cited pages, confirm that they support the nearby claim, and check dates. Turn the result into a checklist or a draft you can review.

04 / YOUR CONTROL

Check the answer before relying on it

Does each link support the claim?

A citation can be relevant to the topic without proving the sentence. Read the original page and confirm its scope and date.

What remains uncertain?

Ask which facts are missing, which conclusions are inferred, and what evidence would change the recommendation.

Is the question bounded?

A useful brief such as 'compare these two options for this audience' usually produces a more reviewable answer than 'research my business'.

05 / CURRENT SCOPE

Know the limits before starting

The public demo shows a chat preview. Live AI requires a verified account; web research depends on the enabled tools in the signed-in workspace.
Web search in the signed-in workspace depends on enabled tools and service availability. o1 can make mistakes or miss a relevant source.
A source-linked response is not professional advice or an independent audit. Verify consequential decisions with appropriate expertise.

Check the workspace's current availability and account limits before starting a job. Your chat and connected tools may have different capabilities from the public demo.

06 / QUESTIONS

Before your first task

Can I try the research assistant before signing up?

You can explore the public demo preview and illustrative research walkthrough before signing up. Live AI replies require a verified account; current web research and source retrieval also require enabled tools in your signed-in workspace.

How do I get a useful comparison?

Name the options, the decision criteria, the audience, and any constraints. Ask for evidence and unknowns next to each criterion, then follow up on the item most likely to change your decision.

Does o1 guarantee that a cited answer is correct?

No. Open the sources, check the original wording and date, and distinguish retrieved evidence from the assistant's recommendations.

GUIDES & TEMPLATES