In this lesson
- What Research does that a normal search doesn't
- How to brief it
- When it's worth the usage
Search versus Research
A web search answers a quick factual question with one or two lookups.
Research is for questions that need many. Claude plans the investigation, runs a series of searches that build on each other, reads the results and writes a longer report with citations. It usually takes a few minutes.
If you've connected apps such as your email, calendar or documents, Research can draw on those as well as the web.
| Web search | Research | |
|---|---|---|
| Good for | A fact, a price, a headline | A comparison, a market overview, a briefing |
| Lookups | One or two | Five or more |
| Time | Seconds | Minutes |
| Output | A short answer with links | A report with citations |
| Plan | Free and up | Pro and up |