Research Assistant — Step-by-Step AI Workflow Guide
Research Assistant: Have AI scout, summarize, and compare information so you can make faster, better decisions.
Steps: 4 · Tools: 4
About this workflow
Have AI scout, summarize, and compare information so you can make faster, better decisions.
This AI workflow is broken into 4 practical steps, each matched with a recommended tool so you can execute end-to-end without piecing the stack together yourself.
Each step below lists the action to take and the recommended AI tool for that step. You can substitute alternatives from the same category if you already have a preferred tool.
Workflow steps
Step 1: Define Clear Research Question
Refine your vague idea into a precise research question and constraints.
Recommended tool: ChatGPT
Step 2: Scout Sources & Links
Have AI find and list high-quality sources, links, and reference material.
Recommended tool: Perplexity
Step 3: Deep Reading & Analysis
Use AI to deeply read, annotate, and extract key insights from collected sources and documents.
Recommended tool: Claude
Step 4: Generate Decision-Ready Summary
Ask AI to produce an executive summary with pros/cons, tradeoffs, and recommendations.
Recommended tool: Consensus
AI tools used in this workflow
- ChatGPT — OpenAI's flagship conversational AI, now powered by GPT-5.5 (April 23, 2026) — a natively omnimodal model with 1M token context...
- Perplexity — AI-powered search engine providing real-time answers with source citations. Features Deep Research for comprehensive reports an...
- Claude — Anthropic's flagship AI model, now powered by Opus 4.6 (Feb 5) and Sonnet 4.6 (Feb 17) with 1M token context window (beta). Lea...
- Consensus — AI-powered search engine that finds answers directly from peer-reviewed scientific research. Filters results by study type and ...
How to use this guide
Work through the steps in order. Each step's recommended tool is a suggestion — if you already use an equivalent tool, substitute it freely. Where steps feed into each other (outputs from step N become inputs for step N+1), keep artifacts organized in a shared folder or notebook.
Explore the full AI Workflows library for variations, the AI Tools Directory for alternatives, and our AI Blog for in-depth tutorials.
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