What you will be able to do
- Describe what Research does differently from a single web search
- State Research's plan availability, platforms and its web-search prerequisite
- Explain how Research can draw on connected sources such as Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs
- Choose between web search, extended thinking and Research for a given information need, and recognise the usage cost of Research
1.What Research does that a normal answer doesn't
Some questions need a single lookup. Others need an investigation: find sources, read them, notice what's still unanswered, search again, then put it all together. Research is the Claude feature built for the second kind. In the help centre's words, Claude "operates agentically". It runs several searches, each building on the previous ones, and decides by itself what to look into next. It covers different angles of the question automatically and works through open questions systematically.
The output is also different. Research produces a thorough answer in minutes, with easy-to-check citations, so you can trace each finding to its source. Compare that with asking Claude something in an ordinary chat and getting a quick reply. In Research you hand over a question and get back a sourced report.
Sources1
2.Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite
Research is only available on paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise), on the web, Claude Desktop and Claude Mobile. A free-tier user has no Research option at all.
One setting is a hard prerequisite: web search must be turned on, or Research won't work. To start Research, click the "+" button at the bottom left of the chat, then "Research". A blue indicator appears at the bottom of the chat window. Click it again to switch Research off.
Research can also search your own data. Once it's on, Claude searches your internal context as well as the web: Gmail, Google Calendar and Google Docs, when connected. Take planning a team offsite. Claude can check the shared calendar for free dates, read the budget emails and cross-reference venue reviews on the web, all in one Research session. That needs three things: a paid plan, web search on, and the relevant Google Workspace sources connected. To point Claude at a particular internal source, ask it to pull relevant context from that source.
A support team lead wants several colleagues to be able to view and use the same set of onboarding documents and a shared system of custom instructions when chatting with Claude, without each person needing to configure their own settings. Which feature addresses this on a Team or Enterprise plan?
Correct answer: A — A shared Project that team members are added to with view or edit permissions
- A. Correct. Team and Enterprise projects can be shared with specific members or the whole organization, with permission levels like 'Can use' and 'Can edit', giving everyone consistent access to the same knowledge base and instructions.
- B. Copying and distributing a single chat transcript does not give colleagues an ongoing shared, editable space with consistent instructions and knowledge.
- C. Research mode searches the web and connected sources on demand; it is not a mechanism for sharing a persistent internal knowledge base and instructions among team members.
- D. Exporting and emailing an artifact distributes a static file rather than providing an ongoing shared workspace with consistent instructions.
Sources1
3.Research vs web search vs extended thinking
Claude has three related capabilities for finding information and solving problems, and they are easy to mix up. The help centre gives each a distinct use case, and the right choice depends on two things: whether you need fresh information from outside, and how much of it.
| Capability | Best for | Example from the help centre |
|---|---|---|
| Web search | Straightforward, factual queries answerable with one or two tool calls; also when you want to steer what gets searched | "who won the Lakers game last night?" |
| Extended thinking | Complex reasoning that doesn't need recent info from the web | "optimize this algorithm for better performance" |
| Research | Comprehensive information gathering needing five or more tool calls over 1-3 minutes, synthesised into an in-depth report | Comparing business competitors; updating outdated internal documents with info from the web |
These capabilities can be combined. Extended thinking plus Research lets Claude plan its approach carefully and then gather information comprehensively, for example when researching emerging technologies for a business proposal or analysing several scientific papers. The result is a longer final report with proper citations. Research also works inside a Project whose knowledge base has grown large enough to trigger RAG, because RAG works with every Claude feature, Research included.
Extended thinking. This is complex reasoning that needs no recent information from the web, which is exactly the case the help centre gives extended thinking. Research would spend time and extra usage searching for sources the problem doesn't need.
4.Putting it together: matching the job to the feature
Combined with Projects and Artifacts, you can now answer most "which feature?" questions with three checks:
1. Does the context need to persist? If the same documents or instructions will be needed across many conversations, or by several teammates, put them in a Project. Anything every chat must see goes in the knowledge base. A single question can stay in a plain chat. 2. Does the answer need to be gathered? One or two quick lookups need web search. A multi-source investigation with citations, possibly including your connected email, calendar and docs, needs Research, which requires a paid plan and web search turned on. Pure reasoning with no outside information needs extended thinking. 3. Is the output something you'll keep working on? If it's substantial, self-contained and likely to be edited, reused or shared, it should be an artifact, which requires code execution and file creation to be enabled.
The checks answer different questions, so you can apply all of them to one task. A team could run Research inside a shared Project and turn the findings into a document artifact to circulate.
Exam traps
Each one states something that sounds right. Open it to see what is actually true.
1.Being on a paid plan is enough for Research to work.Why is that wrong?
Research also depends on web search. If web search is off, Research doesn't work, even on Pro, Max, Team or Enterprise.
Covered in Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite
2.Research is a separate allowance, so it doesn't eat into your normal usage.Why is that wrong?
Research counts against the same limits as ordinary conversations and can use them up faster.
Covered in Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite
3.Research is always the best choice whenever a question needs current web information.Why is that wrong?
A simple factual question that one or two lookups can answer is better handled by web search. Research is for multi-step gathering and synthesis.
Covered in Research vs web search vs extended thinking
Sources
Every claim above is drawn from one of these pages, quoted as it was written on the date shown.
- 1.
“conducting multiple searches that build on each other while determining exactly what to investigate next”
↩︎ What Research does that a normal answer doesn't“Claude delivers thorough answers in minutes, complete with easy-to-check citations”
↩︎ What Research does that a normal answer doesn't“Research is available for users with paid Claude plans (Pro, Max, Team, or Enterprise) using Claude on the web, Claude Desktop, or Claude Mobile.”
↩︎ Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite“You must have web search turned on for research to function.”
↩︎ Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite“across your internal context (such as Gmail, Google Calendar, and Google Docs when connected) and the web.”
↩︎ Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite“Research is subject to the same limits as standard Claude conversations.”
↩︎ Turning Research on: plans, platforms and the web-search prerequisite“You must have web search turned on for research to function.”
↩︎ Exam trap 1“research sessions can use up your limits faster due to Claude retrieving multiple sources and providing comprehensive responses.”
↩︎ Exam trap 2 - 2.https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11095361-when-should-i-use-web-search-extended-thinking-and-researchOfficial docs
“Extended thinking shines when tackling complex reasoning tasks that don't require recent info from the web”
↩︎ Research vs web search vs extended thinking“Research is optimal for comprehensive information gathering requiring five or more tool calls over 1-3 minutes”
↩︎ Research vs web search vs extended thinking“Combining extended thinking with research allows Claude to both plan its approach thoughtfully and execute comprehensive information gathering”
↩︎ Research vs web search vs extended thinking“Extended thinking on its own is best if you don't want to search the web or use integrations”
↩︎ Putting it together: matching the job to the feature“Web search is best for straightforward, factual queries that can be answered with one or two tool calls”
↩︎ Exam trap 3 - 3.https://support.claude.com/en/articles/11473015-retrieval-augmented-generation-rag-for-projectsOfficial docs
“RAG works with all Claude features, including web search, extended thinking, and Research.”
↩︎ Research vs web search vs extended thinking - 4.
“Claude will use these instructions for all the chats within the project.”
↩︎ Putting it together: matching the job to the feature - 5.https://support.claude.com/en/articles/17153992-what-are-artifacts-and-how-do-i-use-themOfficial docs
“It's significant and self-contained, typically over 15 lines.”
↩︎ Putting it together: matching the job to the feature