Perplexity
perplexity.ai
Answer engine with cited web search and Deep Research.
Elicit
elicit.com
AI research assistant for searching and summarizing papers.
Consensus
consensus.app
Search engine that finds answers in scientific research.
NotebookLM
notebooklm.google
Google's AI notebook grounded in your own sources.
Web answers with citations
Perplexity is an answer engine that searches the web and cites its sources inline. Its Deep Research mode runs a longer multi-step investigation and produces a report. Click through to the citations before relying on any claim.
Academic literature
Elicit helps you find papers, extract data from them into tables, and summarize findings. It's useful for literature reviews.
Consensus is a search engine over peer-reviewed research that surfaces what studies say about a question.
Your own sources
NotebookLM from Google answers questions grounded only in the documents, links and notes you upload, with citations back to your sources. It can also generate audio overviews.
A simple stack
Use Perplexity for quick orientation, Elicit or Consensus when you need peer-reviewed evidence, and NotebookLM to synthesize the sources you've collected. General assistants like ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini also offer deep-research features.
FAQ
Which AI tool is best for academic research?
Elicit and Consensus focus on scientific papers. NotebookLM is best for working with sources you already have.
Are AI research tools accurate?
They can still make mistakes or misread sources. Check the cited source for anything important.