The chat research feature allows the AI assistant to perform searches and gather information to better answer your questions. When the assistant needs more information, it will show a “Researching” status, indicating it’s actively looking for relevant data.
GC AI's research feature in action showing search queries
This feature helps provide more accurate and up-to-date responses, especially for queries requiring current information or data beyond its initial training set.

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How it Works

Behind the scenes, the research feature utilizes specific tools:
  1. Web Search: When a general search is needed, the AI formulates queries (you might see these under the “Researching” status). It then uses a backend service to perform these searches (similar to using a search engine) and retrieves the top results.
  2. Web Scraping: The system then automatically “scrapes” or extracts the main textual content from the web pages found in the search results. If you provide a direct URL in the chat, the AI can also use a scraping tool to fetch the content directly from that specific page.
The retrieved text is then analyzed and synthesized by the AI to answer your question, often including citations that link back to the original source pages. This process allows the AI to access and utilize information from the live internet.