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Understanding Providers

This page explains how different providers work and when to use each one.

What is a "Deep Research" Provider?

Traditional AI chatbots answer questions from their training data. Deep research providers go further:

  1. Search the web for current information
  2. Read and synthesize multiple sources
  3. Provide citations for their claims
  4. Generate comprehensive reports rather than brief answers

How Providers Differ

Data Sources

Provider Primary Sources
OpenAI Web search, multiple domains
Perplexity Real-time web, news, forums
Edison Scientific papers (via PaperQA3)
Consensus Peer-reviewed academic papers only

Research Depth

Shallow (seconds): Quick web search, summarize top results

  • Perplexity sonar
  • Consensus

Medium (30s - 2min): More thorough search, cross-reference sources

  • Perplexity sonar-pro

Deep (2-15min): Extensive research, iterative refinement, comprehensive synthesis

  • OpenAI o3
  • Perplexity sonar-deep-research
  • Edison

Citation Quality

Best for academic citations:

  • Consensus - only peer-reviewed papers
  • Edison - scientific literature focus

Best for web citations:

  • Perplexity - good source attribution
  • OpenAI - comprehensive but less consistent formatting

OpenAI Deep Research

OpenAI's approach uses their o3/o4 models with web browsing capabilities.

How it works:

  1. Formulates search queries based on your question
  2. Browses multiple web pages
  3. Synthesizes information across sources
  4. Generates a comprehensive report

Strengths:

  • Most thorough analysis
  • Can interpret code and data
  • Excellent synthesis across diverse topics

Limitations:

  • Slowest option (5-15 minutes)
  • Most expensive
  • May have access restrictions on some sites

Perplexity AI

Perplexity combines LLM reasoning with real-time web search.

How it works:

  1. Parses your query into search intents
  2. Performs web searches
  3. Reads and extracts relevant content
  4. Synthesizes with source attribution

Three tiers:

  • sonar: Fast, basic web search
  • sonar-pro: More thorough, better reasoning
  • sonar-deep-research: Extensive multi-step research

Strengths:

  • Multiple speed/quality options
  • Good at current events
  • Transparent citations

Limitations:

  • Deep research mode can be slow
  • Quality varies by topic

Edison Scientific (Falcon)

Edison (formerly FutureHouse Falcon) specializes in scientific literature.

How it works:

  1. Powered by PaperQA3 - an AI system designed for scientific papers
  2. Searches scientific databases
  3. Reads full paper content (not just abstracts)
  4. Synthesizes findings with proper academic citations

Strengths:

  • Deep scientific literature coverage
  • Full paper analysis, not just abstracts
  • Good for biomedical and technical research

Limitations:

  • Slower than general web search
  • Less useful for non-scientific topics
  • May miss very recent papers

Consensus

Consensus focuses exclusively on peer-reviewed research.

How it works:

  1. Searches a curated database of academic papers
  2. Extracts findings relevant to your question
  3. Provides evidence-based summaries
  4. Only cites peer-reviewed sources

Strengths:

  • Only peer-reviewed sources
  • Good for "does X cause Y" type questions
  • Fast responses

Limitations:

  • Limited to their indexed papers
  • Not comprehensive for obscure topics
  • Can't access recent papers quickly

Combining Providers

For thorough research, use multiple providers:

# Quick overview
deep-research-client research "topic" --provider perplexity --model sonar

# Scientific depth
deep-research-client research "topic" --provider edison

# Academic consensus
deep-research-client research "topic" --provider consensus

# Comprehensive synthesis
deep-research-client research "topic" --provider openai

Cost vs Quality Trade-offs

The relationship between cost and quality isn't always linear:

Best value for general queries: Perplexity sonar-pro - good quality at moderate cost

Best value for academic queries: Consensus - low cost, high-quality academic sources

When to pay premium: Use OpenAI o3 when you need the most thorough analysis and can wait 10+ minutes

Provider Selection Flowchart

Is it about scientific research?
├── Yes → Is it about peer-reviewed evidence?
│   ├── Yes → Consensus
│   └── No → Edison
└── No → How much time do you have?
    ├── Seconds → Perplexity sonar
    ├── Minutes → Perplexity sonar-pro
    └── 10+ minutes → OpenAI o3