ChatGPT's Deep Research tool can now output detailed PDFs - and I'm impressed

OpenAI

OpenAI's agentic AI Deep research tool, launched in February, can search the web and output a detailed report within 5-30 minutes, accomplishing a task that would take a person several hours. That handy tool just got even handier.

Also: How to use ChatGPT freely without giving up your privacy - with one simple trick

Output as a PDF

On Monday, OpenAI announced that users can now output their Deep Research reports as PDFs that include all the report's elements, including tables, images, sources, and linked citations. Creating the PDF is easy: All users have to do is tap the "download as PDF" option at the top of the report, as seen in the video below. 

The feature rolled out to ChatGPT Plus, Team, and Pro subscribers, and is coming soon to Enterprise and Edu users. The full version of Deep Research is available only to paid subscribers, but free users have access to a lightweight version that delivers shorter responses. 

Also: I tested ChatGPT's Deep Research against Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok AI to see which is best

Deep Research is an especially helpful feature for working professionals and students as it helps them conduct rich analysis of a topic with minimal work. However, in many of those cases, you would want to share the findings of your research with your team or colleagues. That's when exporting the AI's work to a neatly formatted PDF comes in handy; it enables everyone to easily access the same information, regardless of whether or not they use ChatGPT themselves. 

Trying the export PDF option

I tested the PDF-creating feature myself to see just how useful it was. As a ChatGPT Plus user, all I had to do was enter my prompt and click the Deep Research button on the search bar. The topic of my report was based on a recent discovery I made: "I would like a detailed report on the impact of sniffing on walks on a dog's health."

As part of the usual process, ChatGPT asked a couple of follow-up questions, defining exactly what I wanted the contents of the report to showcase. Then, once I answered the follow-up questions, the AI visited 22 sources, made 99 searches, and produced the report in nine minutes. 

When I expanded the report, I was immediately presented with the "Download as PDF" option next to the "Share link" option at the top of the report. The PDF was nicely formatted and clearly labeled with subheads delineating separate sections, citations, footnotes, photos, and ChatGPT's logo. I was surprised to see that even the footnotes had clickable links to be redirected to. I included some screenshots of the PDF below to give you an idea. 

Generated via ChatGPT by Sabrina Ortiz/ZDNET

Alternatives

Although this feature is new to ChatGPT, some other AI chatbots already offer the same or similar functionality. For example, you can use Google Gemini's Deep Research feature (yes, it's literally named the same thing) to create a report, and then you can export that report to Google Docs. 

Also: Google's 'I'm feeling lucky' button might soon be replaced by AI mode

You can also use Perplexity's Deep Research feature to export a PDF similar to that produced by ChatGPT. However, when comparing ChatGPT's Deep Research against the research features in Gemini, Perplexity, and Grok AI, ZDNET found ChatGPT to be the clear winner. 

(Disclosure: Ziff Davis, ZDNET's parent company, filed an April 2025 lawsuit against OpenAI, alleging it infringed Ziff Davis copyrights in training and operating its AI systems.)

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