Note to Reader: This entire post was written by Open AI’s Deep Research model.
User: The prompt provided to it was: What is this?
Chat GPT: “Could you share more detail on what you’re referring to? Are you asking about a specific image, file, concept, or something else?”.
User: “Yes it looks like there is a little telescope that is highlighted for gpt”.
Chat GPT: “Thanks! I’ll look into what the little telescope icon next to GPT means, and what it does or represents in your interface. I’ll get back to you shortly with the explanation”.
The Telescope Icon in ChatGPT: Deep Research Mode
What It Represents and Does
The small telescope icon in the ChatGPT interface signifies Deep Research mode, a specialized AI feature for in-depth web research.
When this mode is engaged, ChatGPT acts as a research assistant that can “find, analyze, and synthesize hundreds of online sources” to produce a comprehensive, analyst-level report (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
In other words, Deep Research allows the AI to autonomously search the public internet and read through webpages (including text, PDFs, images, etc.) to answer complex questions.
The results are thorough and well-documented, with clear citations to sources in the output (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
This mode is designed for tasks requiring intensive knowledge gathering – for example, detailed market analyses, scientific research summaries, legal research, or any query where a quick answer isn’t enough and you need a carefully sourced report (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
In technical terms, Deep Research is powered by a version of OpenAI’s new reasoning model (called “o3”) that’s optimized for browsing and data analysis (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
This gives ChatGPT the ability to plan multi-step research: it will search for relevant information, follow links, interpret data (even in images or tables), and refine the search as needed.
The end result is a long-form answer (often several pages in length) with citations for each key point (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
Essentially, the telescope icon toggles an agentic research mode – you provide a prompt, and ChatGPT takes the time to investigate it deeply before responding, much like a human researcher would.
How to Use the Telescope Icon (Deep Research Toggle)
Location: The telescope icon appears just below the chat prompt box (in the message composer area). It serves as a toggle button for Deep Research.
By default, this icon is unselected (grey or not highlighted), meaning ChatGPT will answer using the standard model (e.g. GPT-4 or other model you’ve chosen) without doing an extended web crawl.
To engage Deep Research for a query, you simply click or tap the telescope icon so that it becomes highlighted (active).
OpenAI’s documentation notes that users can “select ‘Deep Research’ in the ChatGPT composer, enter their query, and attach relevant files or spreadsheets” as context if needed (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
In the web UI and mobile apps, tapping this icon turns on the Deep Research mode for your next message.
What happens next: Once the icon is highlighted (Deep Research enabled), you can submit your question as usual.
At this point, ChatGPT will not respond immediately. Instead, it will begin an agentic research process in the background.
You’ll see a sidebar or indicator showing that it’s searching and reading sources (the interface may show the steps it’s taking or sites it’s visiting) (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
Deep Research can ask you a quick follow-up question for clarification (in some cases) or automatically gather what it needs.
You won’t get an instant answer; responses take significantly longer – typically anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes for a Deep Research task, depending on complexity (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
Once finished, ChatGPT will present you with a detailed report as the answer in the chat. This report will include the information gathered, analysis, and citations linking to the source of each fact (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
You can scroll through it, copy content, or ask follow-up questions based on that report.
Steps to use Deep Research:
- Enable Deep Research: Click the telescope icon (Deep Research) below the message input so it’s highlighted (toggled on).
- Enter Your Query: Type your question or prompt as you normally would. You can ask for a thorough report or research on a topic. (Optionally, you can attach images or documents if they are relevant to your query, since Deep Research can also analyze attached files for more context (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).)
- Submit and Wait: Hit Enter (send) with the Deep Research icon active. ChatGPT will begin its extensive research. You may see a “research in progress” indicator or sidebar showing the AI’s thought process and the websites it’s checking (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center). During this time (several minutes), you can typically continue using ChatGPT in other chats or simply wait.
- Receive the Report: After the research is complete, the answer will appear in the chat. Expect a lengthy, well-structured response with headings, explanations, and footnote-style citations for verification (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center). For example, if you asked for a competitive market analysis, the output might be a multi-page report with sections and source links supporting each point.
Active vs. Inactive State of the Deep Research Icon
The telescope icon’s appearance (highlighted or not) indicates whether Deep Research mode is active for your current prompt. When the icon is highlighted (active), it signifies that your next question will be handled with Deep Research – ChatGPT will take extra time to browse the web and compile an in-depth answer.
In this state, the interface often also shows a brief label or tooltip (like “Deep research”) to confirm the mode.
Once you send a prompt with Deep Research active, the icon usually remains highlighted during the research process, and you might also see an option to stop the research if you change your mind (cancelling partway, though once it’s well underway there may be no undo) (The Deep Research button in the ChatGPT app is poorly placed, causing accidental presses, and needs a design fix – ChatGPT – OpenAI Developer Community).
On the other hand, when the telescope icon is not highlighted (inactive), ChatGPT will answer using the normal mode. Inactive is the default state – the chatbot will respond instantly or within a few seconds using its built-in knowledge (possibly with a quick web lookup if using a model that has browsing, but nothing like the extended deep dive).
In summary, highlighted = Deep Research on, and unhighlighted = Deep Research off. If you do not click the telescope icon, ChatGPT will not engage the extended research agent for that query (I asked ChatGPT to only do deep research when I ask for it … – Reddit).
This distinction is important because Deep Research is only meant for queries where you explicitly want a long, detailed investigation; it won’t activate unless you ask it to (to conserve those limited research uses).
Also note that when Deep Research is active and running, you should wait for it to finish (which can take minutes).
If it’s inactive, responses come much faster. OpenAI even suggests sticking with the standard GPT-4 mode (without deep research) for simple or real-time Q&A, since Deep Research trades speed for depth (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center). In other words, use the telescope toggle only when you truly need a heavy-duty answer; otherwise, leaving it inactive is fine for everyday questions.
Deep Research Availability and Recent Updates
Deep Research mode (and its telescope icon) is a relatively new feature in ChatGPT. OpenAI introduced it in early 2025 as an advanced capability for paid users. Initially it rolled out to ChatGPT Pro subscribers and certain enterprise users in a limited beta, but it was quickly expanded.
As of February 25, 2025, Deep Research became available to all users on paid plans – including Plus, Pro, Team (business), Enterprise, and Edu – across all platforms (Web, iOS, Android, macOS, and Windows) (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
If you’re a free-tier user, you won’t see the telescope icon at all (it’s not available on the free plan).
Because Deep Research consumes a lot of computational resources and time, OpenAI imposes monthly usage limits on it.
According to the official FAQ, Plus, Team, Enterprise, and Edu plan users get approximately 10 Deep Research queries per 30-day period, while Pro users get a higher quota (around 120 Deep Research queries per month) (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
These limits reset every 30 days from your first use. The interface will notify you if you are running out of Deep Research runs for the period. It’s wise to save your Deep Research usages for the most important or difficult questions due to these limits.
OpenAI continues to update and refine this feature. They have mentioned plans to enhance Deep
Research outputs with richer media – for example, embedded images, charts, and data visualizations in the research report to provide more context (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center). This means in the near future, when you use Deep Research, the lengthy answer might include not just text and citations but also charts or pictures that the AI finds or generates to illustrate key points (for now, the responses are primarily text-based with source links).
Additionally, OpenAI has been fine-tuning the underlying model (the o3 research model) to improve its reasoning and reduce errors during the autonomous research process (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
Lastly, it’s worth noting this telescope icon is one of several new tools in ChatGPT’s interface (others include icons for image generation, voice input, etc., depending on your platform and beta features).
The introduction of Deep Research is part of a broader trend of making ChatGPT more “agentic” – meaning it can perform actions like browsing or running code on behalf of the user.
Deep Research is a prime example of this, essentially acting as an AI research agent. Its addition to the interface (with a telescope symbol to suggest exploration) was a significant update, and OpenAI’s help guides and release notes highlight it as a key feature for power users (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India).
Summary: What is Chat Gpt Deep Research?
In summary, the telescope icon represents ChatGPT’s Deep Research mode. If it’s highlighted, you have turned on this powerful research assistant for your query – ChatGPT will then take longer and return a fully sourced deep-dive answer.
Users can interact with it by toggling that icon on/off before sending a message, attaching any relevant files if needed, and then allowing the AI to do its extended web investigation.
When inactive, the icon is just a shortcut waiting to be used, and ChatGPT will operate in normal fast-response mode.
This feature was introduced through official updates and is documented by OpenAI as a way to get “thorough, precise, and reliable research” out of ChatGPT, with the trade-off of longer wait times and limited uses (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center) (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).
It’s a powerful tool when you see it lit up – indicating your AI is about to peer through the ‘telescope’ and gather as much information as possible for you.
Sources: Deep Research FAQ – OpenAI Help Center (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center) (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center); OpenAI “Introducing deep research” (as reported by Times of India) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India) (OpenAI introduces new ChatGPT agent: What it is, how to use and more – The Times of India); OpenAI Release Notes (Deep Research FAQ | OpenAI Help Center).