Research Like a Pro with AI

Second Edition – 2026

Feature Comparison Chart

AI Apps – Feature Comparison 1 March 2026

Templates

Research Project Document

In this workbook, you’ll follow the Research Like a Pro Process by doing your own project. We’ve provided a project document that you can use for writing your objective, creating a research plan, and writing your report.

Make a copy of the Research Project Document template in Google Drive by following the steps below.

Rename the document: “[ancestor’s name] – Research Project”

Move the file by clicking FILE > MOVE. Select an appropriate location in your Google Drive for the document.

You can download the research project document template as a Word document by clicking FILE > DOWNLOAD AS > MICROSOFT WORD DOCX FILE.

Airtable Research Log

Create a free Airtable account. Copy the Airtable Base by choosing a template below and clicking “use template.”

• RLP with DNA 4.2 (2026) Log: https://www.airtable.com/universe/expZK34sNsy53YDP4/rlp-with-dna-research-log-42-2026 – this base includes example data, for those just starting with Airtable and need to see examples
• RLP with DNA 4.2 (2026) Log Blank: https://www.airtable.com/universe/expPoFdYrHNt4kaNo/rlp-with-dna-research-log-42-2026-blank –  this base does not include example data, for those experienced with Airtable

Citations Templates

Diana’s Source Citation Templates Google Sheet – make a copy of this and download as an XLSX file so you can upload it to the project knowledge of Claude or ChatGPT.

Nicole’s “Genealogy Source Citations” Custom GPT (privately shared by link, not publicly in the GPT store): https://chatgpt.com/g/g-xUZoMM0ej-genealogy-source-citations

Research Plan Example

View the John Robert Dyer research plan created by Claude with a project and reasoning mode here: https://claude.ai/share/18041c24-dd80-4746-90f0-1f3e254e97f4

Research Report Template

Click the link below to make a copy of the research report template:

Final Research Report Template

Rename the document: “[your name] – Research Report.” Move the file by clicking FILE > MOVE. Select an appropriate location in your Google Drive for the document. You can download the final research report template as a Word document by clicking FILE > DOWNLOAD > MICROSOFT WORD DOCX FILE.

 

 

First Edition – 2025

Updates Since Publication

2026
For updates after January 28, see second edition.
January 28: Gemini’s “Auto Browse” agentic web browser tool available in the Chrome browser for users in the U.S. for paid plans.
January 27: Google AI Plus plan announced at $7.99 per month
January 16: ChatGPT introduced “Go” paid plan at $8 per month (in between free and Plus for $20/mo).

2025
December 18: Claude in Chrome browser extension released for paid subscribers of Claude.
November 13: ChatGPT now has group chats – share a conversation by link with 1-20 people to all participate together.
October 22: ChatGPT Projects can be shared with others for all plans, including free users.
October 21: ChatGPT released Atlas browser to macOS users, with other versions coming soon.
October 3: Perplexity Comet browser available for free users with limits.
October 8: Anthropic changed their terms of service to train on users’ data by default unless turned off in settings.
September 3: ChatGPT Projects feature available for free users.
August 29: ChatGPT renamed Team plan to ChatGPT Business.
August 15: Gemini now has temporary chats.
July 9: Perplexity launched its AI-powered Comet browser for paid subscribers
June 9: Claude now has web-searching for all and Research.
May 27: Claude has web-searching for all users including those on the free plan.
May 22: Claude free users can use Sonnet 4 which includes extended thinking.
May 20: Google (Gemini) introduced “Google AI Ultra” plan at $249.99 per month
April 9: Anthropic (Claude) introduced “Max” plans for high usage: Max 5x ($100/mo), Max 20x ($200/mo)
March 25: Gemini 2.5 incorporates reasoning/thinking for free users.
March 20: Claude can now search the web – for paid users in the U.S.
March 18: Gemini now has Canvas, a side-by-side interface allowing collaboration between users and Gemini; available to free and paid users. Also, the Gemini web application has Audio Overview (originally only at NotebookLM).
March 13: Gemini now allows free users to try Deep Research a few times a month. Free users can also make Gemini Gems (expert chatbots with saved instructions).

Favorite AI Tools Table Update History

• 1 March 2026: Many updates added for second edition of Research Like a Pro with AI: “AI Apps – Feature Comparison 1 March 2026“
• 7 February 2026: Added an Agentic Browsers row to include Google Chrome’s “Auto Browse” with Gemini (paid palns), ChatGPT’s Atlas Browser (macOS only), and the Anthropic in Chrome browser extension. Updated Agent Mode row. Updated Claude’s privacy to reflect that it now trains on users’ data by default unless turned of in privacy settings (which began October 8).
• 13 January 2026: Added row for Memory feature, updated wording of image generators row to remove specific model names; updated wording of PDF analysis row; updated Agent mode row wording; added that Gemini gems are now shareable; updated image generation limits and wording
• 6 January 2026: Updated Projects for ChatGPT showing that free users can access, and the collaboration row for ChatGPT now that free users can share projects. Changed Reasoning feature for Claude to reflect that free users have limited access to extended thinking mode (when using Sonnet). Added a row for Agent mode, available in ChatGPT for paid users, Gemini for free and paid, and Perplexity free and paid.
• 26 August 2025: Changed privacy for Gemini to new name for apps activity: “keep activity” (this is the setting to turn off keeping activity for Google’s training purposes); updated ChatGPT free context window from 8k tokens to 16k tokens; added Chatgpt’s thinking context window for all paid tiers to 196k tokens.
• 15 August 2025: Gemini now has temporary chats
• 7 June 2025: Updates to the Deep Research row: Claude now has Research, ChatGPT deep research changes to free and plus limits, Gemini updates to free and advanced plan limits for deep research; Gemini has a temporary chat mode when not logged in, added row for mobile app, Claude web searching available to all
• April 2025: Claude has web searching for paid U.S. users
• 6 March 2025: fixed erroneous context windows in first row about the free plan
• 20 March 2025: included Gemini Canvas and audio overview for all users, Gemini Deep Research for free users, Gemini Gems for free users, and Claude web searching for paid users in the U.S.
• 3 April 2025: incorporated new Gemini reasoning/thinking model for free users
• 23 April 2025: updated perplexity’s decrease from 5 to 3 pro searches/day, added the specific reasoning models available at Perplexity, changed the name of Gemini’s code interpreter to “analysis tool” that can write code and produce diagrams; added note that Gemini’s Canvas tool allows users to edit

Edits to First Edition Spiral Bound Workbook sold at RootsTech 2025

p. 16 – “Limitations: A this time, ChatGPT does not analyze images within PDF documents, though this feature is planned.”

p. 23 – Comparison chart first row: should only say “usage limits” for ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini.