DeepResearch Bench
Agents write cited research reports for 100 PhD-level tasks across 22 fields. Judges score report quality against references and check citation accuracy.
The official judge model changed from Gemini 2.5 Pro to GPT-5.5 in May 2026, so older and newer scores do not compare directly.
- Made by
- University of Science and Technology of China and Metastone Technology
- Released
- June 2025
- Kind
- Deep research
- Level
- Expert
- Scored
- Graded by a model
- Answers
- Open-ended
- Tasks
- All public
- Strongest model tested
- GPT-5.5 #20 on the capability index
- Last in a launch post
- February 2026, dropped before it saturated
- Last model added
- May 2026
- Scores refreshed
- November 12th, 2026
In the authors’ words
Deep Research Agents are a prominent category of LLM-based agents. By autonomously orchestrating multistep web exploration, targeted retrieval, and higher-order synthesis, they transform vast amounts of online information into analyst-grade, citation-rich reports–compressing hours of manual desk research into minutes. However, a comprehensive benchmark for systematically evaluating the capabilities of these agents remains absent. To bridge this gap, we present DeepResearch Bench, a benchmark consisting of 100 PhD-level research tasks, each meticulously crafted by domain experts across 22 distinct fields. Evaluating DRAs is inherently complex and labor-intensive. We therefore propose two novel methodologies that achieve strong alignment with human judgment. The first is a reference-based method with adaptive criteria to assess the quality of generated research reports. The other framework is introduced to evaluate DRA's information retrieval and collection capabilities by assessing its effective citation count and overall citation accuracy. We have open-sourced DeepResearch Bench and key components of these frameworks at https://github.com/Ayanami0730/deep_research_bench to accelerate the development of practical LLM-based agents.
Claude Opus 4.6 leads with 55.3% among models released by May 2026
Best score per model from evals.futuresearch.ai, as Epoch AI copied it. We don’t read that board ourselves yet. Where a model ran with several settings, we keep its best.
Claude Opus 4.6 leads with 55.3% across all independent runs
Best score per model across the official leaderboard, Epoch AI’s own runs and any board Epoch AI copied. Each bar and row names its source.
Claude Opus 4.6 leads with 55.3%, claims included
Best score per model from every source, including labs’ own numbers and claims Epoch AI collected from reports and papers. Labs pick their own settings, so a claim can beat an independent run of the same model.
The newest model with a score here came out in May 2026, and nobody has tested a newer one. Among the 20 highest-ranked models on the capability index, these have no score yet:
- Claude Fable 5.2
-
Gemini 4 Carbon
- GPT-6 Astra
- Claude Opus 5.5
- and 15 more
- 55.3 Claude Opus 4.6
- 54.9 Claude Sonnet 4.6
- 54.8 Claude Opus 4.5
- 54.0 GPT-5.5
- 50.2 Claude Opus 4.8
- 49.8
Gemini 3 Flash
- 49.6 GPT-5
- 48.3 Claude Opus 4.1
- 47.8
Gemini 3.1 Pro
- 47.5 Claude Sonnet 4.5
- 47.3 Grok 4
- 46.8 Claude Opus 4
- 46.6 Claude Sonnet 4
- 46.3
Gemini 3 Pro
- 45.5 Claude Haiku 4.5
- 45.2 o3
- 42.8 GPT-5.1
- 41.5
Gemini 2.5 Pro
- 41.1 GPT-5.2
- 37.3
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
- 36.3 GPT-5.4 Mini
- 35.1 GPT-5.4
- 1 Claude Opus 4.6 high 55.3%
- 2 Claude Sonnet 4.6 high 54.9%
- 3 Claude Opus 4.5 high 54.8%
- 4 GPT-5.5 high 54%
- 5 Claude Opus 4.8 high 50.2%
- 6
Gemini 3 Flash low 49.8%
- 7 GPT-5 low 49.6%
- 8 Claude Opus 4.1 48.3%
- 9
Gemini 3.1 Pro high 47.8%
- 10 Claude Sonnet 4.5 low 47.5%
- 11 Grok 4 47.3%
- 12 Claude Opus 4 2K 46.8%
- 13 Claude Sonnet 4 2K 46.6%
- 14
Gemini 3 Pro low 46.3%
- 15 Claude Haiku 4.5 low 45.5%
- 16 o3 medium 45.2%
- 17 GPT-5.1 low 42.8%
- 18
Gemini 2.5 Pro Jun 2025 41.5%
- 19 GPT-5.2 low 41.1%
- 20
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite low 37.3%
- 21 GPT-5.4 Mini low 36.3%
- 22 GPT-5.4 low 35.1%
Source: Evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0)
- 55.3 Claude Opus 4.6
- 54.9 Claude Sonnet 4.6
- 54.8 Claude Opus 4.5
- 54.0 GPT-5.5
- 50.2 Claude Opus 4.8
- 49.8
Gemini 3 Flash
- 49.6 GPT-5
- 48.3 Claude Opus 4.1
- 47.8 OpenAI deep research
- 47.8
Gemini 3.1 Pro
- 47.5 Claude Sonnet 4.5
- 47.3 Grok 4
- 46.8 Claude Opus 4
- 46.6 Claude Sonnet 4
- 46.3
Gemini 3 Pro
- 45.5 Claude Haiku 4.5
- 45.2 o3
- 42.8 GPT-5.1
- 41.5
Gemini 2.5 Pro
- 41.1 GPT-5.2
- 37.3
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
- 36.3 GPT-5.4 Mini
- 35.1 GPT-5.4
- 1 Claude Opus 4.6 high 55.3%
- 2 Claude Sonnet 4.6 high 54.9%
- 3 Claude Opus 4.5 high 54.8%
- 4 GPT-5.5 high 54%
- 5 Claude Opus 4.8 high 50.2%
- 6
Gemini 3 Flash low 49.8%
- 7 GPT-5 low 49.6%
- 8 Claude Opus 4.1 48.3%
- 9 OpenAI deep research GPT-5.5 judge 47.8%
- 10
Gemini 3.1 Pro high 47.8%
- 11 Claude Sonnet 4.5 low 47.5%
- 12 Grok 4 47.3%
- 13 Claude Opus 4 2K 46.8%
- 14 Claude Sonnet 4 2K 46.6%
- 15
Gemini 3 Pro low 46.3%
- 16 Claude Haiku 4.5 low 45.5%
- 17 o3 medium 45.2%
- 18 GPT-5.1 low 42.8%
- 19
Gemini 2.5 Pro Jun 2025 41.5%
- 20 GPT-5.2 low 41.1%
- 21
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite low 37.3%
- 22 GPT-5.4 Mini low 36.3%
- 23 GPT-5.4 low 35.1%
Sources: Evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0) and official DeepResearch Bench leaderboard
- 55.3 Claude Opus 4.6
- 54.9 Claude Sonnet 4.6
- 54.8 Claude Opus 4.5
- 54.0 GPT-5.5
- 53.3
Seed2.0 Pro
- 50.2 Claude Opus 4.8
- 49.8
Gemini 3 Flash
- 49.6 GPT-5
- 48.3 Claude Opus 4.1
- 47.8 OpenAI deep research
- 47.8
Gemini 3.1 Pro
- 47.5 Claude Sonnet 4.5
- 47.3 Grok 4
- 46.8 Claude Opus 4
- 46.6 Claude Sonnet 4
- 46.3
Gemini 3 Pro
- 45.5 Claude Haiku 4.5
- 45.2 o3
- 43.5
Seed1.8
- 42.8 GPT-5.1
- 41.5
Gemini 2.5 Pro
- 41.1 GPT-5.2
- 37.3
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite
- 36.3 GPT-5.4 Mini
- 35.1 GPT-5.4
- 1 Claude Opus 4.6 high 55.3%
- 2 Claude Sonnet 4.6 high 54.9%
- 3 Claude Opus 4.5 high 54.8%
- 4 GPT-5.5 high 54%
- 5
Seed2.0 Pro 53.3%
- 6 Claude Opus 4.8 high 50.2%
- 7
Gemini 3 Flash low 49.8%
- 8 GPT-5 low 49.6%
- 9 Claude Opus 4.1 48.3%
- 10 OpenAI deep research GPT-5.5 judge 47.8%
- 11
Gemini 3.1 Pro high 47.8%
- 12 Claude Sonnet 4.5 low 47.5%
- 13 Grok 4 47.3%
- 14 Claude Opus 4 2K 46.8%
- 15 Claude Sonnet 4 2K 46.6%
- 16
Gemini 3 Pro low 46.3%
- 17 Claude Haiku 4.5 low 45.5%
- 18 o3 medium 45.2%
- 19
Seed1.8 43.5%
- 20 GPT-5.1 low 42.8%
- 21
Gemini 2.5 Pro Jun 2025 41.5%
- 22 GPT-5.2 low 41.1%
- 23
Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite low 37.3%
- 24 GPT-5.4 Mini low 36.3%
- 25 GPT-5.4 low 35.1%
Sources: Evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0), labs’ model cards and official DeepResearch Bench leaderboard
| # | Model | Score | Setting | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 4.6 | 55.3% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 54.9% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 3 | Claude Opus 4.5 | 54.8% | high | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 4 | GPT-5.5 | 54% | high | Apr 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 5 | Claude Opus 4.8 | 50.2% | high | May 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 6 | | 49.8% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 7 | GPT-5 | 49.6% | low | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 8 | Claude Opus 4.1 | 48.3% | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 9 | | 47.8% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 10 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 47.5% | low | Sep 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 11 | Grok 4 | 47.3% | True | Jul 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 12 | Claude Opus 4 | 46.8% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 13 | Claude Sonnet 4 | 46.6% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 14 | | 46.3% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 15 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | 45.5% | low | Oct 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 16 | o3 | 45.2% | medium | Apr 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 17 | GPT-5.1 | 42.8% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 18 | | 41.5% | Jun 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 19 | GPT-5.2 | 41.1% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 20 | | 37.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 21 | GPT-5.4 Mini | 36.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 22 | GPT-5.4 | 35.1% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| # | Model | Score | Setting | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 4.6 | 55.3% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 54.9% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 3 | Claude Opus 4.5 | 54.8% | high | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 4 | GPT-5.5 | 54% | high | Apr 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 5 | Claude Opus 4.8 | 50.2% | high | May 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 6 | | 49.8% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 7 | GPT-5 | 49.6% | low | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 8 | Claude Opus 4.1 | 48.3% | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 9 | OpenAI deep research | 47.8% | GPT-5.5 judge | Feb 2025 | Official leaderboard |
| 10 | | 47.8% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 11 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 47.5% | low | Sep 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 12 | Grok 4 | 47.3% | True | Jul 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 13 | Claude Opus 4 | 46.8% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 14 | Claude Sonnet 4 | 46.6% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 15 | | 46.3% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 16 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | 45.5% | low | Oct 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 17 | o3 | 45.2% | medium | Apr 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 18 | GPT-5.1 | 42.8% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 19 | | 41.5% | Jun 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 20 | GPT-5.2 | 41.1% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 21 | | 37.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 22 | GPT-5.4 Mini | 36.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 23 | GPT-5.4 | 35.1% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| # | Model | Score | Setting | Date | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude Opus 4.6 | 55.3% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 2 | Claude Sonnet 4.6 | 54.9% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 3 | Claude Opus 4.5 | 54.8% | high | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 4 | GPT-5.5 | 54% | high | Apr 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 5 | | 53.3% | Feb 2026 | Lab model card | |
| 6 | Claude Opus 4.8 | 50.2% | high | May 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 7 | | 49.8% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 8 | GPT-5 | 49.6% | low | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 9 | Claude Opus 4.1 | 48.3% | Aug 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 10 | OpenAI deep research | 47.8% | GPT-5.5 judge | Feb 2025 | Official leaderboard |
| 11 | | 47.8% | high | Feb 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 12 | Claude Sonnet 4.5 | 47.5% | low | Sep 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 13 | Grok 4 | 47.3% | True | Jul 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 14 | Claude Opus 4 | 46.8% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 15 | Claude Sonnet 4 | 46.6% | 2K | May 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 16 | | 46.3% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 17 | Claude Haiku 4.5 | 45.5% | low | Oct 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 18 | o3 | 45.2% | medium | Apr 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 19 | | 43.5% | Dec 2025 | Lab model card | |
| 20 | GPT-5.1 | 42.8% | low | Nov 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 21 | | 41.5% | Jun 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI | |
| 22 | GPT-5.2 | 41.1% | low | Dec 2025 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 23 | | 37.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 24 | GPT-5.4 Mini | 36.3% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
| 25 | GPT-5.4 | 35.1% | low | Mar 2026 | evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI |
The benchmark's own leaderboard has 17 entries, 1 of them models we track. Labs report scores for 2 models in their cards. Switch the scores above to rank them together.
6 models have held number one on evals.futuresearch.ai since its release in June 2025 5 models have held number one across all independent runs since its release in June 2025 5 models have held number one with claims included since its release in June 2025
Lab claims count from the day the card came out, independent runs from the model’s release. We draw one row each for evals.futuresearch.ai, which Epoch AI copied and what labs claim in their cards.
Sources: Evals.futuresearch.ai, via Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0) and labs’ model cards
Scores over time
All the scores we have, one dot each, so a model tested at several settings appears more than once.
Sources: Official DeepResearch Bench leaderboard, other boards, via Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0) and labs’ model cards
Labs headline it less often now, last in February 2026
Launch posts from every lab that has listed it, one tick per post. Tall colored ticks include it, and short gray ones leave it out.
| Date | Launch post | Score | As the post writes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 14, 2026 | 53.3 | DeepResearchBench | |
| Dec 18, 2025 | 43.5 | DeepResearchBench | |
| Aug 21, 2025 | DeepResearch Bench RACE overall, English questions, Cohere's deep research agent powered by the model (chart only, about 48.6) |
2 system cards report it, from 1 lab
Besides launch posts, we read the system cards, model cards and technical reports labs publish with a release. They report far more, including safety and frontier-risk tests.
| Date | Document | Score | As the document writes it | Section |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 21, 2026 | | 43.5 | DeepResearchBench (Table 4) | Capabilities |
| Feb 14, 2026 | | 53.3 | DeepResearchBench (Table 11) | Capabilities |
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Gemini 4 Carbon 53.9%
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Gemini 4 Argon 90.7%
- BFCL V4 In use Models call functions and tools, including multi-turn agentic tasks with web search and memory. Checked against expected calls and outcomes.
Qwen3.7-Max 75%
- τ³-bench Banking In use Agents act as banking customer-service reps over many turns with a simulated user, following policy. Pass^1 on the final database state.
Qwen 3.8 Max 55.1%
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- DeepSearchQA In use Questions that need multi-step search and synthesis. Final answers graded against references. Kimi K3 95%