Work9 min read
How to turn AI research into a cited report you can send
The Draimo team
Short answer
Do the research and the writing as two steps. First ask Draimo's Agent Mode, which searches current public sources and cites every one as a link you can open. Read the answer and check the sources that matter. Then press Make a document under that answer: the research goes into the document flow, and you choose the citation style, the length and the format of the report.
Try it in Draimo
Research, then write
- Research the current state of heat pump adoption in US homes: incentives, installed cost ranges and the main barriers, with sources
- Compare the three largest US meal-kit companies on price per serving, delivery area and recent results, with a source for every figure
- Agent Mode
- Researches current public information and cites every source, so the facts going into a document can be checked.
- Monthly and yearly plans
- Documents
- Writes reports, proposals and decks from your brief and files, and downloads them as Word, PDF, PowerPoint or Excel.
- Draimo Pro
- Projects
- Keeps everything for one goal together: documents, sites and research.
- Every plan
Why research and writing should be separate steps
When one prompt does the research and the writing at once, you cannot tell which sentences rest on a source and which rest on the model's memory. Separating the steps fixes that. The research answer shows its sources. You read it, open the sources behind the claims you will rely on, and only then build the document from it.
This is also how Draimo is built. Agent Mode searches the live web and cites every source. Document writing works from your brief, your files and the research you hand it; it does not browse while it writes. Each step does one job, and you can check each one.
Step one: research that shows its work
Ask Agent Mode the question you would give a research assistant, with the scope spelled out: the country, the period, the figures you need. It shows each step as it works, searching, reading and checking, and its answer cites sources inline as links. Where a fact could not be found, a good answer says so rather than filling the gap.
Read it the way you would read a colleague's draft. Open the sources behind any figure the report will depend on. Ask follow-up questions in the same conversation: "which of these figures is older than 2024?", "find a second source for the installed cost".
Step two: make the document from the answer
Press Make a document under the answer. The answer and the question that produced it go straight into the document flow, which asks who the report is for, how long it should be and what format you need. Choose the citation style: APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard or IEEE. Then watch it go through Outline, Write, Edit, Check, Design and Review.
Before you send it, check that every source you relied on appears in the report's references, and that each figure in the text matches its source.
Choosing a citation style
Use the style your reader expects. If nobody has said, these are the usual choices in the US:
| Style | Usually used in |
|---|---|
| APA | Psychology, education, social sciences, many business reports |
| MLA | Literature, languages and the humanities |
| Chicago | History, publishing and some business writing |
| Harvard | Common in the UK and Australia, and in many international reports |
| IEEE | Engineering, computing and technical reports |
How to check an AI research report
A cited report is only as good as its weakest citation. Run these checks before it leaves your hands; the guide on how to check an AI answer goes further.
- Open the source behind every number the conclusion depends on.
- Check the date of each source against the date of the claim.
- Prefer primary sources: the agency, the company's own filing, the study itself.
- Look for a second source for any surprising figure.
- Read the limitations section, and add one if the report has none.
Keep it together, and keep it current
Put the research conversations, the report and any later versions in one project. When the topic moves, ask Agent Mode for what changed since your report, then ask for an edit in plain words: "update section 2 with the new incentive amounts". Each edit is a new version, and earlier versions can be restored.
What it costs
Agent Mode research is included on monthly and yearly plans. Making the document is part of Draimo Pro, $28 a month in the US with 20,000 credits a month, and each document shows its estimate before it starts.
Questions people ask
- Can AI write a research report with real citations?
- Yes, if the research step cites real sources you can open. Draimo's Agent Mode cites every source as a link, and Make a document builds the report from that answer in the citation style you choose.
- Which citation styles does Draimo support?
- APA, MLA, Chicago, Harvard and IEEE.
- Does Draimo search the web while it writes the document?
- No. Research happens in Agent Mode, with cited sources, and the document is built from that answer, your brief and your files. That keeps every fact traceable.
- How do I know the sources are real?
- Each citation is a link. Open the ones behind the figures you rely on, and check that the page says what the report says.
- Can I update the report later?
- Yes. Ask for changes in plain words; each change is a new version, and earlier versions can be restored.
- Which plan do I need?
- Agent Mode is on monthly and yearly plans. Documents are part of Draimo Pro, $28 a month in the US.
Ask the research question first; the report comes from the answer.
Start researching
