Grok's 'DeepSearch' & 'Think' Features: What Happened?

8/11/2025

Got a question about what’s going on with the 'DeepSearch' & 'Think' features in Grok? You're not the only one. It's been a bit of a moving target, so let's break down what these features are & what's been happening with them.

First Off, What Are 'DeepSearch' & 'Think' Anyway?

These are two pretty powerful features that xAI rolled out with Grok 3. They're designed to give you more control over how the AI works.

'Think' Mode: This is all about deep reasoning. When you use the 'Think' feature, you're essentially asking Grok to not just spit out an answer, but to actually 'think' through a problem. It can consider different angles, correct its own mistakes, & even show you its reasoning process. This is super useful for complex questions where you need more than a surface-level response. It was trained using reinforcement learning to really nail down its problem-solving abilities.
'DeepSearch' Mode: As the name suggests, this feature is for when you need to dig deeper for information. Instead of a quick search, 'DeepSearch' goes the extra mile to find more comprehensive & thorough results. There’s even a more powerful version called "DeeperSearch" that was introduced later.

So, What Happened to Them?

Here’s the thing: the rollout & availability of these features have been a bit all over the place, which has understandably caused some confusion.

When Grok 3 was first released, the 'Think' & 'DeepSearch' features were exclusive to Premium+ subscribers. Then, things got interesting.

For a bit, these features became available to regular Premium users, but only on the Grok iOS app. It was a pleasant surprise for many, but also a bit confusing since it wasn't available on the web version for those users.

Then, in a move to showcase Grok's power, xAI made 'DeepSearch' & 'Think' mode available for free to all X users for a limited time. This was around the time Elon Musk was making big claims about Grok 3 being the "smartest AI on Earth." However, the user experience was mixed, with some people noting that the performance didn't quite live up to the hype.

More recently, users have noticed that the "DeeperSearch" option has disappeared from the Grok interface on the X platform. This led to a lot of speculation, with some wondering if it was a bug or a deliberate change. The weird part? The feature was often still available on the dedicated Grok website, just not within the X integration.

The Current Situation

As of now, there hasn't been a clear, official announcement about a permanent removal of these features. It seems to be more of a fluid situation with access changing depending on your subscription level & the platform you're using (X vs. the Grok website or app).

Some users have speculated that this could be a lead-up to a new pricing model, where these more advanced features might be bundled into a higher-priced tier.

It’s also worth mentioning that there's another, even more powerful feature called "Big Reason Mode." This is designed for even deeper analytical thinking & is not available for free.

How Businesses Can Navigate This

Honestly, for businesses that rely on consistent & powerful AI tools for things like customer service & engagement, this kind of uncertainty can be a headache. You need to know that the features you build your workflows around are going to be there tomorrow.

This is where having a more stable & predictable platform is key. For example, with a tool like Arsturn, you can build your own custom AI chatbots trained on your company's data. This gives you a consistent & reliable way to provide instant customer support, answer questions, & engage with website visitors 24/7. You're not subject to the whims of a platform's feature rollouts. You build the AI you need, & it stays that way.

So, while the developments with Grok are interesting to watch, if you need a dependable AI solution for your business to handle things like lead generation & customer engagement, looking into a no-code platform like Arsturn might be a more practical move.

Hope this clears things up a bit. It’s a fast-moving space, so we’ll have to see how things with Grok shake out in the long run. Let me know what you think