
Consensus
An AI search engine that reads peer-reviewed papers and tells you what the research actually says.
What is Consensus?
Consensus is a search engine built specifically for academic literature. Ask a question in plain English and it pulls findings from peer-reviewed papers, showing what share of studies agree, disagree, or land somewhere mixed on a given claim, instead of handing you a stack of PDFs to read yourself.
Consensus runs on a large database of academic papers paired with a model tuned to extract specific findings rather than merely relevant-sounding snippets. Its signature feature, the Consensus Meter, shows at a glance whether studies on a claim skew toward yes, no, or it's complicated — something a general search engine never attempts and few researchers have the hours to compile by hand.
Key features
- Search across millions of peer-reviewed papers
- Consensus Meter showing agreement across studies
- Plain-English summaries of individual paper findings
- Filters for study type, sample size, and publication year
- Citation export for academic writing
- AI-generated literature review drafts
Pros
- Consensus Meter is a genuinely useful shortcut for gauging research agreement
- Saves real time versus manually screening dozens of papers
- Sticks to peer-reviewed sources instead of the open web
Cons
- Coverage gaps exist in newer or more niche fields
- Summaries can flatten nuance that matters in the original paper
- Not a substitute for reading the studies that actually matter to your work
Best for
Read more
Alternatives to Consensus

Perplexity
AI search engine that gives you answers with sources.
AI search
NotebookLM
Google's research notebook — upload sources, get a personalised AI tutor.
Research