Consensus
About ConsensusConsensus is an AI-powered search engine that finds answers by scanning over 200 million peer-reviewed scientific papers. It provides instant, evidence-based summaries with direct citations to ensure every answer is backed by real research.
What is Consensus?
Consensus is an AI-powered search engine designed specifically to find answers within the world’s most trusted source of information: peer-reviewed scientific research. Unlike general AI tools that might hallucinate or make up facts, It only pulls information from a database of over 200 million academic papers. When you ask it a question, it scans these papers, summarizes the findings, and provides direct citations so you can verify exactly where the information came from.
Key Features of Consensus
- Consensus Meter: A visual tool that shows the percentage of studies that agree or disagree with your query.
- Pro Analysis: An advanced feature that synthesizes a high-level summary of the top 20+ papers for a comprehensive overview.
- Study Snapshots: Quick summaries of individual papers, highlighting the sample size, population, and methodology.
- Natural Language Search: You can ask questions in plain English rather than using complex Boolean search terms.
- AI-Powered Filters: Filter results by study type (e.g., Randomized Controlled Trials), journal quality, and publication year.
Who Can Use Consensus?
- Students & Academics: For writing essays, literature reviews, and finding credible citations.
- Health Professionals: To check the latest clinical evidence for treatments and patient queries.
- Content Creators & Journalists: For fact-checking claims with scientific evidence.
- Curious Individuals: Anyone who wants “real” answers on health, psychology, or science without the fluff.
Why is it Better Than Competitors?
- Transparency: Unlike ChatGPT, Consensus provides a clickable link for every single claim it makes.
- Scientific Rigor: Unlike Perplexity, which searches the general web (including blogs), Consensus only searches peer-reviewed papers.
- Speed: It performs the synthesis step that Google Scholar leaves for the user to do manually.
- Visual Data: The Consensus Meter gives an instant “Yes/No/Maybe” feel for a topic that no other tool currently provides.
English
Consensus serves as a highly specialized evidence engine. Its primary goal is to take the pain out of the literature review process. Instead of manually searching through Google Scholar and reading dozens of abstracts to find a trend, users can ask natural language questions like, Does Vitamin D help with immunity? The platform then uses Large Language Models (LLMs) to synthesize a coherent answer based on the top-ranking studies, effectively turning months of reading into seconds of searching.
2021
San Francisco, California
Private
The platform was developed by Consensus NLP, a Boston-based technology company founded by Christian Salem and Eric Olson. Launched in 2022, the company’s mission is to democratize scientific knowledge. They aim to move the world away from blog-post-style expert opinions and toward a more objective, evidence-based way of making decisions.
Pro
$15
MonthlyDeep
$65
MonthlyDoes Consensus write my paper for me?
No, it helps you find the evidence and citations so you can write with confidence.
Is the information always 100% true?
It reflects what is in the scientific literature. If the science is divided, the Consensus Meter will show that division.
Does it search paywalled papers?
It searches the metadata and abstracts of paywalled papers. If a paper is Open Access, you can often download the PDF directly.
How is it different from Google Scholar?
Google Scholar gives you a list of links, Consensus gives you a summarized answer and the links.
Can I use it for medical advice?
It provides research data, but you should always consult a professional for medical decisions.
Can I upload my own papers?
Yes, the Pro and Deep plans allow for PDF uploads to analyze specific documents.
While many AI tools are built for creativity, Consensus is built for accuracy. It bridges the gap between the ivory tower of academia and the general public, though users should remember it is a tool for finding research, not a replacement for reading the full paper when high-stakes decisions are involved.
Pros
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Zero hallucinations because it only summarizes existing papers.
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The interface is incredibly clean and easy to navigate.
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Advanced filters allow you to find “Human Only” or “RCT” studies instantly.
Cons
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It is limited to the papers in its database (over 200M, but not everything).
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The free version has strict limits on the best features like “Deep Search.”
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It focuses mainly on English-language journals.
Final Verdict
Consensus is a must-have for anyone who values truth over trends. It turns the daunting task of scientific research into a simple conversation, making it the most reliable AI tool currently available for academic and evidence-based work.
CA Tushar Makkar
