NotebookLM and ChatGPT can both help students review material, clarify concepts, and prepare for exams. My recommendation is to start with NotebookLM when studying a particular collection of readings, slides, and notes.
Choose ChatGPT when you want a conversation that helps you work through a concept or practise solving a problem. Their features overlap, but these are useful starting points.
A naming update first: Google now calls NotebookLM Gemini Notebook. I use NotebookLM throughout this comparison to keep the connection clear for readers familiar with its earlier name. Google describes it as a research and learning assistant that answers questions using your sources and provides citations for verification.
ChatGPT also accepts uploaded study materials, and its Study mode can guide students with questions, explanations, and practice. The practical difference is therefore less about whether either tool can summarize a document and more about how you want to study it.
NotebookLM vs ChatGPT: Quick Comparison
| Feature | NotebookLM / Gemini Notebook | ChatGPT |
|---|---|---|
| Main study approach | Explore and review a collection of sources | Learn through conversation, questions, and explanations |
| Working with course materials | Organize sources in a notebook and ask questions across them | Upload relevant materials and explain what you want help understanding |
| Source checking | Inline citations connect responses to source material | Ask for supporting passages and verify them against the uploaded material |
| Review resources | Built-in study guides, flashcards, quizzes, and overviews | Request practice questions, explanations, and flashcard-style review |
| Audio review | Audio Overviews discuss material from your sources | Conversational study support; available tools depend on the account and platform |
| Guided practice | Source-based questions and explanations | Study mode offers hints, questions, and step-by-step guidance |
| Suggested starting point | Reviewing assigned readings and lecture materials | Working through confusion and practising answers |
| Free access | Available, with usage limits and paid upgrades | Available, with plan-dependent limits |
The feature comparison draws on current provider documentation. The suggested uses are editorial recommendations rather than results from a head-to-head learning study.
What Makes NotebookLM Useful for Studying?
NotebookLM, now Gemini Notebook, lets students bring course materials into a notebook and ask questions about them. Supported sources include PDFs, Google Docs, Google Slides, websites, public YouTube video URLs, and audio files. Responses include citations that help students return to the material behind an explanation.
This makes it worth considering when an exam is based on a defined set of materials. Rather than asking a broad question about a topic, you can ask how that topic is explained in your assigned readings.
For example:
Compare how these two readings explain motivation. Identify one point of agreement and one difference, and cite the relevant passages.
The next step matters. Open the passages and decide whether the comparison preserves the authors’ meaning. A citation makes an answer easier to check; it does not establish that the interpretation is correct.
Study Guides, Flashcards, and Quizzes
NotebookLM can turn sources into study guides, flashcards, and quizzes. Its review tools also allow students to request explanations, with references back to the original material.
I would begin with a specific section or learning goal rather than generating questions from an entire course at once. For example, ask for practice on the distinction between two concepts you keep confusing.
Answer before revealing the explanation. Then return to the reading when your answer is incomplete. Generating a large set of cards is easy; identifying what you cannot yet explain is the useful work.
Audio Overviews
Audio Overviews provide AI-hosted discussions of the key topics in uploaded sources. They offer another way to revisit material, particularly when you want an overview before returning to a difficult reading.
One approach is to pause after a section and explain its main idea aloud without replaying it. Then check your explanation against the source. Listening can support review, but you still need opportunities to retrieve and use the ideas yourself.
What Makes ChatGPT Useful for Studying?
ChatGPT is useful when you want to work through a question conversationally. Its Study mode supports learning through questions, hints, step-by-step explanations, and checks for understanding. It can also work with uploaded files or images when uploads are available in the chat.
The advantage of this approach is the ability to respond to a particular difficulty. You can explain where you became confused, attempt an answer, and ask for help with the next step.
For example:
I understand what a percentage is, but I get confused when calculating percentage change. Give me one problem. Wait for my attempt, then help me identify any mistake without solving the whole problem immediately.
You can also request a different explanation when the first one does not help:
Explain that using a simpler example. Then give me a similar question to answer independently.
Related: Classroom Essentials for Teachers
Study Mode and Practice Questions
Study mode is available across ChatGPT plans. OpenAI notes that it can make mistakes and may sometimes provide a direct answer even when the intended approach is guided learning. Students can ask it to return to hints or one-question-at-a-time practice.
I would give it clear instructions about the kind of assistance you want:
Quiz me on these notes one question at a time. Wait for my answer. Explain what is accurate, identify what is missing, and ask a follow-up question before moving on.
That creates opportunities to attempt an answer rather than repeatedly reading explanations.
Which Is Better for Accuracy and Sources?
NotebookLM’s source citations make it a useful starting point for checking what a reading says. However, a response can cite a relevant passage and still omit a qualification or overstate a conclusion.
With ChatGPT, make the source boundary explicit when the course material matters:
Use the uploaded reading for this answer. Quote the short passage that supports your explanation, and tell me if the reading does not answer the question.
Then verify the passage yourself. Treat this as a checking strategy, rather than a guarantee that the tool will follow the instruction perfectly.
For either platform, distinguish between understanding the assigned material and exploring additional explanations. Both can be useful, but you should know when an example or interpretation goes beyond what your course sources establish.
Can Students Use Both Together?
Yes. A practical sequence would be:
- Read the assigned material and note what you understand.
- Use NotebookLM to locate relevant passages and compare ideas across sources.
- Use ChatGPT to practise explaining a difficult concept or answering a related question.
- Close both tools and complete a short task independently.
- Return to the original material to check gaps.
For teachers, that independent step provides a useful question to discuss with students: what can you now explain or do without the AI response in front of you?
Free Access and Paid Plans
NotebookLM is available free of charge, with higher limits and additional capabilities offered through qualifying Google AI, Workspace, and other plans. School-account access can depend on institutional settings.
ChatGPT also offers free access, including Study mode. Usage limits still apply, and file uploads and other tools may have separate restrictions. Study mode does not bypass those limits.
Which Should You Choose?
Choose NotebookLM when your priority is reviewing course sources, tracing explanations back to passages, and generating review materials from those sources.
Choose ChatGPT when your priority is discussing a difficulty, practising answers, and working through problems with guidance.
Whichever you use, make time to answer, explain, and apply the material independently. That is how you can check whether the study session helped.
