> ## Documentation Index > Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://playbook.pharmatools.ai/llms.txt > Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further. # Which tool when > A decision guide for choosing the right AI tool for a medical writing task. ## What this page is A quick decision aid for picking the right tool for a given medical writing task. It maps common jobs-to-be-done to the tool best suited to them, drawing on both third-party tools and the PharmaTools.AI suite. Use it as a starting point, not a prescription. Tool choice also depends on your organisation's policies, the sensitivity of the data involved, and your own familiarity with the tool. The writer remains responsible for verifying outputs against the source. > Choose the tool based on the job to be done, not the model. ## What are you trying to do? You have papers or internal documents and need to explore, extract, synthesise, or draft from them. You are writing new text, building slides, creating figures, or transcribing spoken content. You need to verify claims, check MLR compliance, generate a plain language summary, or use another MW-specific tool. ## Working with sources | Job | Recommended tool | Why | Alternative | | -------------------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------ | | Explore or question a paper | [NotebookLM](/tools/ecosystem#notebooklm) | Source-grounded Q\&A with inline citations back to the document | [Claude](/tools/ecosystem#claude-chatgpt) with uploaded PDFs | | Synthesise and draft across multiple sources | [Claude Cowork](/tools/ecosystem#claude-cowork) | Persistent project workspace; strong at cross-document synthesis and outlining | NotebookLM (for Q\&A), ChatGPT Projects | | Structured extraction and comparison across papers | [Elicit](/tools/ecosystem#elicit) | Extracts predefined fields (population, intervention, outcomes) in a consistent table | Manual extraction in Claude Cowork | | Quick research-question framing | [Consensus](/tools/ecosystem#consensus) | Fast sense of what the literature says on a focused question | [Perplexity](/tools/ecosystem#perplexity) | | Citation context and sentiment | [Scite.ai](/tools/ecosystem#scite-ai) | Shows whether a paper is supported, contrasted, or mentioned by later work | — | | Literature search (MCP-enabled) | [PubCrawl](/tools/pubcrawl) | Structured PubMed search callable from Claude or ChatGPT via MCP | Direct PubMed, Google Scholar | ## Drafting from scratch | Job | Recommended tool | Why | Alternative | | ---------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | | General text drafting and rewriting | [Claude or ChatGPT](/tools/ecosystem#claude-chatgpt) | Strong writing quality, flexible prompting, long context | Gemini | | Enterprise Word and PowerPoint drafting | [Microsoft Copilot](/tools/ecosystem#microsoft-copilot) | In-suite integration that respects M365 tenant boundaries | Claude/ChatGPT with copy-paste | | Publication-quality scientific figures | [BioRender](/tools/ecosystem#biorender) | Purpose-built biological illustration library | Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint | | Conceptual diagrams or AI-generated slides | [Napkin](/tools/ecosystem#napkin) or [Gamma](/tools/ecosystem#gamma) | Fast visualisation of concepts or draft decks from text | PowerPoint + Copilot | | Brand concepts, leavepieces, ad mockups, pitch deck visuals | [Claude Design](/tools/ecosystem#claude-design) | Conversational design surface for non-designers; reads brand assets and exports to PPTX, PDF, or Canva | Designer brief from scratch | | Concept images, visual abstracts, slide visuals, social graphics | [Nano Banana 2](/tools/ecosystem#nano-banana-2) or [Midjourney](/tools/ecosystem#midjourney) | Fast generation of conceptual imagery — see [Generate Concept Visuals](/workflows/generate-concept-visuals) for prompting patterns and reality check | Licensed stock imagery, Adobe Firefly | | Transcription of calls, ad boards, KOL interviews | [Otter.ai](/tools/ecosystem#otter-ai) or [Fireflies.ai](/tools/ecosystem#fireflies-ai) | Accurate transcripts with speaker separation and searchable archive | Microsoft Teams native transcription | ## Medical-writing-specific tasks | Job | Recommended tool | Why | | ---------------------------------- | ------------------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | Verify claims against references | [RefCheckr](/tools/refcheckr) | Closed-loop: verifies each claim against the source, rewrites mismatches, and re-checks the rewrite for ABPI compliance | | MLR compliance check | [MedCheckr](/tools/medcheckr) | Reviews copy against promotional compliance expectations before MLR submission | | Plain language summaries | [PLS Generator](/tools/pls-generator) | Converts clinical content into compliant, readable lay summaries | | Poster and congress Q\&A prep | [PosterLens](/tools/posterlens) | Generates anticipated questions and responses from a poster or abstract | | Patient-facing content | [Patiently AI](/tools/patiently-ai) | Tailors content to patient audiences with appropriate tone and reading level | | Tailor text to different audiences | [LLMentor](/tools/llmentor) | Adapts draft content across HCP, patient, payer, and internal audiences | ## A note on overlap Several tools overlap. Claude and ChatGPT are largely interchangeable for drafting; Consensus, Perplexity, and Elicit all help with literature exploration; Napkin and Gamma both generate visual slides. The tables recommend one starting point per job — switch to an alternative if your organisation already has a preferred tool or a licence in place. The most important decision is usually *not* which tool you use, but whether you are applying AI to the right stage of the task. See [Risk levels](/principles/risk-levels) and [Human in the loop](/principles/human-in-the-loop) for the principles that should guide that choice.