A reasoning model is a newer kind of AI that takes extra time to work through hard problems instead of blurting out the first thing that comes to mind. It privately lays out steps, checks its own logic, and reconsiders before giving you a final answer. This makes it noticeably better at math, puzzles, and careful analysis, though it can be slower and cost more.
For example, Ask a reasoning model a tricky logic puzzle and it will quietly reason through the possibilities before replying.