What is Perplexity?
Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine: you ask a question and it searches the live web, then writes a direct answer with numbered citations to the sources it used. Built by Perplexity AI, you use it at perplexity.ai, in browser extensions, and in mobile apps.
It sits between a search engine and a chatbot. Every answer is grounded in pages it just retrieved and footnoted so you can click through and verify. Pro Search runs multi-step research, Spaces keep related threads and uploaded files together, and on paid plans you can choose which underlying model (including frontier models from Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google) answers behind the same interface.
If your main need is current, sourced answers rather than open-ended chat or content generation, Perplexity is usually the fastest way to get them.
What it's best for
- Research with citations: current, sourced answers you can verify by clicking straight through to the originals.
- Up-to-the-minute questions: it searches live on every query, so it's strong on recent events, prices, and releases.
- Replacing a fistful of search tabs: one question returns a synthesized answer plus the links behind it.
- Comparison and due-diligence work: pulling specs, prices, and reviews from many pages into one place.
- Deep research: multi-step Pro Search that compiles a structured, cited report on a topic.
- Choosing the model: paid users route a query to a specific frontier model without leaving the search UI.
Where it falls short
- Long-form authoring or creative drafting. It's tuned to answer questions, not to write at length in your voice.
- Self-hosted or fully private deployments. It's a hosted web-search product, not downloadable.
- Workflows that need one stable, unchanging model. It routes across providers and shifts defaults over time.
- Multi-file coding or agentic engineering. Reach for a dedicated coding assistant instead.
Getting started
Go to perplexity.ai and ask a question in plain language; you'll get an answer with citations, and basic use needs no account. Sign in to keep history, and install the mobile app or browser extension to ask from anywhere.
Read the answer, then click the numbered citations to confirm anything you'll act on. The sources are the point, not an afterthought.
Focus, Pro Search, and Spaces
Focus a query to a particular kind of source (the web, academic papers, and others) when you want to narrow where answers come from. Pro Search breaks a harder question into steps, searching and reasoning before it responds.
Spaces (collections) group related threads and let you upload files, so a line of research (or a team's shared investigation) stays in one place.
Choosing models and asking over files
On paid plans you can pick the model behind your answers, including frontier models from the major labs, and compare how they handle the same question.
Upload a PDF or document and ask questions across it, or point Perplexity at a specific page. It grounds the answer in what you gave it plus what it finds.
Getting better answers
Ask narrow, specific questions, as Perplexity rewards precision more than open-ended chat does. Tell it to cite each claim and to flag where sources disagree.
For anything high-stakes, treat the answer as a fast first draft and verify at the linked source; for big questions, start a Pro Search rather than a single query.
What Perplexity costs
Approximate, in USD, as of January 2026. Prices change often. Confirm on the official site before you rely on them.
Free
$0
Standard search with citations and a limited number of Pro Searches per day.
Pro
~$20 / month
Many more Pro Searches, model choice, file uploads, and image generation.
Enterprise Pro
~$40 / user / month
Team admin, data controls, and higher limits for organizations.
Sonar API
Usage-based
Perplexity's search-grounded answer API for developers, billed per use.
Example prompts
Copy these into Perplexity as starting points, then adapt them to your task.
Sourced answer
Give me a current, cited answer to the question below. Number each source, and flag any claim where the sources disagree.
Compare options
Compare the top three options for the need below as of this month. Build a table of price, key specs, and one caveat each, with a citation for every cell.
Research brief
Run a deep research pass on the topic below. Summarize the state of play, cite every claim, and end with the open questions that are still unresolved.
Perplexity
common questions.
Direct answers to the questions we get asked the most. If yours isn't covered, write to the team.