Perplexity

What is Perplexity?#

Perplexity is an AI answer engine that pairs real-time web search with large language model reasoning. Every answer cites its sources, with Focus modes for academic, video, social, and financial content. Perplexity Pro adds access to frontier models (GPT, Claude, Grok, Gemini), file uploads, image generation, and Spaces for multi-step research.

What can Perplexity do?#

• 01

  Cited answers from real-time web

  Synthesizes a response and links the sources it pulled from.

• 02

  Sonar search model

  In-house real-time search model based on Meta Llama 3.3.

• 03

  Multi-model routing on Pro

  Pick GPT-5.4, Claude 4.6, Gemini 3.1 Pro, or Sonar per query.

• 04

  Pages reports

  Turns a query into a structured, shareable report.

• 05

  File upload and internal search

  Pro tier lets you upload documents and ask questions about them.

• 06

  Comet browser

  Perplexity browser with built-in AI search, free since October 2025.

• 07

  Assistant with multimodal input

  Voice and image input through the Perplexity Assistant app.

• 08

  Finance and shopping surfaces

  Stock quotes, earnings data, and a shopping hub inside answers.

Use Cases#

• “Researchers — Ask a layered research question and get a cited synthesis you can trace back to each source.
• “Students — Claim the free annual Pro plan and use Pages to draft a report from one prompt.
• “Developers — Call the Pro API to add grounded answers with citations to your own app.
• “Professionals — Upload a PDF or spreadsheet and query it alongside live web context.
• “Shoppers — Research a product in the Shopping Hub and compare options in natural language.