Perplexity is disrupting daily web searches by delivering reliable, high-quality, researched results that save you valuable time without endless scrolling. Unlike competing generative AI tools that have added search (ChatGPT) or traditional search engines that have added AI (Google), Perplexity Pro empowers you with the flexibility to select different models for your searches, tailoring your research experience to your specific needs or preferences.
Written by Drew Schmitz with help from Claude Sonnet 3.7
What is Perplexity?
Perplexity redefines the search experience by enabling users to enter questions in natural language, eliminating the need to craft perfect keyword combinations. This AI-powered engine sets itself apart by allowing seamless follow-up questions, creating a conversational flow that traditional search engines lack.
Its impressive deep research capability condenses hours of manual information gathering into minutes, delivering comprehensive topic overviews with remarkable efficiency. Users can trust the information they receive as Perplexity meticulously cites its sources, providing transparency about where each piece of information originates.
The platform presents its findings in a clean, well-structured format that makes complex information digestible, saving users from the cognitive strain of synthesising scattered search results.
Cost and Accessibility
Free Plan
Perplexity’s free plan offers unlimited quick searches plus five Pro searches (resetting every four hours) that deliver more advanced capabilities than standard searches. Users can ask five follow-up questions and conduct five daily deep research queries for comprehensive results. Despite these limits, the free plan provides substantial research power with regular reset schedules that maintain access to premium features.
Pro Plan
The Pro plan ($32 monthly/$320 annually) provides 300+ daily Pro searches with unlimited follow-ups and deep research queries. Users can select different AI models like Claude 3.7 and GPT-4o to match specific question types, a feature not available in competing tools. This plan accommodates researchers and professionals who incorporate extensive information gathering into their daily work.
Why has Perplexity Survived?
While tech giants pour billions into AI assistants with sprawling capabilities, Perplexity has thrived by laser-focusing on solving one critical problem exceptionally well: delivering superior search quality that consistently outperforms ChatGPT’s search function.
Its clean, intuitive interface eliminates friction, addressing users’ frustration with information overload in a way that resonates deeply with their daily pain points. Despite the widespread belief that ChatGPT would become the universal AI solution for every use case, Perplexity’s remarkable success proves that purpose-built tools designed to excel at specific tasks still hold immense value.
Perplexity’s strategic advantage comes from offering unrestrained access to unlimited deep research capabilities on their Pro plan, starkly contrasting ChatGPT Pro’s modest monthly allowance of just 10 searches.
The platform’s flexibility in letting Pro users seamlessly switch between industry-leading models like Claude 3.7, GPT-4o, Gemini 2.5 Pro, Grok-2, and R1 (hosted by Perplexity) delivers a level of customisation competitors can’t match. By understanding that sometimes doing one thing flawlessly trumps doing many things adequately, Perplexity has carved out a sustainable niche in the fiercely competitive AI landscape.
This commitment to user choice and freedom was particularly evident when Perplexity initially added the powerful DeepSeek R1 model to their platform. Users took note, then were bewildered when it seemingly vanished, only to discover it had merely undergone a rebirth as “R1 1776,” named after the year America declared independence from British colonial rule.
By self-hosting the open-source model, Perplexity cleverly sidestepped built-in censorship restrictions, effectively freeing the AI from its original Chinese government-influenced limitations. This digital declaration of freedom shows that in the AI world, sometimes the most effective protest against censorship isn’t loud opposition but simply leveraging open-source licensing with a historically significant numeric wink.
Why We Love Perplexity
Intelligence Assist endorses Perplexity as essential in our AI toolkit because it transforms lengthy research processes into quick, digestible answers while maintaining reliability through transparent source citations.
As AI experts, we value how Perplexity’s deep research capabilities compress hours of information gathering into minutes without sacrificing accuracy or comprehensiveness. The platform’s consistent reliability, a critical factor in our professional assessment, means we can confidently incorporate its findings into our work.
Generative AI Search Engine Optimization
As traditional search engines lose ground to generative AI platforms, understanding Generative AI Search Engine Optimization has become as critical as traditional SEO for maintaining your digital presence.
Businesses must now monitor how they appear in these AI-powered search results, as these representations directly impact potential customers’ perceptions.
At Intelligence Assist, we strongly recommend conducting a Perplexity search of yourself or your company to see exactly how AI is portraying your brand to the growing number of users embracing this technology.
Ready to Get Started?
Want to discover how your brand appears when potential customers use generative AI search engines? Take a moment to test your digital presence on Perplexity to see exactly what information users are finding about your business.
