[Last update: September 2025]

I’d like to devote this post to Perplexity.

I’ve mentioned Perplexity several times in the past, but I still find that many people don’t use it enough, or at all. I think it’s still totally underrated and deserves a post.

So… what is Perplexity?

Perplexity positions itself as “Where Knowledge Begins” – a direct challenge to traditional search engines.

It was founded in mid-2022 with the mission of “serving the world’s curiosity” by revolutionizing how people discover and interact with information.

Instead of providing a list of links like Google, Perplexity delivers a direct, conversational answer to your query with clear source citations, images, and videos.

Perplexity can work in various modes, but the two main ones are ‘quick search’ and ‘research’. Quick search is almost as fast as Google. Research mode takes a bit longer, but provides a much deeper, more thoughtful answer.

Common use cases for Perplexity

For product managers and other professionals in high-tech, here are several use cases where Perplexity stands out:

1. As your main search engine: Set Perplexity as your browser’s default search (https://www.perplexity.ai/?q=%s) and fundamentally change how you browse the web.
2. Research: Use it to dig into market trends, scout competitors, or answer any question, from technical issues to local recommendations. As a product manager and an entrepreneur – I use it all the time (really, on a daily basis).
3. Vibe coding: I don’t recommend using it for coding. However, if Claude Code struggles with an implementation, pause and research the challenge with Perplexity, then feed the answer back to Claude. You’ll solve your coding issue and save Claude tokens.
4. Technical troubleshooting: something is wrong with your computer? You need to know how to set up a remote server? Need some code examples or want to paste an existing code snippet and understand what it does? Perplexity can easily answer all of those for you.
5. Summarizing content: Need a TL;DR of an academic debate? Just ask, and Perplexity will provide it in any format you want. Yes, other LLMs can summarize documents as well, but Perplexity is summarizing the online debate from multiple sources.
6. Access to paywalled research: Can’t access a paid article? Perplexity can’t provide the full text (due to copyright reasons), but it can summarize the key points if you give it the URL.

Other interesting facts about Perplexity

• You can combine it with other LLMs. For example, if you want to use R1 (the Chinese model), Perplexity can manage the process, though this is usually slower than letting Perplexity run the search itself.
• Their new browser, Comet, is in private beta. I use it all the time (and I have 4 more invites if you act fast).
• Perplexity can send you a daily news digest on any topic.
• Supports real-time voice on mobile, incognito mode, and many more features.

Pitfalls of Perplexity:

• Sometimes it doesn’t give you the most recent information. In fast-changing areas (like coding libraries, YouTube, reviews), you might get outdated answers. Repeat your query and specify that you want recent info.
• Its stock analysis could be better; sometimes it misses obvious stats and recommends stocks that aren’t performing well.
• Trip planning is basic and could improve on depth, route planning, opening hours, and recommendations.

When accuracy is critical, double-check Perplexity’s answers – either yourself or with another LLM.

Summary

Perplexity is a great tool for searching the web and conducting research.

Above all, to me, Perplexity represents the new way people should retrieve information. I haven’t used Google in six months, and I haven’t looked back even once.

Using Perplexity for every search will accelerate your journey toward embracing AI and adopting the right mindset for information retrieval.

I invite you to take a leap of faith and replace your default search engine with Perplexity – or better yet, install and use Comet as your default browser.

I know it may sound scary, but hey, I installed the Perplexity app on my mom’s phone so she’d stop asking me to find things for her on the web. Since then, “the app with the black icon” is her go-to tool for the web.

If my mom gets it, you’ll get it too…

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