Perplexity AI - The Research Tool That Does the Hard Work For You

Hey {{first name | there}}! 👋

In the last edition I introduced Perplexity AI - the tool that is replacing Google for millions of students and researchers worldwide.

Today we go deep. What can it actually do? How is it different from just searching Google or asking ChatGPT? And how does a complete beginner get the most out of it?

Let us go! 🔍

Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine. You ask it a question - like you would Google - and instead of giving you ten links to click through, it reads those sources itself and gives you a direct, synthesised answer with every claim linked to the source it came from.

The key difference from Google: Google shows you doors. Perplexity opens them, reads what is inside, and summarises it for you.

The key difference from ChatGPT: ChatGPT generates answers from its training data - which can be outdated and sometimes simply made up. Perplexity searches the live web every single time and links every claim to a real source you can verify.

For students, researchers, and anyone who needs accurate, current, sourced information - this is a fundamental upgrade.

Ask any question in plain English. Perplexity searches the web in real time, reads the most relevant sources, and gives you a concise, cited answer.

Every sentence that comes from a source has a little numbered citation next to it. Click the number and it takes you directly to the exact page where that information came from. No guessing, no dead links, no made-up facts.

Perfect for:

This is the game-changer for students. Switch to Academic mode and Perplexity limits its search exclusively to peer-reviewed papers and academic publications.

No blog posts, no forums, no unreliable websites. Just verified academic sources - the kind your professor actually wants you to cite.

The Education Pro tier at $5 per month via SheerID verification gives students access to Academic Focus mode along with Claude Opus, GPT-5.5, Gemini, and other top AI models - making it cheaper than any other premium AI tool for students.

Perfect for:

Deep Research is Perplexity's most powerful feature. Instead of one search and one answer, it runs dozens of searches across hundreds of sources, reads full articles, compares data, and writes you a structured, multi-section research report - complete with citations throughout.

Deep Research now runs on Claude Opus 4.6 for Max users and Opus 4.5 for Pro users, achieving state-of-the-art performance on leading research benchmarks.

In plain English: it is like having a research assistant who spends three hours in the library and comes back with a full, sourced report. Except it takes about five minutes.

Example use cases:

Spaces are like project folders for your research. Create a Space for each subject, essay, or thesis chapter and all your searches, notes, and findings stay organized in one place.

You can set custom instructions for each Space - for example "always cite peer-reviewed sources" or "focus on European data" - and these apply automatically to every search you run inside that Space.

You can also invite classmates to collaborate in the same Space - great for group projects.

Perfect for:

Once you have done your research, Perplexity can turn any conversation into a formatted, publishable document with all citations preserved. Each Page gets its own shareable link - perfect for submitting work, sharing with a study group, or showing a supervisor your research progress.

This is a brilliant feature for students. You can now generate quizzes and flashcards directly in the Perplexity iOS app - for example asking it to "make me flashcards using spelling bee vocabulary" or create a tailored trivia quiz on any topic.

Research something in Perplexity, then immediately turn it into revision materials. No switching between apps.

Rather than giving you a direct answer, this mode walks you through a topic with guided questions and scaffolded explanations tailored to your level.

Instead of getting a direct answer, Perplexity walks you through a topic with questions, hints, and scaffolded explanations tailored to your level.

This is the difference between being handed an answer to copy and actually learning something. Perfect for preparing for exams or understanding a concept before writing about it.

Perplexity's enhanced memory engine can now recall important information from past conversations in 95% of cases, up from 77% previously - meaning your follow-up questions get smarter and more personalized over time without you having to repeat context.

Yes - and the free plan is genuinely useful for students:

Student discount: Perplexity offers free Pro access for 12 months to verified students through SheerID - no credit card required. After 12 months you drop to the free tier, but the referral program lets you earn up to 24 free months by inviting friends, and this program runs until May 31, 2026.

In the next edition your Perplexity Cheat Sheet arrives - the best research prompts, focus mode tips, and tricks to get thesis-quality results from the free plan. Do not miss it!

Have you tried Perplexity yet? Hit reply and let me know what you think! 😊

Jatin Chawla
Founder, AI Made Simple