Stop Using ChatGPT for Research! Try THIS Instead – Perplexity Full Guide 2025

open AI just tossed out their shiny new deep research feature but perplexity still the real MVP everyone's ring about and trust me once you know how to actually work it you will see why in this video I'm cracking open all the pro secrets so you can prompt like a boss unlock every sneaky feature I'm talking the full rundown how to prompt Which models to pick those hidden perks nobody mentions plus a grip of underrated hacks You'll wish you'd known ages ago after this you will never research the same way again

once you open up perplexity the first thing you'll notice is how simple and clean it looks there's a single input field right in the middle and Below there are options like a focus selector button to attach files and a toggle for PR sech simple right just type your question or command and perplexity is good to go underneath that you'll see some example requests on the left side there is a menu where you can start a new thread if you are in Windows you can do this super fast with control I if you're in the Mac it's command K by default you're on the homepage that's where you type in your queries then you've got discovery which is like many feed of trend and stuff it's almost like your own personal newspaper although it doesn't have tons of customization still it's pretty neat feature that shows interesting topics you might have missed below that is spaces which works kind of like folders and steroids you can organize threads files or anything else into different groups can also invite other people to collaborate with you share data and make a real group effort out of it if you're part of a research team this is huge keeps everything tidy and makes sure no one's stepping on each other's toes then there's the library which is basically a big list of all your past threads below all that if you click on your profile picture you can jump into incognito mode when you use that your requests don't go into your history and they will expire after 24 hours next to your profile you've also got the settings button that's where you can tweak perplexity to your liking if you're a person who loves customizing everything you want to poke around in

there the first prompt in role is be direct perplexity focuses on providing factual somewhat dry responses so we have to be just like that forget about cordial stuff ask directly what you need what is the capital of friends no please no thanks or long and layered prompt and structures perplexity aims to be conversational and if you remember tips from our Chad gbt guide being conversational with AI means talking to it like you would do to a human but not to your friend imagine you are an uptight boss and perplexity is your employee be direct and get good responses every time good advice would be to give perplexity personality but you already knew that let's be frank for chatting with a personality it's always better to have full control over the behavior of that personality open home the sponsor of today's video is a great place for that has a huge Marketplace of Chad gbt based personalities to chat with from Leonard daeni to aliens and creating your own personalities also super easy I just click here and fill in the blanks name description image then I also need to give my personality description of its behavior Can Be A simple piece of text because the buildt and improver can rewrite it in a better way in a click with that done I also need to pick a voice for my personality because open Home personalities can actually talk to you hi welcome to open home so you can literally talk with them in real time which is so cool there are so many exciting new AI tools popping up all the time once the personality is ready you can chat straight away in the panel on the right there are model parameters that you can tweak at any moment which is super useful type your prompts say them out loud do whatever you like the personalities are really good at sticking to the script they don't stop acting their part no matter what you do the Falcon is a Marvel of the skies and on top of that you can enable custom abilities for your personalities like checking the weather the time doing math Etc they can be plugged into any third party API and used with designated trigger words and of course you can create custom abilities too temperature in New York is 0. 2 de celius so check out open home and create your own custom identity the link is in the

description sometimes though you might want the sprinkle of humanity in your answers if you'd prefer more personal tone you could say something like hey can you tell me about the health benefits of yoga it's still pretty direct but the answer to such a prompt will sound less robotic perplexity will often respond with a bit more warmth giving you something closer to human perspective without losing its factual Edge now if you look at the way perplexity structures its answers you'll notice it's not just a giant block of text it's like reading a mini article often with images on the right when I asked about the capital of friends I got a bunch of photos maybe from Google or relevant sites and I also had the option to generate my own images but Paris too so it's not just a fact dump it's visual experience the sources for each response appear at the top in the own section in the text itself you will see hyperlinks leading you to the places where the info was pulled from this is awesome if you are trying to verify what perplexity told you or if you want to dig deeper into any particular point it's also super handy you're fact checking for report or article no more guess work about whether the AI is smacking stuff up or referencing actual data for each response in the thread there's also an option to search for additional images and videos on that top so if you need pictures references or just want to turn your single question into full-blown article you can do that all in one

spot tip number three ask for stepbystep explanations most times AI is like this mysterious black box that spits out results and sometimes it's tough to figure out how it arrives at those answers when you ask it to break things step by step methodically perplexity answers become way clear even if you're asking something simple explain how photosynthesis Works step by step you will notice the response might include extra details some cool facts and often an imager to that helps illustrate the concept that extra structure makes it so much easier to absorb everything especially if you're new to the topic and trust me once you get into more complicated questions like the mechanics behind Quantum Computing you will be glad you can see how perplexity connects the dots perplexity is just one of many AI TOS you might need to make searching for AI TOS easier here we've created AI toll finder on GE Academy just mention GE Academy and briefly describe the toll you're looking for it's that easy it's available to our subscribers so hit the link to

join if the default responses aren't blowing your mind try turning on Pro search this feature forces the algorithm to do way more reasoning and thinking it's almost like switching Chad gbt from 40 to o1 if a straightforward query what are the long-term effects of climate change can trigger deeper research more advanced analysis and it might pull in sources you wouldn't normally see sure the formatting might look similar at first glance but under the hood there is a serious quality upgrade when you start diving into complex or specialized topics like medical studies or legal documents you will really know it as how PR search digs out info that regular mode might

skip like most language models perplexity remembers the context of your current conversation so you can keep asking related followup question questions in the same thread and still get coherent answers for instance if you first asked about climate change in general you can then probe deeper with something like how does climate change impact the Amazon rainforest and it will stay consistent with the earlier info some AI TOS yes Chad gbt we're looking at you can occasionally contradict themselves even if you are in the same chat but perplexity is really focused on consistency perfect for when you're serious about your research or working on big project where you need reliable cohesive answers every single

time perplexity is multimodal which means it was trained to work not only with Text data but also with files and images it is also quite good at doing data analysis of various sours so don't hesitate to upload your files to perplexity you can upload files when Star a new thread by clicking the attach button in the search bar you can upload textual files including plain text code or PDFs as well as images up to four files at once and up to 25 megab per file technically this is not a lot but let's not forget the perplexity targets researchers and facts and scientific papers rarely weigh more than 25 megabytes and once you upload a file you can do all sorts of manipulations with it like summarization summarize the key points of This research paper see

easy for more balanced and well-rounded answers try asking for comparisons this forces perplexity to look at several angles at once and helps it deliver more neutral response so let's say you ask compare and contrast renewable energy sources if you want specific formatting like a table just say so upload an example table or layout and perplexity will try to match it once you start doing these comparisons you'll see just how robust perplexity can be when it's digging into multiple data streams at once it turns your research results into something that feels more like an indepth article than a quick AI snippet the coolest and scariest thing about AI is how fast it evolves the industry grows Like Us in steroids and sometimes it feels impossible to keep up so to keep you updated and give you a bunch of useful advice on AI we create a geek Academy there we share the latest news about AI toll completions and Foster community and of course we post guys and AI TOS as

well now perplexity does have a code of date for his learn data but it also has web access so if you're after the latest most relevant info you should definitely ask for Real Time data for example what are the current stock market trends you will get perplexities up to the minute analysis plus lengths to back it all up then to make everything more visual you can ask for a graph right inside perplexity the default graph might look pretty basic at first but gives you a quick snapshot of what's going on if you need something more detailed you just have to be super direct with what you want in the graph like specifying a date range or particular metrics for fully Interactive charts you can clict suggestions on the main page I clicked Costco sock price analysis and got real time Dynamic chart just remember to keep those prompts clear and straight to the point because perplexity can get finicky if Worden is

vague perplexity is also pretty solid with code tasks it won't take the job of a junior death anytime soon but can seriously speed up your workflow let's say you need a quick Fibonacci script and python show me a python script to calculate Fibonacci numbers and boom perplexity will generate the code snippet in seconds complete with comments explain each step so even if you're new to coding can understand what's happening it's handy for debugging too if you upload your code perplexity might spot a missing bracket or an off by one error you overlooked it's not perfect but for small projects or quick fixes it's useful for programming you should look for more specific tools on geek Academy we have quite a few to for you to check we post only TOS we try ourselves and all the reviews are personal and factual we add TOS as we test them so be sure to

join another trick is using perplexity bu and fact checking style research if you want a superf factual response just tell perplexity to verify something instead of giving you every angle imaginable will dig up data that either confirms or denies your statement this drastically cuts down on random AI hallucination ations and forces the system to find legit sources for instance I asked verify the claim drinking coffee increases lifespan in my case there actually were some research papers back in that up and perplexity neatly summarized them for me this way I go to clean Focus analysis rather than a scattershot of

opinions now you might be asking why should I bother with perplexity if Chad gbt already does so much AI are like to and each toll needed for a certain job for casual chatting or broad topics chat gbt is totally fine for deeper data crunching or fancy visuals you might look at something Claude but for straight up factual research perplexity is the way to go it's all about transparency it doesn't bury it sources at the bottom of the page or skip them entirely it puts them front and center that means you can verify exactly where it got its info no more guessing whether your AI is just making stuff up obviously your mileage may vary depending on your personal workflow but if you're a student researcher or anyone who really cares about the accuracy of your data perplexity is a fantastic choice toes like chbt and Gemini are do it all toes while perplexity super good at researching and keeping things

transparent all the stuff I said is correct for the default perplexity model and that's exactly where it starts to be so different when compared to competitors instead of having only one leg Legacy model flexity lets users switch between models each model has its own strengths and weaknesses and by cleverly switching between them can get some really nice results to change a model you go to settings scroll down and in model pick the one you want to use let's go over each model one by one so first up it's the default model it's your everyday driver for quick fession searches my example prompt is what are the main causes of climate change that's a direct question no fancy analysis just a need for some core facts the default model delivers it quickly and concisely if you want an immediate answer with minimal fuss that's your best bet then there is Claude 3. 5 soned which I like to break out for more Nuance language tasks for instance explain the symbolism in TS Elliots the Wasteland that one's pack with layers and references Claud Sonet is fantastic at pulling apart metaphors historical context all that literary detail perfect for deeper analysis essays or anything that needs a lot of nuance next up is Seer large this one directly integrates with perplexity search engine so it's kind of your always up-to-date model pluged into the web for fresh info if you need something about couldn't Edge Tech or the latest scientific announcements son or large can Si through those new articles and studies like a champ sonar is an interesting model it's a niche one and I'm sure there are people on geek Academy that can shed some light on how good it really is moving on we have gbt 40 everyone knows gbt 4 is sort of the big name in AI right now and gbt 40 is basically the version inside perplexity if you want a more detailed breakdown in gbt 4 I've already got a guide for it so check that out if you're curious but in short it's a great allrounder with a neck for detailed reasoning and well structured answers after that is soner huge think of it like soner large but in steroids it's built for massive data sets sing through complex patterns we're analyzing entire markets so if you've got a huge research project this is the model you would turn to now grock 2 is interesting it's all about varied perspectives it's not limited to purely factual answers will explore different angles ethical implications societal viewpoints that sort of thing if you're dealing with open-ended debates or morally ambiguous topics you'll probably enjoy grock's balanced approach then we have Claude 3. 5 Hau it's a lighter version of Claude super quick does a nice job on simpler qu but it can still give you a neat cohesive response perfect when you need a short summary or a fast explanation without going too deep the last Model is gb1 this is your heavy lifting Advanced reasoning model if you're dropping a multi-step physics problem about projectile motion and air resistance gb1 will handle it it's the best for formula based tasks or tricky logic questions like I said in the beginning Chad gbt has its own deep research now just switch it on and Chad gbt in ask Way open AI CL CLS that can autonomously conduct multi-step internet research for complex tasks finds analyzes and synthesizes information from various online sources including text images and PDFs to generate comprehensive reports comparable to those produced by research analyst if you are a pro subscriber you can submit prompts along with additional context through text images PDFs or spreadsheets Chad gbt then responds with 5 to 30 minutes providing a summary of its research process with citations despite its Advanced capabilities deep research has limitations such as casionally confusing authoritative information with rumors to not miss out on updates like this simply join GE Academy our platform for AI enthusiasts talk to other people share your

knowledge so yeah each model in that list has its own Sweet Spot some do great at literary Deep dive some are better at Big Data scanning others Excel and complex math or broad ethical debates typically each of these models would cost you separate subscription fees like Chad gbt plus is 20 books cloth Pro is another 20 Gro is inside an $8 subscription X Etc but with perplexity basically get them all rolled into the same service for 20 books that's easily $50 deal if you pieced it together on your own but here you're set with just one subscription but as I mentioned get access to a bunch of models which is pretty sweet you also get unlimited quick searches over 300 Pro searches a day unlimited file uploads plus TOS to visualize answers with playground AI Dolly on top of that perplexity throws in $5 in API credits every month pretty good deal

overall now I remember showing you the focus button focus and perplexity is a unique feature you won't find anywhere else what it does is limit the search results to specific Niche or type of data Works kind of like given perplexity a roll but in a deeper more heavily controlled level and each Focus mode was specifically tailored with relevant parameters in data web Mode for example is tailored specifically for web-based requests that require relevant real time data if you've got a general question like what are the latest developments in renewable energy this mode hops across the internet scams news articles blog posts official websites and so on it's perfect when you just need a quick overview a sense of what's trending out there the academic focus is for academic research queries like what are the latest findings on Dark Matter it won't just spit out mainstream media headlines it's going to dig into journals peer-reviewed articles maybe even get into that hardcore astrophysics data it's a great mode for serious research or when you reliable scholarly backed answers correctness and first person experience what you're after really checko G Academy for that it has both and then some toll compilations gone sides exclusive videos AI news and Trends there's a lot of value get for the price of cup of coffee as for perplexity we've also got video Focus let's say you're asking how to play basic chords and guitar instead of giving you a dense block or text it might help you find video tutorials will walk you through with a stepbystep guide the social focus is what I like to call the Reddit mode because it basically gets this data from Reddit and similar websites if I ask what are people saying about the latest Apple release it's going to collect the hottest texes complaints so on I sometimes use it to see what's public opinion on something I'm making a video about the math Focus obviously for math Rel queries like uh solve the equation my example is really simplistic but you can dump some really advanced math problems and perplexity and it will solve them the last Focus mode is writing as the name suggests is tailor made for creating written content that's about it any Written Task like outlines essays articles

even though perplexity is mostly focused on research and text based tasks can also make images it doesn't have its own in-house model so it uses open source or third party models instead if you're used to typing a prompt and instantly getting the picture flexity might feel a bit odd you'll type your request and it will say something like uh can't generate an image but then you see the generate picture over on the right side kind of weird right if you want more direct way of generating images you can convert any thread into a page click add media then generate media and pick from one of four Styles and boom get your image on the page no extra steps no prompting but if you ask me I'd probably just go with dedicated image AI for that dolly is an option and ironically that's one of the models perplexity uses anyway makes you wonder why they don't just go this straightforward

route extra feature number one the AI data retention option in settings this basically lets per flexity use your SE Arch queries to improve the models if you're good with that leave it on if you're working with something private or sensitive maybe switch it off I toggle it off when I'm dealing with any info I'd rather keep on

reps I also recommend going to profile and settings and customizing the perplexities responses this is pretty much like uh custom instructions for Chad gbt but framed a bit differently Chad gbt asks for stuff you do your name and explanation of how it should behave and respond to your queries perplexity only asks for a personal description location and response language that's it so instead of explaining what to do and how to do it it's more about tailoring information to your personal situation my advice here would be to abandon perplexity suggestions and provide instructions while telling about yourself in my description I tell about myself first and then explain what I want perplexity to do the impact of this might not be huge but it's definitely there

the most questionable feature in my opinion is the pages feature that transforms the thread into an article I'm personally not super into it and maybe most users won't be either you can't disable it so it's just always there and ironically it's one of only two ways to generate

images another feature that's always on is finance pretty much includes all those realtime financial data stock price graphs analysis and so on other AIS can work with finances too but it seems like only perplexity can do it live with relevant data update in real

time perplexity also has a shopping feature that's supposed to help with buying stuff but it's very picky about the stuff it works with so I'd probably advise you to ignore this one unless you really need help with picking the wireless earbuds or something like this

with all these features the target audience and Target use case for perplexity become clear researching of any kind I see five types of people with benefit perplexity and for each group I have a few prompts that you would want to remember group number one students for them perplexity Pro search is a lifesaver for understanding all those academic topics going ask you to summarize your course material and then write quick study guides or practice questions for example try the prompt create a detailed study guide for the American Civil War including key events figures and their significance and spaces actually let you collaborate with fellow students on research for joint projects and with perplexity you can generate a project plan that divides up tasks good pront for that is develop a project timeline for a group presentation renewable energy sources including Tas assignments and deadlines group number two professionals kind of a vague wording but hear me out you can run in-depth industry research for competitor analysis keep tabs and recent developments in your field per se here's the prompt just for that provide a comprehensive review of the latest trends in artificial intelligence and machine learning in the healthc care industry you can also use perplexity code interpreter for data analysis and debugging it's also good at dissecting complicated issues step by step for entrepreneurs perplexity can create outlines and do preliminary market research here's a simple prompt or can also research you were competitors we also to have creatives and people who can stop learning kind of weird combo but still prompts like generate 10 unique story ideas for science fiction novel set in a post-apocalyptic world or a piece of cake for perplexity and it can be really creative perplexity can also generate you a study plan develop comprehensive learning plan for someone interested in mastering digital photography including key Concepts recommended resources and practice exercises

if you're worrying about your prompts don't perplexity is really conversational so you can just talk to it like you would to a regular person and all the prompts and tips for Chad gbt and Gemini will work here as well so be sure to click here and check out our comprehensive guides and those TOS thanks for watching see you in the next one