Day 9 – AI-Powered Search Lesson

Lesson Overview

Perplexity looks like a search engine, but it works like a research partner. On the free plan, you get unlimited basic search with fast answers, linked sources, a steps view that shows how the answer was built, and related questions for quick follow ups. You can filter what it reads, like academic papers, social discussions such as Reddit threads, and finance filings. You can upload files for analysis, use dictation or voice mode, and keep everything organized using Spaces that group your threads, files, links, and even custom instructions for tone and behavior.

Pro unlocks the experience most people want when research gets serious. Pro Search uses stronger models and wider sources, with noticeably better answers, and you can let Perplexity pick the best model or choose one like GPT-5 yourself. Pro removes upload limits and connects directly to Google Drive and Dropbox, so you can search and cite from your own materials and the web in one place. Deep Research runs longer, multi step exploration to produce structured, practical outputs. Pages converts research into a clean public page with images and sections. Labs can even build working mini apps from a single prompt, such as a real time dashboard that pulls live data.

If you need reliable answers with clear sourcing, and you want to move from finding information to producing usable work, this lesson shows how to do it.

Who This Is For

If you work with information and need trustworthy outputs that you can share or publish, you will benefit from this lesson. It is useful for:

• Students and educators who cite sources and need quick reading lists or summaries
• Researchers and analysts who compare documents and track filings or discussions
• Marketers and content creators who publish articles, briefs, and pages with references
• Product and operations teams that need organized Spaces tied to files and links
• Finance and business users who scan filings, social sentiment, and live market data
• Anyone who prefers voice input on mobile for rapid question and answer sessions

Where This Fits in a Workflow

Use Perplexity at the start of any project to get a trustworthy, source linked baseline. Begin with a basic search to see current answers, then refine by turning on filters such as academic or finance to match your task. When your topic grows, move the thread into a Space, attach relevant files or links, and add instructions so responses match your tone or goals.

When you need a deliverable, Pro features help you finish the job. Deep Research is suited for complex tasks like planning a multi country trip on a budget or compiling a market overview. Convert that result to a Page for a clean public write up. If you need a quick tool, try Labs to generate an interactive view, for example a dashboard that shows top stock gainers and live Bitcoin price. The same workflow applies to reports, lesson plans, briefs, and internal memos.

Technical & Workflow Benefits

The manual way often means many tabs, copying notes into a document, and chasing citations afterward. Perplexity brings the steps and sources into the answer, so you can check the evidence without retracing the entire path. The sources and steps views reduce guesswork, and related questions keep momentum without prompting from scratch.

Pro Search raises quality by using stronger models and more sources, so you spend less time re wording queries to get a decent result. Direct connections to Google Drive and Dropbox remove download and re upload steps, and let you ask questions that combine your files with the live web. Deep Research automates the multi hour process of scanning dozens of pages and turning them into a structured plan or brief. Pages lets you publish in minutes with sections and images, instead of copying and formatting in a separate tool. Labs can replace ad hoc scripts or spreadsheets for certain tasks by producing a working app from one prompt. Voice mode on mobile speeds up quick checks and follow ups when you are away from your desk.

Practice Exercise

Try a short research task that you can finish today.

1. Free plan path:
   1. Run a basic search on a timely topic. Open the Sources and Steps views. Toggle filters, for example add Academic and Social, then compare how sources change.
   2. Export the result as a PDF and as a Word doc. Skim the formatting and links.
   3. Create a Space named for the topic. Add one instruction to set tone, for example concise and neutral. Upload one related file and ask Perplexity to compare it with the current result.
2. Pro additions if available:
   1. Re run as Pro Search with Best model. Then run Deep Research on the same topic.
   2. Convert one result to a Page and add a generated image.

Reflection: Which workflow produced a clearer, more usable output, and how did the choice of filters or Pro features change the quality of sources?

Course Context Recap

This lesson is part of the 14 Day AI Boot Camp and focuses on search that produces shareable, source backed work. Today you saw how free features cover everyday research and how Pro adds depth with better models, file connections, Deep Research, Pages, and Labs. Next, you will build on this by applying research outputs to real projects and formats. Continue through the course to practice turning AI assisted findings into documents, pages, and tools that support your work.