Perplexity
AI search engine that answers questions with cited sources
Visit website →About
Perplexity is an AI answer engine. Instead of a list of links, it responds to a question with a written answer that cites its sources inline, so each claim can be traced to where it came from, and it can ask follow-up questions to refine the search.
It combines live web search with language models, supports focused modes for academic papers, video, and social content, and offers a Pro tier with deeper research, file analysis, and a choice of underlying models.
It is aimed at students, researchers, analysts, and anyone doing question-driven research who wants sourced answers faster than reading through search results, on web and mobile.
AI-assisted draft, human-reviewed before publishing — see how we choose & review tools.
Why we picked it
Perplexity anchors the AI-search category for us: a written, cited answer instead of a list of links, with focused modes for academic papers, video, or social content when a plain web search isn't specific enough.
Featured in our guides
Key features
- Answers with cited sources
- Multi-step deep search
- File upload support
- Pro Search for complex questions
Related tools
- 1 Blumify Track what AI leaders say in interviews and podcasts Freemium
- 2 Lune The search engine built for scientific AI agents Freemium
- 3 Scry Query billions of internet documents with one programmatic search call Freemium
- 4 Opyt Turn your X follows and Substack reads into a living knowledge base Free
- 5 Anthropologic Consumer research with anthropological depth at scale Freemium
- 6 Lenz Multi-model fact-checking API with verifiable sources for AI workflows Freemium