Getting Started with Perplexity
Perplexity is an AI search engine that actually cites its sources. Here's how to set it up before using our research-based guides.
What you need
- • A Perplexity account (free works for casual use, Pro for serious research)
- • A browser. That's it.
Create your Perplexity account
Sign up at perplexity.ai. Free plan gives you basic search. Pro ($20/month) gives Pro Search with deeper analysis and more sources.
Free is good for testing. Pro is worth it if you use Perplexity for actual research.
Use Pro Search
Pro Search does multi-step research — it breaks your question into sub-questions, searches multiple sources, and synthesizes an answer. Way more thorough than basic search.
Toggle "Pro" on before searching. It uses more compute but gives dramatically better answers with proper citations.
Create a Space
Spaces are Perplexity's version of projects. Each Space has its own AI instructions, uploaded files, and search history. Our guides come with Space configs.
Click "Spaces" in the sidebar → "Create Space." Add a description so the AI knows the context.
Upload files to your Space
Drop PDFs, docs, or CSVs into a Space and Perplexity will search through them alongside the web. Perfect for research that combines your data with public info.
In your Space → click the upload icon → drag files in. Perplexity will index them automatically.
Create Collections
Collections let you save and organize search threads by topic. Think of them like bookmarks but smarter — you can revisit and continue any thread.
After a good search, click "Add to Collection" to save it. Create collections by project or topic.
Export and cite
Every Perplexity answer comes with numbered citations. You can copy the answer with citations, export to markdown, or share a link to the full thread.
Click the share icon on any answer to get a shareable link. Citations are clickable — verify anything important.
Ready to go?
Now that Perplexity is set up, every research product you buy comes with Space configs and search strategies that work out of the box.