Deep Research isn’t your average chatbot response. Instead of a quick summary, it digs deep, pulling information from credible sources and citing them properly. It’s built for people who need expert-level insights, whether for finance, marketing, or product research. Perplexity followed suit with popular AI companies and released its own version of Deep Research.
Also read: OpenAI Launches ChatGPT Deep Research
In a blog post, Perplexity explained that Deep Research “excels at a range of expert-level tasks, from finance and marketing to product research.” This makes it a go-to for professionals who need more than just surface-level answers.
Where You Can Use It
Right now, Perplexity Deep Research is available on the web. But the company says it’s coming soon to Mac, iOS, and Android apps. Using it is simple, just select “Deep Research” from the drop-down menu when you enter a query. It then compiles a detailed report, which you can export as a PDF or share as a Perplexity Page.
How It Works
Perplexity says Deep Research takes an iterative approach, meaning it keeps searching, reading documents, and refining its process as it learns more about the topic. The goal is to mimic how a human would research a subject, not just generate a response in one go.
This saves researchers and anyone needing expert-level answers significant time.
How It Stacks Up
Perplexity highlights its performance in “Humanity’s Last Exam,” a tough AI benchmark with expert-level questions across different fields. Deep Research scored 21.1%, surpassing Google’s Gemini Thinking (6.2%), Grok-2 (3.8%), and OpenAI’s GPT-4o (3.3%). However, it still falls short of OpenAI’s Deep Research, which scored 26.6%.
Also read: Humanity’s Last Exam: The One Test AI Couldn’t Beat
One of Perplexity’s biggest advantages? Price. OpenAI currently requires a $200-per-month Pro subscription for Deep Research, while Perplexity’s version is free. Non-subscribers get a limited number of queries per day, while paying users get unlimited access.
Faster Results
Speed is another area where Perplexity shines. Most queries are completed in under three minutes, compared to OpenAI’s Deep Research, which can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.
The Bigger Picture
So how do these tools compare? Here’s a quick breakdown:
- Perplexity: Fast and free for casual researchers
- OpenAI: Deeper analysis, best for enterprise users
- Google: Seamless integration with existing productivity tools
While it’s still early days, AI-powered research tools like these could change how professionals gather information. But some experts, including The Economist, warn that relying too much on AI for research might limit creative thinking. After all, sometimes the best ideas come from doing the digging yourself.
