10 Life Hacks Every Perplexity User Should Know
You likely use Perplexity as a quick-answer tool. Instead of searching Google, you ask Perplexity questions, and it responds with links you can check yourself. While Perplexity does this well, the service’s capabilities (especially in its paid plans) are significantly broader. By integrating some built-in features, leveraging Perplexity Computer’s background processing capabilities, and adding the Comet AI browser , you can transform Perplexity from just another AI service into a full-fledged research assistant that helps you solve problems quickly.
Set Perplexity as your default search engine for faster access.
While Perplexity can now perform extensive research, create mini-apps, and automate tasks, its main advantage is that it’s an alternative to Google’s search engine, focused on displaying relevant sources. Therefore, if you start using Perplexity more often, you might want to make it your default search engine. However, Perplexity isn’t yet recognized as a search engine in most browsers. You’ll have to do this manually.
In Chrome (and Chromium-based browsers), go to Settings > Search Engine > Manage Search Engine and Site Search . Go to the Site Search section and click the Add button. Under Search Engine, enter Perplexity. Under Shortcut, use the URL perplexity.ai/search/ , and in the URL with % instead of query field, add the following address:https://www.perplexity.ai/search/?q=%s . Click the Add button. Then, find Perplexity in the list, click the three dots, and select Make Default . Perplexity is now your default search engine.
Use multiple models to reduce hallucinations.
The key feature of Perplexity AI is that you can use different models, such as Gemini, GPT, and Claude, in a single interface. And if you pay for Perplexity, you can use “Model Advice,” which essentially allows AI models to check each other’s performance. If Claude Sonnet has a flaw, GPT-5 can attempt to detect it.
When creating a new query, select “Model Advice.” The query will be processed by the latest Claude Opus, ChatGPT, and Gemini models, respectively. The model synthesizer will then validate the result and resolve any inconsistencies. The response will show where the model agrees with the answer and where they disagree. However, this is not a cure for hallucinations: AI models hallucinate . They make things up; they make mistakes. While “Model Advice” can reduce hallucinations, you are still relying on AI to check facts, so be careful with the results.
Stop training Perplexity AI models on your data.
By default, Perplexity uses your chats and hints to train its models. If you don’t like this, there’s a way to disable this feature. Go to Perplexity Settings > Preferences and turn off the Save AI Data toggle.
Use the task scheduler to run recurring tasks, such as morning summaries and trend reports.
Instead of manually requesting news, tasks, or email updates, you can set up scheduled tasks to automate them according to your timing preferences. This can be done in both the regular Perplexity search and the “Computer” section—though if you plan to use interactive elements like dashboards, stick to that section. Start with a simple text query, such as “Send me a news digest with the latest AI headlines every morning at 8 AM.” You can make it as detailed as you like. Perplexity will display an interface for adding a task. Here, you can configure details such as the model used, update frequency, and more.
Use “spaces” to apply your own proven data to AI research.
In Perplexity, a space is essentially a project folder. You can use a space to add custom instructions and data that apply only to that specific space, rather than to all your Perplexity queries. You can also upload your own data here, such as PDFs, diagrams, database files, and more. You can also add links. This will answer each question using the data you entered. And because this is Perplexity, you’ll find a source link for each statement in the answer. (Clicking it will take you directly to the specified link in the PDF or document.)
Use search operators to get more precise answers from AI.
Like Google Search, Perplexity AI supports search operators. These can help narrow your search and find relevant information faster. For example, let’s say you’re looking for a tutorial on how to solve a problem in a program like Premiere Pro. Ask your question and add “site:(website URL)” to the end. The results will now display pages from that site, and the links will take you directly to the relevant section of the webpage so you can check the answer yourself. Similarly, you can use quotation marks to search for specific text, and you can also add a time frame to display only recent results. Adding “Last week” or “This year” to the end of your query will work just as well.
Connect your other accounts for more comprehensive data and automation.
Connectors transform Perplexity from a chatbot into a personalized AI assistant. Perplexity offers hundreds of connectors, including for some apps and services you likely use frequently, such as Gmail, Google Drive, Notion, Slack, and many others. After adding connectors, you can ask questions based on your personal data. For example, you can ask Perplexity to display important conversations from your Gmail account or show you database changes made by your colleagues in Notion.
This can also be useful when using Perplexity Computer for automation. For example, you can ask it to scan for new emails in Gmail, convert them to tasks, and add them to a Notion dashboard for your team to review. To get started, go to Settings > Connectors . You can use the “@” mention tool to select a connector in the request window. Note that connectors are available for Pro and Max subscribers.
Use Comet to simplify shopping and research across multiple browser tabs.
Perplexity Comet has a built-in research assistant that can persist the same contextual window across multiple tabs. It can then perform actions, gather research information, or compare data across all open tabs. When you have multiple tabs open, open the assistant’s sidebar and use the “@tabs” action to select the tabs you want to work with. Now you can ask Comet questions to compare details across multiple pages, including features and pricing.
Use the slash command to create keyboard shortcuts for frequently used command lines.
If you frequently ask Perplexity the same question while using Comet, you can turn these queries into shortcuts. In fact, any query can be turned into a shortcut, with the option to add additional context after it’s executed. This works in Comet and when using the Perplexity Computer. To create a shortcut, go to the Perplexity Computer skills page in Comet and click “Create Skill.” You can communicate with the Perplexity Computer in natural language to understand what the skill should do. After creating the skill, type “/” followed by the skill name to run it.
Use “visual data analysis” to track and study the stock market.
Perplexity has a dedicated “Finance” tab containing data and financial analysis tools you can access for free. Perplexity stores a catalog of financial results and real-time stock price data in its database. You can ask any question to delve deeper and conduct financial analysis. If you’re new to this, you can ask Perplexity Computer to generate visual charts for a company’s income statement or conduct an in-depth comparison of income statements over the past five years, presenting the results solely as graphs and interactive charts.