Yes I use it a lot for my B2B article search. I also use felo.ai for searching info because it's more accurate. With perplexity I end up checking the sources the answer links to just to see if they re relevant, but with felo. AI it's already accurate.
Would love to get your thoughts but the way ChatGPT frames their answers is more structured and sometimes more readable than Perplexity’s. The answer is more human-like and conversational as well.
For Perplexity, I have found some of their responses either hard to follow or repetitive in nature.
The irony is Perplexity pretended to be Google in an attempt to scrape/steal data from Cloudflare’s clients’ websites. This isn’t the first time Perplexity has been exposed for unethical behavior.
Nice piece! Perplexity is certainly a good tool but it offers a different service than Google. It will provide sources and explanations for something I ask but it will not necessarily be better for image search or finding places.
Perplexity is great. But I worry it may not have a future.
I use Claude and ChatGPT (though mostly Claude) to do the same kind of research Perplexity does. It takes just a little more work on my part to guide the chatbot to give me the summary and insights I want, but it means I can both customize those summaries, and do more with it all easily once the research is done.
For example, I often take the results and put them into something more permanent (like a research report). That way I can download that research report, and then upload it later to use it in a new conversation without having to perform all the research again. I also often use the research to create suggested outlines and titles for other content (blogs, social media posts, etc.), and having already done the research in a chatbot means I don't have to transfer anything at all - not just the summary of the research but all the details of the sources are already loaded into the conversation.
So, while I think Perplexity is great, I don't actually see the advantage it has over using a chatbot for the same thing - except for the small bump in ease of use you'll get if you know in advance that you won't be needing the details of that research later. Because with just a little prompting in major chatbots, you can get the same results. And the effort it will take the major chatbots to create features that duplicate Perplexity's results is more incremental than revolutionary.
This all makes me wonder if Perplexity and its ilk have a real future. I expect all of the major chatbots to continually add features that eat into not just the market share, but also the reason for existence, of dedicated research tools like Perplexity.
Thanks for sharing! I'd love to know your view on how you think Perplexity compares to Google's AI Mode, which just launched here in the UK. To me they are both pretty similar services.
Hi! Here is the new chapter of my satire on modern society. I would love for you to go and read it and share your perspective if that will be possible. Thank you!
I like it too. The basic use I like to think of it as "2-in-1." Previously with Google I'd type a query, Google posts back a page of results with links and short summaries. Than on that 1st (or 2nd) page, I go through the links, possibly clicking on some following to the content, reading some while skipping others, trying to find the info I need, and or keeping a running summary in the process too. So the process was - step 1 computer, step 2 human. Now Perplexity has taken over step 2 too, it has collapsed those two steps into one. Like Perplexity, have made it a default search engine on almost all browsers I use daily.
Yes I use it a lot for my B2B article search. I also use felo.ai for searching info because it's more accurate. With perplexity I end up checking the sources the answer links to just to see if they re relevant, but with felo. AI it's already accurate.
Would love to get your thoughts but the way ChatGPT frames their answers is more structured and sometimes more readable than Perplexity’s. The answer is more human-like and conversational as well.
For Perplexity, I have found some of their responses either hard to follow or repetitive in nature.
@Michael Spencer oh, def. keeping this article, thank you
Great article! I mainly use ChatGPT but this article made me to explore Preplexity more deeply.
The irony is Perplexity pretended to be Google in an attempt to scrape/steal data from Cloudflare’s clients’ websites. This isn’t the first time Perplexity has been exposed for unethical behavior.
https://open.substack.com/pub/revoul1/p/revoul-founder-speaks-from-working?r=66spx7&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false
Nice piece! Perplexity is certainly a good tool but it offers a different service than Google. It will provide sources and explanations for something I ask but it will not necessarily be better for image search or finding places.
Perplexity is great. But I worry it may not have a future.
I use Claude and ChatGPT (though mostly Claude) to do the same kind of research Perplexity does. It takes just a little more work on my part to guide the chatbot to give me the summary and insights I want, but it means I can both customize those summaries, and do more with it all easily once the research is done.
For example, I often take the results and put them into something more permanent (like a research report). That way I can download that research report, and then upload it later to use it in a new conversation without having to perform all the research again. I also often use the research to create suggested outlines and titles for other content (blogs, social media posts, etc.), and having already done the research in a chatbot means I don't have to transfer anything at all - not just the summary of the research but all the details of the sources are already loaded into the conversation.
So, while I think Perplexity is great, I don't actually see the advantage it has over using a chatbot for the same thing - except for the small bump in ease of use you'll get if you know in advance that you won't be needing the details of that research later. Because with just a little prompting in major chatbots, you can get the same results. And the effort it will take the major chatbots to create features that duplicate Perplexity's results is more incremental than revolutionary.
This all makes me wonder if Perplexity and its ilk have a real future. I expect all of the major chatbots to continually add features that eat into not just the market share, but also the reason for existence, of dedicated research tools like Perplexity.
Thank you, great comment with added context.
Good article. Need to add Perplexity Max features as well !
@Alex McFarland hopefully the author will write an updated version of this.
Thanks for sharing! I'd love to know your view on how you think Perplexity compares to Google's AI Mode, which just launched here in the UK. To me they are both pretty similar services.
@Alex McFarland
Hi! Here is the new chapter of my satire on modern society. I would love for you to go and read it and share your perspective if that will be possible. Thank you!
https://canfictionhelpusthrive.substack.com/p/a-very-unexpected-interview
I was hoping you did a perplexity deep dive, Alex! Thanks
I use Perplexity daily, no ads or sponsored results
Thank you for advice
https://substack.com/@martinzuzak/note/c-130455047?r=3en26e
I like it too. The basic use I like to think of it as "2-in-1." Previously with Google I'd type a query, Google posts back a page of results with links and short summaries. Than on that 1st (or 2nd) page, I go through the links, possibly clicking on some following to the content, reading some while skipping others, trying to find the info I need, and or keeping a running summary in the process too. So the process was - step 1 computer, step 2 human. Now Perplexity has taken over step 2 too, it has collapsed those two steps into one. Like Perplexity, have made it a default search engine on almost all browsers I use daily.
Is it really just an AI web search tool? What’s the competitive advantage with others doing that well now.