How to Use Perplexity AI: A Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide

Go to Perplexity

Open a browser and go to perplexity.ai. You don't need an account to start searching — the search box is right on the homepage. If you want to save your conversations and pick up where you left off, click Sign Up in the top right corner and create a free account with your email address or a Google account.

Ask a question in plain English

Click inside the search box and type your question the way you'd say it out loud. You don't need to use short keywords — full sentences work better here.

Instead of: best walking shoe plantar fasciitis

Try: "What walking shoes are recommended for someone with plantar fasciitis?"

Perplexity is designed to understand natural questions, so the more specific and natural your phrasing, the better the answer will be.

Read the answer and check the citations

After a few seconds, Perplexity writes a full answer in plain text. Inside the answer you'll notice small numbered superscripts — like 1 or 3. These are citation markers.

On the right side of the screen (or below on mobile), you'll see a list of sources matching those numbers. Each one is a real web page that Perplexity read to write its answer. Click any source to open it and verify what the AI said.

This is the most important habit to build: if an answer contains a specific fact that matters to you, click the citation and read it yourself.

Ask a follow-up question

Below the answer, you'll see a text box labeled something like "Ask a follow-up." Type your next question there — Perplexity remembers what you already asked, so you don't have to repeat yourself.

For example, if you asked about shoes for plantar fasciitis, you could follow up with: "Are any of those available in wide widths?" The conversation continues like a chat, getting more specific with each turn.

Try the Focus options

At the top of the search bar, look for a row of options like All, Academic, Writing, Video, or Social. These are called Focus modes — they narrow where Perplexity looks for answers.

• Academic searches research papers and scholarly sources. Great for health or science questions.
• Video finds video explanations on YouTube.
• Social searches Reddit and forums for real-person opinions and experiences.

For most everyday questions, leave it on All. Switch to Academic when you want peer-reviewed information rather than general articles.

Save or share a thread

If you want to come back to a search later, create a free account and your threads will be saved automatically in the left sidebar. You can also click the Share button on any answer to copy a link — useful if you want to send a researched answer to someone else.

Break the Google keyword habits

The biggest adjustment for new Perplexity users is shifting from keyword thinking to question thinking. Old search habits — short, keyword-heavy phrases — often give worse results here.

A few swaps that help:

• Instead of Italy travel tips, ask: "What should first-time visitors know before traveling to Italy?"
• Instead of diabetes symptoms, ask: "What are the early warning signs of type 2 diabetes?"
• Instead of Excel formula sum column, ask: "How do I add up all the numbers in a column in Excel?"

The more your question sounds like something you'd ask a knowledgeable friend, the better Perplexity responds.