Perplexity adds research tools
Perplexity is pushing beyond chat with Pro Search, a Research Mode, and a suite of about 13 tools including Tasks to automate updates—basically turning the product into an integrated research and tracking workspace. That feature set is aimed at people who need continuous information flows, such as founders and operators who want up‑to‑date briefs and watchlists without manual checking. (x.com)
Perplexity started as an answer engine that gave you one cited response to one question. Its newer push is to keep working after the first answer, with Pro Search for harder queries, Research mode for longer reports, and Tasks for scheduled updates that keep arriving after you close the tab. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai) Pro Search is the faster layer. Perplexity says it asks follow-up questions, does deeper retrieval than regular search, and tries to return a more nuanced answer in seconds instead of a simple web summary. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai) Research mode is the slower layer. Perplexity says it iteratively searches, reads documents, and reasons through what to do next, which is closer to handing a topic to an analyst than typing a one-shot prompt into a chatbot. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai) Tasks is the part that changes the product from a search box into a watchtower. Perplexity says users can set custom alerts, reminders, and recurring reports on any topic, delivered by email or push notification, with each update saved as a thread in history. (perplexity.ai) That sounds small until you picture the old workflow. A founder tracking a competitor usually has to rerun the same searches every morning, open ten tabs, and check whether anything changed in hiring pages, pricing pages, product docs, or news coverage. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai) Perplexity’s home page now pitches exactly those jobs. The examples on its site include “Monitor a competitor daily for any changes,” “Track regulatory changes in my industry,” “Send me a morning briefing,” and “Watch industry news and flag important stories,” which is much closer to a research desk than a chat app. (perplexity.ai) The company has been moving in this direction for months. In March 2026 it launched an Agent application programming interface, a Search application programming interface, a Sandbox for isolated code execution, and a product literally called Computer, all aimed at turning search into a system that can browse, reason, and act. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai, techcrunch.com) That is also why Perplexity keeps talking about model choice less than most artificial intelligence companies. TechCrunch reported in February 2026 that Perplexity’s software can automatically choose among models depending on the task, which fits a product strategy built around workflows instead of one flagship chatbot. (techcrunch.com) The business target is not every casual user asking for movie times. It is the person who needs the same stream of reliable updates every day: operators tracking markets, recruiters watching job moves, investors following sectors, and teams that want a standing brief instead of a fresh search each time. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai) There is still a limit built into the product. Perplexity says Pro and Max subscribers can create up to 10 Tasks, which suggests the company is treating this as a premium workflow tool rather than an unlimited monitoring service for everyone. (perplexity.ai) So the shift here is simple: chat gives you an answer, research gives you a report, and tasks give you a continuing feed. Perplexity is trying to own all three at once, so the product is not just where you ask a question, but where you keep a live file on anything that keeps changing. (perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai, perplexity.ai)
