The beginner's guide to Perplexity at work
A colleague wants the current figure and the page it came from, not a confident paragraph. Perplexity answers with numbered sources, and a Claude or GPT model picked inside it is still Perplexity, not that vendor's app.
What does your job involve?
Open a task to see where to start in Perplexity, what access to check, a prompt to try and what to check in the answer.
Open a task to see where to start, the access to check, a prompt to use and what to check in the result.
Research a current business question Perplexity → Search / Research
Prepare a sourced answer to investigate, rather than a confident unsourced overview.
- Where to start
- Choose the available mode and ask a focused current question.
- Access to check
- Approved account, available mode and usage allowance.
- Bring this
- Question, market, date and evidence standard.
Try this in Perplexity
Research [question] for [market/date]. Prioritise official sources. Give the source link for each finding, show disagreements and label announced versus available changes. State what you could not verify.Why this request helps: Date and source standard keep the result relevant and checkable.
Check before using it: Open the important citations and inspect what the pages actually support.
If this route is missing: Run several smaller source-specific searches.
Compare suppliers or product capabilities Perplexity → source-led comparison
Find meaningful differences and the questions still needing answers.
- Where to start
- Provide the exact criteria and official-source preference.
- Access to check
- Search access; negotiated terms are not automatically public evidence.
- Bring this
- Supplier names and criteria relevant to your team.
Try this in Perplexity
Compare [suppliers] on [criteria] using current official documentation. For each cell give a source or Not verified. Distinguish documented capability, plan restriction and an announced change. Do not rank performance without measured evidence.Why this request helps: Criteria produce a decision-useful table; explicit gaps prevent invented completeness.
Check before using it: Verify important features with the vendor and your actual account/contract.
If this route is missing: Use a checked factsheet you compile from official pages.
Separate your files from web evidence Perplexity → file upload and source scope
Know which evidence an answer depends on.
- Where to start
- Attach the permitted file and identify whether the answer should use it alone or include web context.
- Access to check
- Supported uploads and account limits.
- Bring this
- A file, definitions and the desired source boundary.
Try this in Perplexity
Answer [question] from the attached file only. Show file evidence for the numbers, flag missing fields and do not substitute public data for our private figures. Put optional external context in a separately labelled section only if I request it.Why this request helps: The boundary prevents a helpful-looking web fact from replacing the data you meant to analyse.
Check before using it: Inspect the file values and source labels on important claims.
If this route is missing: Use a smaller permitted extract and check it manually.
After the research: turn checked findings into a file Perplexity → + menu → Create files and apps
Take a source-backed answer into a usable work product.
- Where to start
- Select the available file-creation route and provide checked source material.
- Access to check
- File creation access and limits; a search response is not automatically a workbook.
- Bring this
- Source, file type, structure and known checks.
Try this in Perplexity
Create [file type] for [audience] from these checked findings only. Keep every source link and qualification, preserve units, and list anything you could not include. Do not add new research.Why this request helps: File format and checks distinguish a usable deliverable from a polished response.
Check before using it: Open the file in its destination editor and verify calculations/layout.
If this route is missing: Use the checked answer in your existing document or spreadsheet editor.
Keep an ongoing investigation together Perplexity → Projects
Maintain the evidence behind a recurring work question.
- Where to start
- Create or select a project and inspect its files, instructions and sharing.
- Access to check
- Project capability and account-specific sharing limits.
- Bring this
- A recurring question, current sources and narrow instructions.
Try this in Perplexity
For this project, keep findings with their source and date. Separate stable instructions from current evidence. Before reusing a conclusion, check whether its source has changed or is missing. Do not add people or change sharing without review.Why this request helps: Project context is useful only when its evidence remains current and its audience is deliberate.
Check before using it: Inspect project membership and source freshness before sharing a finding.
If this route is missing: Keep a source log and reuse a bounded search brief.
Know what you have
Perplexity: the feature map
Use this map to distinguish a reply, an editable output and an action in another app. Availability depends on the signed-in account, enabled features and the specific operation.
| Feature | Useful for | Where | Access / limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Search | Current source-backed questions | Search composer | Available modes and evidence scope |
| Research | Larger investigations | Mode selector in the search box | Account access and usage limits |
| Files | Questions against supplied snapshots | Upload control | Supported formats and source boundary |
| Create files and apps | Reports, spreadsheets and small outputs | + menu in the input bar | Separate availability and final-file checks |
| Projects | Persistent threads, files and instructions (formerly Spaces) | Projects | Sharing, instructions and source freshness |
| Model selection | Different reasoning options | Available model picker | Plan-dependent; Research chooses its own model |
Find out what your account can use
- Sign in to the approved account and inspect the available search/research modes and usage.
- For a quick question, start a search. For a broader investigation, choose the research route actually enabled in your account.
- Separate public web sources, uploaded snapshots and approved connected work context.
- Check file-creation access separately from search. Open the actual file and verify the result before using it.
When Research or file creation is unavailable, use a smaller search with inspectable sources or export a checked text brief through your own editor.
Ask your administrator:
Which Perplexity account and workspace should I use for work? Please confirm the features enabled for my account, whether I can use files and connected apps, which information is permitted, and who approves new access. I want to try [specific task and destination] using the access we already have.What you'll make
one current answer to a work question, with its key citation opened and the line checked, plus a note of anything still unconfirmed.
What you'll need
a Perplexity account your organisation lets you use for work, a public question with an official source that owns the answer, and about ten minutes. Search works on the free plan; Research has limited free use.
Example result.
| Question | Checked answer | Still open |
|---|---|---|
| Current UK VAT registration threshold | £90,000 taxable turnover in the last 12 months (GOV.UK, line checked) | When it last changed: the cited page doesn’t say |
1. Name the job, then pick the mode
Before you type, say what you need in one sentence: one fact, a comparison across several sources, or a finished file. The mode follows from that.
| Your job | Use | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| One current fact | Search in the mode selector | A short answer with numbered citations, in seconds |
| A comparison across many sources | Research in the mode selector | A long report from dozens of searches, usually a few minutes |
| A report, spreadsheet or small app | Create files and apps from the + menu | A file you open and check separately |
Start small. If one official page answers the question, a Research report is more material to check, not a better answer. You can’t choose the model in Research; Perplexity picks it.
Why this works: the mode changes how much reading the answer will need from you. Naming the job first stops a one-line question turning into a twelve-section report.
What you should see: Search and Research in the selector under the search box. If Research or file creation is missing, your plan or workspace may not include it; Search is enough for this guide.
2. Ask one current question and name the source
Choose Search and ask a question that has an official answer. This one is safe to try as written; afterwards, swap in your own question and the organisation that owns its answer.
What is the current UK VAT registration threshold? Use GOV.UK or HMRC as the source. Quote the line that states the figure and give the link. Say when the threshold last changed only if the official source says so. List any source that disagrees separately and don't use it for the answer.Why this works: naming the authority tells Perplexity which citation should carry the figure, and asking for the exact line gives you something to find on the page.
What you should see: a short answer with numbered citations. Hover over or click a number to see which source sits behind which sentence.
3. Open the citation that carries the answer
Click the citation next to the figure, not the first one in the list. On the page, find the line the answer quotes and check three things: the figure matches, the page is the authority you asked for, and the answer hasn’t widened what the page says.
Keep two kinds of fact apart. A vendor’s help page can tell you a feature exists on a plan; it can’t tell you your account has it. “Documented for Business plans” and “your team can use it today” need different evidence.
Why this works: a citation is navigation, not proof. The number shows where to look; only the page tells you whether the sentence is supported.
What you should see: the same figure in the same terms on the official page. If you can’t find the line, treat the claim as unchecked.
Check the result
- The key figure matches the cited official page, word for word where it matters.
- Every sentence you’ll reuse cites the authority you named, not a blog or forum.
- Anything the official source doesn’t say is marked unknown rather than filled in.
- Product or plan claims are worded as what the vendor documents, not what your account has.
The usual failure: a secondary source slips in. The main figure cites GOV.UK, but a supporting sentence (a change date, an exception, an older figure “for context”) cites an accounting blog that is a year or two out of date. Spot it by opening every citation on a sentence you plan to reuse and checking the site and its date.
Citation [n] is a secondary site and is older than the official page. Rewrite the answer using only the official source for every claim. Remove anything only the secondary site supports and list it separately as unconfirmed.[n] is the citation number on the sentence you couldn’t confirm.
Worked example: an old figure in a new answer
Fictional example. The answer and two of its sources are invented; the GOV.UK figure is real.
Question: What is the current UK VAT registration threshold, and when did it last change?
Answer: You must register for VAT if your taxable turnover goes over £90,000 in a rolling 12-month period [1]. The threshold rose from £85,000 in 2024 [2]. Some guides still give £85,000 [3].
[1] gov.uk: When to register for VAT
[2] smallbiz-money.example: "VAT threshold guide", updated March 2023
[3] bookkeepers-forum.example: thread from 2022- The figure checks out. Citation [1] opens GOV.UK, which says you must register if taxable turnover “goes over £90,000 (the VAT threshold)”.
- The change date doesn’t. Citation [2] was last updated in March 2023, so it can’t support a 2024 change. Open it and it gives £85,000 as the current figure. The sentence may well be true, but nothing on this answer’s source list shows it.
- After the repair prompt, the answer reads: “£90,000 of taxable turnover in the last 12 months [1]. GOV.UK’s page doesn’t say when the threshold changed. Unconfirmed: the date of the last change.” If finance needs the date, ask a new Search for an HMRC or legislation source for it.
Task kit for this job: Download (ZIP) · Reusable instructions
Go deeper
Use Research for a comparison you can scope
Research runs many searches and reads far more sources than Search, so it suits questions like “how do three suppliers’ published refund terms differ?” Scope it tightly, or the report grows faster than your checking time.
Compare the published refund terms of [suppliers] for UK business customers. Use each supplier's own terms pages, current as of [month and year]. Cover only refund window, who pays return delivery and exclusions. Give a citation for each cell, mark gaps as Not found, and don't recommend a winner.[suppliers] are the names you are comparing; [month and year] sets how current the pages must be. Check the cells you’ll act on against each supplier’s page, and remember that negotiated terms in your own contract won’t be on the web.
Turn checked findings into a file
Use Create files and apps from the + menu only once the evidence is settled. Paste in the findings you’ve already checked and ask for one named output, such as “a one-page comparison table for the purchasing team, keeping every source link”. Then open the file in the program your team will use. A correct chat answer doesn’t prove the exported file kept the links, the qualifications or the layout. If file creation isn’t on your plan, ask for the same content as text and paste it into your own editor. For more on checking exported files, see turn a useful chat into a document, table or slide deck.
Keep a recurring question in a Project
Projects (called Spaces until mid-2026) keep threads, files and instructions together for a question you return to, such as a monthly check of competitors’ price pages. Add one standing instruction: keep each finding with its source and date, and recheck the source before reusing an old conclusion. Before you invite anyone, look at who the project is shared with and whether its files are still current. See keep Perplexity research together in a Project for the full setup, and check when Perplexity is using your files or the public web when you add documents.
Sources
- What is Research mode? (Perplexity Help Center)
- What is Perplexity Pro? (Perplexity Help Center)
- Creating assets with Perplexity: overview (Perplexity Help Center)
- Upgraded Deep Research and Create files and apps (Perplexity changelog, February 2026)
- What are Projects? (Perplexity Help Center)
- Spaces are now Projects (Perplexity blog)
- When to register for VAT (GOV.UK)