How to Use Perplexity Efficiently (Yes, Context Still Matters)

How to use Perplexity efficiently

Perplexity is like having a research assistant that never sleeps.

It searches the web, reads sources, and synthesizes answers—all in seconds. No more opening twenty tabs, skimming articles, and piecing things together yourself.

But I noticed something. Sometimes Perplexity nailed it. Other times, I got generic summaries that could've come from anywhere.

The difference? Same as always.

What Makes Perplexity Different

Perplexity isn't just a chatbot. It's a search engine that thinks.

It pulls from live web sources, cites them, and presents information in a digestible format. You can see exactly where the answer came from.

But here's the thing: Perplexity can only be as specific as your question.

Context Changes Everything

Without context: "What's the best project management tool?"

You'll get a comparison of Asana, Trello, Monday, Notion—the usual suspects. Helpful if you've never googled this before. Useless if you have specific needs.

With context: "I'm a solo developer working on side projects. I need something free, simple, and that works well with GitHub. What project management tool should I use?"

Now Perplexity knows what to filter for. The answer will actually match your situation.

Use Perplexity For What It's Best At

Perplexity shines when you need:

• Current information – news, recent developments, up-to-date facts
• Source-backed answers – when you need to verify where info comes from
• Quick research – saving hours of manual searching and reading

For creative work or deep reasoning, you might want Claude or ChatGPT. Perplexity is for when you need facts, fast.

The Follow-Up Problem

Perplexity is great at one-off research. But complex research isn't one question—it's ten.

You ask something. Get an answer. Refine. Ask again. Go deeper.

A week later, you need that research thread. Good luck finding it.

Making Research Stick

The same problem I had with ChatGPT and Claude? Happens with Perplexity too.

Great research sessions vanish into the void. The citations, the sources, the specific angles you explored—all lost unless you manually save them somewhere.

I built a solution that captures all of it. Every Perplexity thread, searchable alongside your Claude and ChatGPT conversations. Because research only matters if you can find it again.

Bottom Line

Perplexity is powerful for research—but only if you're specific.

Tell it what you're trying to do. Give it constraints. And find a way to save the good threads.

Your future self will thank you.