Perplexity Unveils Freemium 'Deep Research' Feature in New Product Launch

Perplexity has joined the race of AI-powered research tools with the launch of its new feature on Friday.

Google introduced a comparable capability for its Gemini AI platform back in December, followed by OpenAI's research agent earlier this month. Interestingly, all three companies have branded their offerings under the same name: Deep Research.

These tools aim to deliver thoroughly researched answers with proper citations for professional applications, moving beyond typical consumer chatbot responses. In its announcement, Perplexity highlighted that Deep Research "handles advanced tasks across fields like finance, marketing, and product research with expert precision."

Perplexity Deep Research is currently accessible via the web, with plans to extend it to Mac, iOS, and Android apps soon. To activate it, users simply choose "Deep Research" from a drop-down menu when entering a query. The tool then compiles a comprehensive report, which can be exported as a PDF or shared as a Perplexity Page.

According to Perplexity, Deep Research works by "iteratively searching, reviewing documents, and refining its research strategy as it gathers more information"—a process designed to mimic human research behavior.

The company also emphasized its performance on Humanity’s Last Exam, a challenging AI benchmark that tests expertise across various academic disciplines. Perplexity's Deep Research scored 21.1%, significantly outperforming models like Gemini Thinking (6.2%), Grok-2 (3.8%), and GPT-4o (3.3%), though it fell short of OpenAI’s Deep Research, which scored 26.6%.

While OpenAI currently limits its Deep Research feature to Pro subscribers at $200 per month, Perplexity offers its version for free—non-subscribers get a limited number of daily queries, while paying users enjoy unlimited access.

Perplexity's tool also operates faster, typically completing tasks in under three minutes, compared to OpenAI’s version which can take anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes.

When asked to compare the different deep research offerings, Perplexity provided an analysis covering technology, pricing, and performance across various use cases and subjects, referencing articles about each tool. It summarized the distinctions as follows:

• Perplexity AI stands out for speed and ease of use, ideal for casual researchers
• OpenAI leads in analytical rigor, making it suitable for enterprise applications
• Google offers the most seamless integration with existing productivity tools

It remains to be seen how these tools will reshape everyday and professional research as adoption grows. However, The Economist recently pointed out potential drawbacks in OpenAI’s Deep Research that may also apply here: limitations in creative data interpretation, reliance on readily available sources, and the broader concern that over-reliance on AI research assistants could stifle human innovation and breakthrough thinking.