Perplexity or SearchGPT: What will your AI search engine be in 2025?

The future of online search is bound to involve AI. Whether it’s Google, with the much-dreaded SGE update; Perplexity AI, which is already validating the value of generative AI-assisted search; or finally, SearchGPT, expected before 2025.

Today only Perplexity can position itself as the leader in AI search. It’s a search engine that not only accurately answers your questions in real time but also understands context and gives you relevant information, thus reducing noise and superfluous information.

Listen to the AI podcast :

While its competitors are often called upon for creative, multimodal tasks, Perplexity adds value for information retrieval.

With Peplexity, there’s no need to open multiple tabs or consult pages endlessly. The engine provides “fresh”, reliable and directly usable information.

Perplexity: An ultra-powerful search tool

How Perplexity works

Perplexity uses powerful AI models, such as GPT-4 Omni and Claude 3, to understand your question in depth.

He conducts real-time research on the Internet, browsing reliable sources (articles, newspapers, etc.) to gather the most relevant information.

Then,it summarizes this data into a clear, concise answer, while providing citations from sources so you can verify the information.

Contextual and personalized responses

Perplexity stands out for its ability to understand not only simple queries but also complex questions.

Thanks to natural language processing (NLP) algorithms and advanced machine learning models, it offers accurate answers while displaying sources.

In contrast to engines like Google, which often require several clicks, Perplexity groups information into a synthesized answer, making it easier to search.

Focus Mode: Specialized search

Perplexity’s Focus Mode is a key feature that enables searches to be concentrated on specific sources, with remarkable precision.

In contrast to a general search, which may include irrelevant content, Focus Mode saves time and provides rapid access to the most suitable information.

How to use Focus Mode

Using Focus Mode is simple: when starting a new search, simply click on the Focus button and choose the desired search source from the menu

This mode applies to all subsequent questions in the discussion.

Focus options available:

1. All: Performs a complete search of the entire Internet, including all types of content.
2. Social: Targets community discussions and opinions on forums, filtering out less relevant items, ideal for tracking trends or gathering a variety of viewpoints.
3. Video: Targets online videos, providing accurate timestamps and the ability to view videos directly in the platform. This option is very useful when searching for visual information or tutorials.
4. Writing: Focuses search on content creation, whether generating drafts, brainstorming ideas, or even producing code. It’s a valuable tool for content creators, writers, or programmers.
5. Academic: Specializes in researching academic articles and scientific publications, guaranteeing access to rigorous, credible information.
6. Wolfram Alpha: Ideal for research based on computational data and mathematical calculations, this option uses Wolfram Alpha to deliver precise, detailed results in these specialized fields.

The advantages of Focus Mode:

Effective: Focus Mode lets you conduct in-depth, specialized research without being distracted by irrelevant data.

Targeted: By focusing only on relevant sources, you reduce the number of unhelpful results.

More relevant: Results are more aligned with your chosen search area, offering information more tailored to your needs.

Perplexity’s pro features

Pro search: richer, more detailed information

As a Pro subscriber, you benefit from access to specific databases and academic sources, enabling you to obtain detailed, in-depth answers.

In contrast to the free version, which is limited to five searches per day, the Pro version allows up to 300 searches per day, offering a more substantial work capacity.

A key feature of pro search is access to results based on temporal criteria. You can specify a particular time period for historical or current data, a valuable advantage for professionals working on market research or time-sensitive analyses.

In addition, you have theability to download and analyze files, such as PDF documents, which the AI breaks down to provide you with clear, synthesized insights.

Collections : Organize your searches efficiently

One of Perplexity’s most powerful features is “Collections”, a tool designed to organize your searches by project or theme.

Thanks to Collections, you can group several searches under a single interface, allowing you to keep a clear, well-organized record of the information you’ve gathered.

Collections also allow you to add specific prompts that will influence all searches within that collection, ensuring that Perplexity follows consistent instructions.

This may include instructions on the formatting of responses or on the types of sources to be preferred.

In addition, Collections facilitate collaboration, since they can be shared with other users, enabling a team to work together on the same research project.

Pages Perplexity : Creating customized pages

Perplexity’s recently introduced Pages functionality lets you transform your search results into customized web pages.

This feature is particularly useful for content creators, educators or researchers wishing to share their findings with a wider audience.

You can select the results of your research, organize them, add images or tables, and create a visually appealing and informative page.

Spaces

Perplexity Spaces is an innovative feature that allows users to gather their research and personal files in one place, providing an interactive knowledge hub.

It enables the creation of themed spaces to better organize projects, collaborate with teams, and integrate documents like PDFs or Word files.

Users can also personalize their experience by choosing from different language models for more tailored responses.

Thanks to integration with Perplexity Pages, collected information can easily be turned into publishable content, making it easier to create blogs or reports.

Spaces stands out for its ability to combine online research with personal data, making workflows smoother and more collaborative.

To learn everything about the Perplexity Spaces feature, read our article: Perplexity Spaces: The feature that convinced us to switch to Premium.

Advanced LLMS and custom API

Perplexity Pro also enables image generation with Flux 1 pro, or Dall-E, and access to advanced artificial intelligence models, such as GPT-4 and Claude 3, which are optimized to offer more complete and complex answers.

Furthermore, Perplexity’s API allows users to integrate these advanced search capabilities directly into their own projects, opening up infinite possibilities for large-scale automation and analysis 😉

The cost of pro features

You can do a lot with the free version, and the pro subscription isn’t cheap at $20/month. The API works on a credit system. (A pro account will give you access to $5 of included credits per month.)

SearchGPT: An innovation announced for 2025

With the planned arrival of SearchGPT by OpenAI in 2025, the AI search engine landscape is set to undergo major changes.

SearchGPT, like Perplexity, will focus on instant responses, but will integrate more conversational features, enabling continuous user interaction and real-time information.

A key difference lies in SearchGPT’s emphasis on working with content publishers to ensure the quality and transparency of the information provided.

In contrast to Perplexity, which has faced some criticism for abstracts without sufficient attribution, SearchGPT promises clear citation and highlighting of sources more prominently.

Perplexity vs SearchGPT : Which search engine to adopt?

The choice between Perplexity and SearchGPT will depend on your needs. If you’re looking for an immediate tool for precise, organized searches, Perplexity is an excellent choice today, not least thanks to its advanced features like Focus Mode and Collections.

However, SearchGPT could become a must-have for users seeking a more fluid and conversational experience.

Perplexity, with its advanced features, is a valuable tool for those who need access to precise, organized information.

However, with the arrival of SearchGPT, the field of AI search is poised for new developments.

It remains to be seen how these two platforms will continue to improve to meet user needs.