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Perplexity AI
Search + AI
AI-powered search with citations — always up-to-date answers
What it is
Perplexity is an AI-powered search engine that provides cited, real-time answers. Unlike static LLMs, it searches the web for every query. Available as a consumer product and via API (the Sonar API). Agents can use it to get current information without managing their own web search.
Best for
Any use case requiring current information with sources. Much simpler than implementing your own search pipeline — just call the API and get cited results.
👤 Human use cases
- Research questions that require current, cited information
- Fact-checking AI outputs with real sources
- Quick research without sifting through search results manually
- Deep research mode for comprehensive topic exploration
🤖 Agent use cases
- Web search with citations via Sonar API (no scraping needed)
- Real-time information for agents that can't be retrained
- Research subtask delegation in multi-agent systems
- Grounded answers that reduce hallucination risk
How to install / get access
pip install openai # Sonar API uses OpenAI-compatible interface
from openai import OpenAI
client = OpenAI(api_key='pplx-...', base_url='https://api.perplexity.ai')
response = client.chat.completions.create(
model='sonar-pro',
messages=[{'role': 'user', 'content': 'Latest AI agent frameworks 2025?'}]
)