The homepage allows you to start a search without creating an account. Just type a question into the search box to begin. You can use the dropdown for "focus" to identify your purpose and tailor the response.
I selected "Academic" to get sources I could use for a college paper.
The results page includes an answer to the question as well as a list of sources that was consulted.
Clicking on "view 2 more" sources brings up the full list of sources referenced in the response.
If one (or more) of these sources isn't relevant, you can check the box and remove it from the response.
Once you remove a source, Perplexity generates a new answer just using the remaining sources.
If you ask a follow up question, Perplexity will build on your previous question to answer, but it will provide you with new sources and a new summary of the response.
With a free account, you can use the Pro search 5 times every 4 hours (compared with the limit of 600 times per day with a paid account). Pro search provides additional steps between the question and answer that help narrow or better define a topic.
With Pro search, Perplexity provides additional sources to explore.
