StretchLearn Course

Research With Perplexity: Cited Answers, Not a Google Rabbit Hole

Pro Search, Focus modes, Spaces, and a verification habit that turns a real-time AI into a research assistant you can actually cite.

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Beginner9 hrSelf PacedRegistered

Course Overview

What this course is designed to develop

Perplexity answers questions by searching the live web and citing every source inline, which makes it a different tool from both Google and a memory-only chatbot. This course teaches the real product — Pro Search, the Focus modes, Spaces, the model picker, file and image uploads, and the Sources panel — with named features, current numbers, and worked research examples. You will leave with a repeatable workflow for market scans, fact-checking, literature reviews, and buying decisions that is faster than Google and far more trustworthy than an ungrounded AI.

Learning Outcomes

What the learner should be able to understand, build, or execute.

Explain how Perplexity's search-and-cite engine differs from Google and from memory-only chatbots like ChatGPT

Run Quick and Pro Search and choose the right Focus mode (Web, Academic, Social, Finance) for each question

Read and verify the inline citations and Sources panel to catch errors before they reach your work

Drive a research thread with sharpening follow-up questions instead of restarting from a blank search box

Set up Spaces with custom instructions and uploaded files to run grounded, project-specific research

Build repeatable workflows for market scans, fact-checks, literature reviews, and comparison research

Curriculum Preview

Inside the curriculum: a structured path from fundamentals to execution.

Preview the course structure, see how the modules build on one another, and understand the path this program is designed to take you through.

Module 1

Module 1: How Perplexity Works as a Research Tool

Build a correct mental model of Perplexity's answer engine, see exactly how it differs from Google and from a chatbot, and get oriented in the interface.

3 lessons

The Answer Engine: Search Plus AI, With CitationsContent · 45 min

Preview Enabled

Perplexity vs. Google vs. ChatGPTContent · 45 min

LMS Access

A Tour of the Interface and PlansContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 2

Module 2: Pro Search, Focus Modes, and Better Questions

Move past default searches: run Pro Search for multi-step research, aim each query with the right Focus mode, and learn the question patterns that get research-grade answers.

3 lessons

Quick Search vs. Pro SearchContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Focus Modes: Aiming Your SearchContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Asking Research-Grade QuestionsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 3

Module 3: Sources, Citations, and Following the Thread

Read and verify Perplexity's citations like a researcher, catch the errors it still makes, and drive a topic deeper through follow-up threads instead of restarting.

3 lessons

Reading and Verifying CitationsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Following Up: Threads, Not SearchesContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Fact-Checking and Catching HallucinationsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Module 4

Module 4: Spaces, Files, and Repeatable Research Workflows

Set up Spaces with custom instructions and uploaded files for project-specific research, then assemble everything into repeatable workflows for the research jobs you do most.

3 lessons

Spaces: Your Project Research HubsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Uploading Files and Analyzing Your Own DocumentsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Building Repeatable Research WorkflowsContent · 45 min

LMS Access

Built for Application

A complete learning path, not a one-off inspiration hit.

This program is designed around progression: focused lessons, structured modules, applied resources, assessments, and a course rhythm that turns information into usable capability.

Perplexity AIAI researchcited searchPro SearchSpacesfact-checkingliterature reviewreal-time search