# How do Perplexity, Google and SearchGPT compare for research?

Date: 2024-08-05 · Author: Robert Scales · https://guidetoartificialintelligence.com/en/learn/perplexity-google-searchgpt-compare-research/

**Answer:** Perplexity is the most complete AI research tool you can use today, with a cited answer for every question and a deeper Pro Search mode; Google's AI Overviews add a summary above ordinary results for some complex questions; and SearchGPT is a promising OpenAI prototype that most people can only join a waitlist for. For research, the best choice is the one that makes it easiest to open and check the sources behind each claim.

All three tools try to do the same thing: read the web for you and answer in plain sentences instead of a list of ten links. They differ in how often they give that answer, how deep they go, and how clearly they show where each statement came from. For research, that last difference matters most, because an AI summary is only as trustworthy as the pages behind it, and you need to be able to reach those pages.

AI search works in two steps. First a search system finds pages related to your question; then a language model reads the most relevant ones and writes a summary. Errors can enter at either step: the search can pick weak pages, or the model can misread a good one. Seeing the sources lets you catch both.

## The three tools at a glance

| | Perplexity | Google AI Overviews | SearchGPT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who can use it | Anyone, free or paid | Users in the U.S., rolling out since May | A small test group; others join a waitlist |
| When it answers | Every question | Only when Google judges a summary helpful, usually complex questions | Every question |
| Follow-up questions | Yes, keeps context | Not designed as a conversation | Yes, builds context across queries |
| How sources appear | Numbered footnotes linked to each source | Summary placed above the usual web results | Named, linked sources in the answer, plus a sidebar of links |
| Deeper mode | Pro Search, which may ask clarifying questions first (5 a day free) | Not applicable | Not announced |

**Perplexity** describes its process plainly: it interprets the question with models such as GPT-4o and Claude 3, searches the web in real time, summarizes, and attaches numbered footnotes to the answer. Its Pro Search mode digs further and may ask what you mean before answering; free users get five a day.

**Google AI Overviews** reached hundreds of millions of U.S. users after the I/O conference in May, using a Gemini model customized for Search. Google's head of Search, Liz Reid, explained that overviews don't appear when a normal results page is enough; they are meant for questions where the information is scattered. The ordinary results remain underneath, which is useful when you want to go straight to the sources.

**SearchGPT**, announced by OpenAI on July 25, answers with up-to-date web information, credits publishers by name with links inside the answer, and lists more links in a sidebar. OpenAI calls it a temporary prototype and plans to bring the best features into ChatGPT.

## A worked same-question test

Choose a question with a checkable answer and a bit of nuance. For example:

```prompt
What are the current rules for carrying a power bank on a commercial flight in Canada,
and is there a capacity limit?
```

Ask it in each tool you can access, then score the answers with a table like this (the entries shown are illustrative):

| Check | Perplexity | Google AI Overviews |
|---|---|---|
| Did it answer the question directly? | yes | yes, overview shown |
| Are the sources official (airline, government regulator)? | 2 of 4 | 1 of 3 |
| Does each key number link to a source that states it? | yes | partly |
| Did a follow-up ("What about checked bags?") work? | yes | new search needed |

The decisive step is opening the sources. Click the footnote behind each number, find the sentence on the page that supports it, and check the date of the page. If the claim isn't there, or the page is an old forum post rather than the regulator's own guidance, the answer is not yet reliable, however tidy it looks.

> **Try it:** Pick one question from your own work or studies. Ask it in Perplexity and in Google, open every source cited for the main claim, and count how many actually say what the summary says. Repeat with a second question before forming an opinion.

## Which one should you use for research?

For serious research today, Perplexity is the most practical of the three: it always answers, always cites, and handles follow-up questions well. Google is handy when you are searching anyway, and its regular results make it easy to go straight to official sites. SearchGPT's design puts sources front and center, but until it opens beyond its test group, it is something to watch rather than rely on. Whichever you use, treat the summary as a map to the sources, not as the destination.

## Which one shows its sources best?

Of the tools most people can use right now, Perplexity shows its sources most consistently. Every answer carries numbered footnotes, so you can trace a specific sentence back to a specific page. That one-to-one link is what makes checking fast.

SearchGPT, by OpenAI's description, aims to go further, with publishers named and linked inside the answer and a sidebar listing more sources. Few people have used it yet, so it is too early to say how well that works in practice. Google's AI Overviews rely partly on the classic results page beneath the summary, which gives you plenty of sources to explore, though not always a clear line from each sentence to the page that supports it.

Whatever the interface, the test is the same: can you click from a claim to the exact words that support it? A tool that makes this easy saves time, but only your own reading of the source confirms the answer.

## Sources

- How does Perplexity work?: https://www.perplexity.ai/hub/faq/how-does-perplexity-work
- Google is adding more AI to its search results: https://techcrunch.com/2024/05/14/google-is-adding-more-ai-to-its-search-results/
- SearchGPT Prototype: https://openai.com/index/searchgpt-prototype/