Ask Perplexity

Ask Perplexity a question and get back three things the answer alone cannot tell you apart: the answer itself, the research steps Perplexity says it took to write it, and every page its search returned — not only the ones the answer cited. That split is the point. `sources` is the candidate pool, in the order the thread's Links view lists it, each with its publisher, title and snippet. `citations` is what the answer actually cited inline, each with the real destination URL, the chip as shown (a "+N" groups further sources that are not exposed individually) and whether Perplexity marks the domain as trusted. So `sources` minus `citations` is what Perplexity retrieved and then passed over, while a URL in neither was never retrieved at all — which is what you need to see how a topic, brand or product gets described and who gets credited. Headings, bullet lists and comparison tables come back as readable text, and `threadUrl` links the thread so any answer can be audited afterwards. `researchSteps` is Perplexity's own account of what it set out to look up, written for the reader in the interface language, such as "Checking why ABS might reduce stopping distance on wet roads". The literal queries its search issued are not published anywhere on the thread, so they are not returned and no field pretends to hold them. Treat one run as a single draw rather than a measurement: the same question can search differently, answer differently and cite different pages next time, so ask more than once before concluding anything. Perplexity's own free-tier ask rate limit can gate a request instead of answering it, answering "Sign up and repeat your request." instead. This can happen whether or not the browser is signed in — a live test confirmed the gate firing on a genuinely signed-in free-tier account, so signing in is not a guaranteed fix, only a paid plan is known to avoid it. The script names that state rather than returning an empty answer.