In short. Perplexity Research iterates through searching, document reading, and analysis to produce a research report.

Definition: Perplexity Research is a research mode that searches for information, reads documents, and reasons through the material to produce a report. Its workflow revises the research plan as information accumulates.

Key facts

As of 17 October 2026, Perplexity's Research help documentation describes repeated searching, document reading, and reasoning about the next research steps.
The Advanced Deep Research documentation describes cross-referencing information, processing uploaded documents, and running calculations in a code sandbox, an environment for executing code.
Perplexity's explanation of how it works describes numbered citations that link an answer to its original sources.

How does the research workflow work?

Perplexity's Research help page describes a repeating process: the system searches, reads documents, reasons about what to investigate next, and refines its plan as it learns about the subject. After evaluating the source material, it combines the research into a report.

The Advanced Deep Research page adds that broad queries trigger clarifying questions before research starts. It also describes calculations and data analysis through a code sandbox. Document reading and computational analysis are therefore both parts of the documented research workflow.

What sources does it use, and how are they checked?

Perplexity's general workflow documentation names articles, websites, and journals as web sources. It describes citations as numbered links to the original material, which provide a route from an answer back to its evidence.

The Advanced Deep Research documentation also includes uploaded documents as research inputs and says the feature cross-references information. A research task can therefore involve material supplied by the user alongside information retrieved from the web.

For a website owner reviewing a report, the numbered links provide a practical starting point: open the linked page and compare its passage with the associated statement. Perplexity's Pro Search help page explicitly recommends validating information against linked sources. That review advice concerns evidence checking across Perplexity answers.

How is Research selected?

The Research help page identifies the mode selector in the search box as the entry point. The documented control path is:

Search box > Mode selector > Research

This control starts the research workflow described above. For broad requests, the clarifying questions described in the Advanced Deep Research documentation form part of defining the task before the investigation begins.

FAQ

Can I include my own documents?

Yes. Perplexity's Advanced Deep Research documentation lists direct processing of uploaded documents among its capabilities.

How can I check a statement in an answer?

Use the numbered citation to open the original source and compare its evidence with the statement. Perplexity's workflow explanation describes these links as a way to verify information and investigate further.

Sources

Check how a page reads to answer engines. Open the GEO score analyzer