There’s no denying that Google has been a core part of the internet for decades (for better or for worse), but it’s also fair to say its search product is hardly at the peak of its powers anymore.
Clunky AI overviews that are often incorrect, too many sponsored results, and giving low-quality sites more of the limelight has left many scrambling for an alternative. Where it often felt like one would never come, now Perplexity AI offers a genuine rival.
Naturally, an AI search engine comes with the usual caveats: it’ll get some things wrong, but with the state of Google at the moment, there’s perhaps never been a better way to try something new.
With that in mind, here’s why Perplexity AI might be your next search engine of choice, and how to change it.
Why Perplexity AI could be your next search engine
The big draw of Perplexity AI as a search engine is that it’s not just a search engine. Let me explain — Google has piled more and more on top of its existing search product, and while some of it has undoubtedly been useful, it’s started to feel as though the whole thing is creaking.
In many ways, Perplexity AI’s search function is just a bonus to a very good LLM that’s pretty great at research.
You can Google when, say, the iPhone 17 is launching, but that’s it. After that, you start a fresh query, and the process begins again, whereas Perplexity lets you ask a follow-up question like “How many models will there be?” or “How many days is that?”.
It’s also great at doing, well, LLM things. Ask it for a summary of the news today, and it’ll condense it for you. Ask for a recipe for banana bread, and it’ll put its digital apron on, and even let you ask for potential replacements for ingredients you may not have in the house.
The whole thing is more conversational, and it’s remarkably easy to set up — even in Chrome, which has long been Google’s home turf.
How to make Perplexity AI your default search engine
The following instructions work on any Chromium browser, and some will let you log in on multiple profiles so you can flick between Google and Perplexity based on your context.
- Open Chrome on your device
- Click the three dots in the top-right corner, then click Settings.
- On the left-hand sidebar, click Search engine, and then Manage search engines and site search
- To add Perplexity to the browser, use the following information:
- Name: Perplexity
- Shortcut: perp
- URL: https://www.perplexity.ai/?q=%s
- Click Add, then return to the list.
- Typing the ‘perp’ shortcut will trigger Perplexity, but you can also set it as Default if you’d prefer.
Using Firefox? It’s just as simple.
- Open Firefox on your device
- Open the Firefox Add-Ons storefront and add the Search Engines Helper Extension
- Open the extension, and then enter https://www.perplexity.ai/?q=%s for the Search URL, which will auto populate the rest of the list.
- Right-click the address bar in your browser and click Add “perplexity.ai” and you’re done.
How to use Perplexity on your phone
Switching to Perplexity on your phone is as easy as installing the Perplexity Ask app.
Doing so gives you a sort of 'live ticker' of news before you even get started.
Perhaps my favourite thing about Perplexity is that it attempts to put sources front-and-center. Asking "what's in the news today?" will give a series of stories, as well as tappable citations so you can expand a story.
There's also a handy set of 'Related' options you can tap, with each expanding the context of the day's biggest stories.
Paid subscribers can even get the news (or any other searches) delivered via audio recording.
Finally, I particularly appreciate the way you can quickly share a screenshot via a built-in share sheet — ideal for sharing fun or surprising results.
Will you be switching to Perplexity AI as your browser? Let us know, and don't forget you can always switch back to Google if you'd prefer.
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