Lesson 03 · Perplexity Mastery Pro ~11 min Reports + presentations

Deep Research: analyst output, on demand.

Deep Research is Perplexity's long-running mode — upgraded to run on Claude Opus 4.5 for Max and Pro users. Unlike a chat answer, it doesn't just write back text: it produces presentations, spreadsheets, dashboards, and websites as finished deliverables. The skill is asking for the right format, then verifying the numbers before you ship.

The mental model

It builds the deliverable, not just the answer.

A normal search hands you text. Deep Research reads across 20+ sources and produces the artifact your task actually needs — a deck for the board, a comparison sheet for procurement, a dashboard stakeholders can poke at themselves.

🔬 Deep Research

One-shot deep dive → a finished report, deck, sheet, or dashboard. For "I need the deliverable now."

📚 Spaces

A persistent workspace for research you'll return to over weeks. For "I'll keep working this topic."

Do it · order the right format

Tell it what to produce.

Deep Research is only as useful as the format you ask for. Match each goal to the deliverable that fits.

Pick the deliverable0 / 3
Do it · run, then verify

Run a deliverable, then spot-check it.

You asked for a spreadsheet comparing 20 AI agent platforms. Run it — then do the part most people skip.

🔬 Deep Research · run
Compare 20 enterprise AI agent platforms. Produce as an Excel spreadsheet — one row per platform; columns for vendor, funding raised, pricing model, notable customers, key differentiator, and a source URL.
📑 agent-platforms.xlsx · 20 rows · preview
Platform Funding raised Pricing model Notable customers Differentiator
OrchestrAI$48M Series BUsage-basedAcme, GlobexOpen-source core
AgentForge$120MEnterprise-onlyCygnus BankCompliance-first
FlowMind$9M seedPer-seatHooli, PiedmontNo-code builder
Before you publish: tap the column headers that you must spot-check against the original source.
0 of 3 risky columns flagged
Why it matters

AI tools report outdated or wrong numbers with total confidence. Funding figures, customer logos, and pricing are exactly where Deep Research drifts — and exactly what a reader will challenge. The deliverable is 80% there, not 100%; the last 20% is your verification and your voice.

Challenge: order a deliverable instead of a search

Pick a task where you'd normally build a slide deck or a spreadsheet by hand. Have Deep Research produce the deliverable, specifying the exact format and structure. Spot-check the numbers, polish for your voice and brand, then compare to your manual workflow — time, source quality, and design effort.

What you can do now

  • Ask for a specific output format — deck, sheet, dashboard — not just text
  • Spell out the structure (slides, columns, filters) in the prompt
  • Spot-check funding, customer, and pricing claims against the source
  • Treat output as 80% done — polish for voice, brand, and accuracy
  • Use Deep Research for one-shot deliverables, a Space for ongoing work
Pro
Up next in Perplexity Mastery

Lesson 04 · Perplexity for sales — prospect research in 5 minutes flat

Pre-call research workflows: company overview, decision-maker background, recent news, competitive context — and the prompts every salesperson should have saved. Start lesson 04 →

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