For Research Analysts ·
What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll use Perplexity's real-time web search to build a competitive landscape summary in 30–45 minutes instead of 2–4 hours of manual browser research. You'll have a repeatable process for pulling positioning, pricing, product news, and key differentiators for any set of competitors — with source citations built in.
What you'll need
What you should see: A search bar with "Ask anything" placeholder text and a mode selector (Quick vs. Pro search).
Unlike Google, Perplexity lets you ask complex multi-part questions and get synthesized answers with citations. Start with an overview query.
Compare the market positioning, pricing model, and key product differentiators of [Competitor A], [Competitor B], and [Competitor C] for [market/use case]. Include any product announcements or strategic changes from the past 6 months. Cite your sources.
What you should see: A structured comparison with inline citations and a "Sources" section at the bottom listing the URLs it pulled from.
Click Follow-up or type a follow-up question in the same thread to go deeper on any competitor:
Tell me more about [Competitor A]'s target customer segment and how they position against [Competitor B] in enterprise accounts.
What you should see: More detailed analysis on that specific competitor, still with citations.
Run a separate focused query for recent developments:
What has [Competitor A] announced in the past 6 months? Include: product launches, pricing changes, funding rounds, executive changes, or major customer wins.
What you should see: A chronological summary of recent news with dates and sources.
Perplexity doesn't have a built-in export, but you can:
Alternatively, ask Perplexity: "Now format all the information above as a structured table: Competitor | Positioning | Target Customer | Price Range | Key Differentiators | Recent News."
Competitive overview:
Compare [Competitor A], [Competitor B], [Competitor C] in the [market] space: positioning, pricing, target customer, key differentiators. Include recent strategic moves. Cite sources.
Recent news sweep:
What has [Competitor] announced in the past 6 months? Include product launches, pricing changes, funding, or major customer wins.
White space analysis:
Based on the positioning of [Competitor A], [B], [C], what customer needs or market segments are currently underserved in [market]?
Client position comparison:
How does [Client Brand] compare to [Competitor A] and [B] in terms of positioning, pricing, and target customer? Where are the clearest points of differentiation?