Perplexity AI Focus is the feature that turns Perplexity from a “general AI search box” into a precision research tool. By choosing a Focus mode, you tell Perplexity where to look (web, academic papers, Reddit, YouTube, Wolfram Alpha, etc.) and how to shape its answer for that context.
Here’s a structured guide to what Perplexity AI Focus is, every main mode, and how to use it step by step.
Perplexity AI Focus (or Focus modes) are special filters that narrow your search to certain sources or content types instead of searching the entire web.
Examples:
Web / All – normal real-time web search
Academic – prioritizes scholarly papers and journals
Writing – optimized for drafting, coding, and brainstorming (less web, more generation)
Video / YouTube – pulls and summarizes video content
Social / Reddit – surfaces opinions and discussions
Math / Wolfram Alpha – for calculations and technical math
Finance / Other niche modes – for markets and data-heavy topics
Instead of one “one-size-fits-all” answer, Focus modes give you results tuned to your intent (research vs writing vs video vs social proof).
Using the right Focus mode helps you:
Get more relevant answers (e.g., academic references instead of random blogs).
Reduce hallucinations and fluff by pulling from the right kind of sources.
Save time when you know you want papers, opinions, code help, or videos instead of generic web pages.
Think of Focus as choosing which room of the internet library the AI should walk into before it starts reading.
Names can vary slightly over time, but these are the core Focus modes described in 2024–2025 guides and reviews.
What it does: Searches the entire web for up-to-date information, then answers with citations.
Best for: News, general questions, product comparisons, “what’s happening now” research.
What it does: Prioritizes peer-reviewed papers, scholarly articles, and academic publishers over blogs or news.
Best for:
Literature reviews
School/college research projects
Technical reports where you need strong sources
What it does: Shifts from heavy web search to generation mode: drafting essays, articles, marketing copy, or code, often with less emphasis on retrieving lots of external URLs.
Best for:
Blog posts, scripts, captions
Email drafts, outlines, brainstorming
Coding help and refactoring
What it does: Targets video platforms like YouTube, pulling video links, transcripts, and summarizing key points and timestamps.
Best for:
Learning from tutorials or conference talks
Recipe / DIY videos
Content creators reviewing multiple videos quickly
What it does: Looks at social platforms and forums (often Reddit) to surface real user opinions, discussions, and anecdotal experiences.
Best for:
“What do users really think of X tool or product?”
Unbiased pros/cons from communities
Early trend spotting and niche reviews
What it does: Routes queries into Wolfram Alpha or math-oriented tools to handle calculations, equations, statistics, and data analysis.
Best for:
Solving math problems
Graphs, formulas, unit conversions
Basic data science or technical engineering queries
Some guides mention extra Focus modes like Finance, Labs, Pro Search, etc., which can be tied to Perplexity Pro or experimental features. These often:
Pull financial data and market info
Enable deeper, multi-step research
May be available only to Pro or Labs users, not on the free tier
The exact UI can change, but most recent tutorials describe a similar pattern:
Open Perplexity
Go to perplexity.ai and start a new search or thread.
Find the Focus control
Look for a “Focus” button or a dropdown next to the search bar (sometimes labeled “Set search source” or similar).
Choose your Focus mode
Click the dropdown and pick from options like Web, Academic, Writing, Video, Social, Math/Wolfram, Finance, etc.
Enter your question
Examples:
Academic: “Summarize the latest peer-reviewed research on intermittent fasting.”
Writing: “Draft a 700-word blog post on Perplexity AI Focus modes.”
Video: “Best YouTube talks explaining transformer architectures.”
Run the search
Hit Enter or the arrow icon. Perplexity will now search and generate answers in that Focus.
Stay in the same Focus for follow-ups
Any follow-up questions in that thread keep using your chosen Focus unless you change it again.
On the Perplexity iPhone or Android app, Focus modes usually appear as an icon or dropdown near the input box, similar to the web UI:
Open the Perplexity app.
Tap the search field (“Ask anything…”).
Look for a Focus icon / label near the bottom or side of the bar.
Tap it and select Web, Academic, Writing, etc.
Ask your question and send.
The app then tailors the answer based on your chosen Focus, but still shows you citations and related queries like on desktop.
If you’re on Perplexity Enterprise Pro, you might not see “Focus” at all. Instead, you may see “Choose sources” on the search bar:
Options like Web, Org Files, Web + Org Files, or None give you control over whether Perplexity looks only at the public internet, only at your company’s documents, both, or neither.
Functionally, this is similar to a Focus system, but aligned to internal knowledge search and corporate data controls.
Academic Focus:
“Summarize 5 recent papers on climate change mitigation strategies.”
“Give me APA citations and a short literature review paragraph.”
Math/Wolfram Focus:
“Solve this integral step by step: ∫ x² e^x dx.”
Web + Academic Focus:
“Compare academic and media coverage of GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.”
Social/Reddit Focus:
“What are users’ main complaints about Perplexity AI Pro in 2025?”
Writing Focus:
“Create a YouTube script explaining Perplexity AI Focus in 5 minutes.”
Video Focus:
“Find and summarize 3 YouTube tutorials on building an AI agent with Perplexity's API.
Writing/Math Focus:
“Refactor this React component for better performance.”
“Explain this statistics formula with an example.”
Web / Finance / Social Focus:
“Analyze user sentiment on Reddit about DeepSeek vs Perplexity.”
“Summarize recent financial news on Nvidia with sources.”
Match Focus to Intent
Research = Academic/Web
Opinions = Social/Reddit
Drafting/coding = Writing
Learning from videos = Video/YouTube
Switch if results feel off
If Writing mode gives too few sources, switch back to Web or Academic.
If Web mode feels noisy, narrow down to Academic or Finance.
Use Focus + Deep/Pro Search together (if you have Pro)
Deep Research inside Academic or Web Focus gives long, structured reports with better cross-checking.
Stay in one thread per topic
Once you pick a Focus for a topic, stick to that thread so Perplexity keeps context.
Not every Focus mode is available in every region or on the free plan—some are Pro or Labs only.
Focus still depends on the quality of what exists online in that domain; it can’t fix bad or biased sources by itself.
Always double-check critical information (medical, legal, financial) using the citations and, if needed, a human professional.
Perplexity AI Focus is basically a set of smart search modes that control how Perplexity thinks, where it looks, and how it writes. By choosing Web, Academic, Writing, Video, Social, Math, Finance, or other specialized modes, you turn Perplexity from a generic chatbot into a task-specific assistant for research, writing, coding, or content discovery.
