How to Sign Up for Perplexity AI (from Australia)
Status: 🟩 COMPLETE 🟦 LIVING Section: how-to Tags: perplexity, search, ai, signup, walkthrough, research
What you’re doing
This guide walks you through signing up for Perplexity, an AI-powered search engine that combines the best of Google search (real-time, cited information) with AI assistants (synthesised, conversational answers). Perplexity is excellent for research, fact-finding, and questions where you want answers with sources you can verify.
Time: 5 minutes.
What you need
- An email address or Google account
- A web browser or mobile phone
- (Optional) Credit card for Pro
Step-by-step
Step 1 — Go to perplexity.ai
Open https://perplexity.ai in your browser.
You’ll immediately see Perplexity’s interface — a single search box. You can use it without signing up at all (limited features).
Step 2 — Sign up
Click Sign up (top right). Options:
- Continue with Google (fastest)
- Continue with Apple
- Continue with email
Step 3 — Verify email (if using email)
Check your email; click the verification link.
Step 4 — You’re in
You’ll land on Perplexity’s interface. Try a query:
“What are the current ABS unemployment statistics for Australia?”
Perplexity will:
- Search the web in real time
- Read relevant sources (typically 5-10)
- Synthesise an answer
- Show you the sources cited (numbered references)
Click on any source to read the original.
Your first useful queries
Perplexity excels at:
- “What’s the latest on [current news topic]?”
- “Compare [Product A] and [Product B] reviews”
- “What’s the AHPRA position on AI in clinical practice?”
- “Recent research on [topic]”
- “Best [product type] for [use case] in Australia 2026”
- “Why do [phenomenon]?”
For each, Perplexity returns a synthesised answer with citations to actual sources you can verify.
Free vs Pro
| Feature | Free | Pro ($20 USD/month) |
|---|---|---|
| Searches per day | Unlimited (standard) | Unlimited |
| Pro searches per day | 5 | 500+ |
| Model choice | Standard | Claude Sonnet, GPT-4o, o3, others |
| Deep Research | None | Yes |
| File upload | Limited | Yes (PDF, images, etc.) |
| Spaces (saved research) | Limited | Full |
Pro is genuinely worth it for:
- Heavy research users
- Anyone who wants to use frontier AI models with web search
- Professional research (journalism, academia, due diligence)
- Deep Research mode (extensive multi-step research)
Free is plenty for:
- Occasional fact-checking
- Quick questions with sources
- Testing whether Perplexity fits your workflow
Setting up the mobile app
- iPhone: App Store → search “Perplexity” → install
- Android: Google Play → search “Perplexity” → install
- Sign in with same credentials
- Optionally set as default browser search
The mobile app has a useful “Ask” interface — quick AI search anywhere.
Recommended early settings
In Settings:
- Default model: Choose your preferred AI (Claude, GPT-4o, Gemini, etc. — Pro only)
- Search language: English (Australia)
- Output language: English (Australia)
- Account settings → AI Profile: Add context (your profession, interests) for more relevant answers
How Perplexity compares to alternatives
| Tool | Best for | Free? |
|---|---|---|
| Perplexity | Quick research with sources | âś… |
| Google + reading sources yourself | Maximum control | âś… |
| ChatGPT (with browse) | More conversational | Limited |
| Gemini | Best Google ecosystem integration | âś… |
| Claude (with web search) | Best for analysis-heavy tasks | Limited |
| DuckDuckGo + DuckDuckGo AI | Privacy-focused | âś… |
Perplexity’s distinctive value:
- Cleaner citation experience than ChatGPT or Claude
- Faster than reading multiple sources yourself
- More current than AI assistants’ training data
- Excellent for tasks where “show me the sources” matters
Privacy considerations
- Perplexity processes your queries on US servers
- Standard SaaS data handling
- Account-linked queries may be retained for service improvement
- Anonymous/free use has different privacy properties than logged-in use
For sensitive research: Pro plans have stronger data protections. Or use DuckDuckGo AI Chat for fully private AI search.
Spaces — Perplexity’s collections feature
For ongoing research projects:
- Click Spaces in sidebar
- Create Space with a topic
- Add custom instructions for that space (“Focus on Australian context”)
- All searches and chats in that space have shared context
Useful for:
- Long-running research (master’s thesis, business analysis)
- Topic-specific learning
- Client research projects (kept separate)
Australian context tips
- Add custom instructions: Tell Perplexity you’re Australian (in your AI Profile)
- Search language: Setting to English (Australia) gives more Australian sources
- Local sources: Perplexity reads news.com.au, ABC, SMH, AFR, The Conversation Australia, etc.
- Currency: Specify “in AUD” in queries about prices
- Government sources: Perplexity surfaces gov.au sources for Australian regulatory questions
Gotchas
- AI answers can still be wrong. Always check sources for important information.
- Source quality varies. Perplexity surfaces from across the web — some sources are reliable; some aren’t. Look at where the citations come from.
- Pro Search uses your Pro searches. The “Pro Search” mode is more thorough but consumes daily quota. Use it deliberately for complex questions.
- Deep Research takes time. Deep Research mode can take 3-10 minutes. Plan for it.
- Mobile app’s “Discover” feed. Surfaces trending searches — entertaining but can be a time sink.
- Privacy of search history. Searches are linked to your account by default. Logged-in queries leave a history.
- Don’t trust for legal/medical advice. Like all AI, Perplexity is informational, not advisory for high-stakes decisions.
What to do next
- Read perplexity for deeper detail
- Try Deep Research mode (Pro) for a complex topic
- Compare with Gemini Deep Research
- Try DuckDuckGo AI Chat for private alternative
See also
- perplexity
- deep-research-mode
- duckduckgo-ai-chat — private alternative
- sign-up-for-chatgpt
- sign-up-for-claude
- sign-up-for-gemini
Sources
- Perplexity signup flow (tested June 2026)
- Perplexity Terms of Service
- Perplexity pricing: perplexity.ai/pricing