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Hey creator friends 💜

I got great feedback about last week’s newsletter, where I walked you through some of the best features of Google’s powerful new AI model, Gemini 3 Pro.

So this week, I thought why not dive into another powerful AI model that’s often overlooked or underestimated: Perplexity.

I’ll put my hands up and admit that I thought Perplexity was just like a glorified Google… but after my deep dive I’ve realised it’s so much more than that!

So in this issue, I’m walking you through 5 really cool features you can try today.

TL;DR - today’s lineup:

1. One Serious Deep Dive 💡: 5 amazing Perplexity features you need to know about (all free)

2. Piping  Hot  AI  Tea 🫖: OpenAI pulling a “code red”, erotica inside ChatGPT and MORE!

💌 Your say genuinely shapes this newsletter: there’s a one‑click feedback poll at the very end. Or hit reply and tell me what you loved/hated. I genuinely wait with bated breath to see (an honest) reply from you!

Before we dive in:

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How To Use Perplexity Like A Pro (And Never Google Anything Again)

I think many people are sleeping on Perplexity because they think it's "just Google with AI". But it’s so much more than that!

Perplexity searches the web, pulls from multiple sources, cites everything, and gives you an answer you can actually use.

Since everything is linked with clear citations, when someone asks where you got that data, you have sources ready. When you need to back up a claim, the research is already done. When anyone questions your work, you've got receipts without scrambling.

And ultimately, when you can deliver better research faster (that you can back up and validate), you become harder to ignore, and that's the game we’re all playing now.

So let’s dive into the features that are worth your time…

1. Focus Mode (You Can Select Specific Search Sources)

Google gives you everything while Perplexity lets you filter by source type before you even search, which means you get:

• Academic mode for research papers and studies with no blog spam

• Social mode for Reddit threads and real user experiences with no corporate PR garbage

• Finance mode for SEC filings and actual numbers

• Video mode for YouTube without clicking 50 thumbnails

Real examples of how this feature comes in handy:

1. Researching "AI tools comparison" on Google gets you 100 affiliate listicles, but Perplexity Social mode gets you actual Reddit threads where people complain about what doesn't work, and that's differentiated insight right there.

2. Or maybe you need to look informed about industry trends in tomorrow's meeting, so Academic mode pulls real research papers in 90 seconds backed by accurate citations in your presentation.

2. Spaces (Your Research Actually Stays Organised)

Create a Space for each project and every search gets saved automatically, which means no more "where was that source I found last Thursday" panic moments when you actually need to reference something.

Keep one Space per major topic or client, so when it's time to create something or give an update, everything's already compiled and you can look super organised and through (and wildly cool of course).

When someone asks "can you write about …." or "what's happening with …." you simply check your Space first.

3. Deep Research (Lightyears ahead of just Googling stuff)

This mode doesn't just search like we know “Google search” - it generates full reports with sources and citations, which means you can test it with something like "Create an outline newsletter about Perplexity AI including key features and use cases" (cough cough 👀) and get a full outline, feature breakdown, competitive context, and suggested angles in 10 minutes.

As a subscriber of this newsletter, you of course already know this. But as with any other AI model, the output quality depends on your prompt quality because garbage in means garbage out. The skill that matters isn't using AI, it's knowing how to direct it.

The golden trio for me is: Brainstorm ideas with ChatGPT, research your topic with Perplexity Pro Search (you get 3 free daily), and then rewrite everything in your voice with Claude.

4. Pages (Makes Your Research Look Professional)

Perplexity can convert any research into a clean, shareable page with the "Convert to Page" feature.

Research a trending topic, convert to Page, post the link, and you just published "original research" because you researched and organised while Perplexity synthesised.

It looks authoritative and takes minutes. Or maybe you need to brief your team or client on something, so you research the topic, convert to Page, send the link, and it looks comprehensive while saving everyone a meeting.

Before any important meeting or pitch, research the company, industry, or topic, convert to Page, and send it beforehand so you look prepared before you even show up.

5. Workflows (Automate The Repetitive Stuff)

Set up a scheduled task and Perplexity emails you weekly updates on your niche or industry, which means you stay current without thinking about it, and when someone asks your take on recent developments, you're already informed instead of scrambling to catch up.

Here’s how to do that:

What It Can't Do (So Just Save Your Time Trying)

Creative writing is where Perplexity falls flat, so if you want clever hooks, storytelling, or anything with personality, use Claude (or ChatGPT) instead. Same goes for hot takes and opinion pieces, Perplexity will pull the facts, but you need to add the perspective yourself. Also, don't bother using it for brainstorming wild ideas because that's just not what this tool does.

An important point to note is that Perplexity is getting sued by publishers over how it uses content, so use it for research, cite your sources, write in your own voice, and don't copy their text verbatim because that's asking for problems.

Do You Need To Pay For Pro?

The free version gives you 3 Pro searches daily, so start there and use it for one research-heavy project to see if it changes how you work. The Pro version is $20/month (same as ChatGPT), which might be worth it if you’re researching heavily and frequently.

Smart people aren't looking for one tool that does everything, they're stacking tools that excel in different areas.

Perplexity is part of that stack, so test it out and see if it works for you, and if it doesn't, move on. But if you're still Googling things like it's 2019, you're already behind.

OpenAI Declares "Code Red" as Google Catches Up in AI Race

Sam Altman sent an internal memo declaring "code red" and urging OpenAI staff to improve ChatGPT. The company is delaying ads, shopping agents, and personal assistant Pulse to focus on core features: speed, reliability, and personalisation. Why the panic? Google's Gemini 3 blew past competitors on industry benchmarks, and Google's AI user base is growing fast (thanks to Nano Banana). Full-circle moment: Google declared its own "code red" after ChatGPT launched in 2022.

Read more →

Claude Opus 4.5 Launches (First Model to Score 80%+ on Coding Benchmark)

Anthropic released Claude Opus 4.5, the first model to score over 80% on SWE-Bench verified (a respected coding benchmark). Key upgrades: Claude Code's Plan Mode builds more precise plans, the desktop app lets you run multiple AI agents at once (one fixes bugs while another researches GitHub), and Opus 4.5 codes autonomously for 20-30 minutes at a time. Memory upgrades mean you can chat without limits and Claude summarises earlier conversations and lets you continue a single thread indefinitely. If you're a creator who codes (or wants to), Opus 4.5 is the new gold standard.

Read more →

China's DeepSeek V3.2 Claims to Match GPT-5 and Gemini 3 Pro (For Free)

China-based AI company DeepSeek released two new reasoning models: V3.2 and V3.2-Speciale. DeepSeek claims V3.2-Speciale outperforms Gemini 3.0 Pro and GPT-5 High in benchmarks. It's committed to staying open source (any company can load DeepSeek's models for free). DeepSeek-V3.2-Speciale won gold in the 2025 International Mathematical Olympiad and International Olympiad in Informatics. DeepSeek first went viral earlier this year by proving you can run smarter AI models at a fraction of the cost (which spooked Wall Street). China's AI companies are proving you don't need billions in funding to compete with OpenAI and Google.

Read more →

ChatGPT Getting "Adult Mode" with Erotica in December

Sam Altman announced ChatGPT will lift restrictions around erotic or sexually explicit conversations "for verified adult users" starting in December. Altman said OpenAI wants to "treat adult users like adults" and is introducing age verification (unclear how they'll prove users' ages). This stems from user complaints that GPT-5 "lost its personality" after the summer update. The announcement drew mixed reactions. Some users mocked Altman for walking back his August comments when he said he was "proud that OpenAI hasn't put an AI sex bot into ChatGPT yet." If you're a writer (especially romance/erotica), this could unlock new creative possibilities… or raise new ethical questions.

Read more →

TikTok Launches AI Content Control Slider (1.3 Billion AI Videos Already on Platform)

TikTok is testing a feature that lets users control how much AI-generated content they see in their feeds. The feature gives viewers a simple slider to increase or decrease AI content. TikTok says there are already 1.3 billion AI-generated videos on the platform. The company also launched AI transparency tools and a $2M fund, plus an AI assistant powered by ByteDance's Doubao model (voice-activate tasks like finding content and booking tickets). TikTok is acknowledging the AI content flood and giving users control. If you're a creator, this transparency could help you stand out by clearly labelling (or avoiding) AI-generated content.

Read more →

When you’re ready…

Let’s create your first or next digital product and get it selling in 24 hours with AI and my foolproof 9-step system inside my First Sale Fast challenge!

If you enjoyed today's newsletter AND got to the end of it, I’d love a quick click on the poll below to let me know what you think 💜.

See you next Tuesday,

Jess xx