As we’ve driven home here on this blog, the addition of an AI tool to your company’s toolbox needs to be disciplined, targeted, and thoughtful. One potential such tool for local businesses in the Aiken-Augusta area is Perplexity, a deep research engine with some similarities to ChatGPT. 

We’ve discussed before some ways ChatGPT can save your team time and effort. Perplexity, however, has some unique qualities that can give local businesses an advantage—particularly when it comes to gathering timely, well-sourced information that supports better decision-making. 

Specifically, Perplexity is a research tool. It can assist in strategic planning, marketing, human resources, up-to-date local economic conditions, and industry tracking—a smart assistant that’s always on and always sourcing fresh insights. 

What Can I Use It For? 

• Strategic Planning (Local Economic Conditions) 

Suppose you are considering expanding your business or are curious about how local economic trends might impact your bottom line. What business threats are coming to Aiken or the CSRA? What opportunities will emerge over the next couple of years? 

Maybe you’re thinking about launching a new product or service. Perplexity is like a research assistant, offering relevant data, context, and suggestions—helping you make decisions that align with regional growth and market changes. 

• Human Resources 

Hiring is a massively time-consuming process for local businesses. Perplexity can help streamline HR research by delivering updated salary ranges, benefits benchmarks, and insights into shifting workforce trends. It can also help you draft clearer job descriptions, improve your onboarding process, and sharpen your interview questions. 

Even if you have a solid hiring system in place, Perplexity can provide real-time regional labor market updates that keep your process competitive. 

• Marketing 

Marketing research can be a tangled and confusing web to navigate. Perplexity helps cut through the noise. Use it to research target demographics, identify growing areas of the county or region, explore emerging messaging trends, or understand what’s resonating with your audience. It’s a fast way to test a marketing idea before spending time or money. 

• Industry or Tool Tracking 

The same applies to staying on top of changes in your industry. If you want to track new regulations, evolving customer expectations, or emerging competitors, Perplexity can pull from multiple trusted sources, giving you a broader picture than any single publication.  

How Does It Work? 

Perplexity’s “Deep Research” function sets it apart from tools like ChatGPT. While ChatGPT is great for brainstorming or writing, Perplexity is tasked with hunting down and citing information from live, real-time web sources. 

  • When you ask a complex question, Perplexity doesn’t just spit out an answer. It goes off and researches. The Deep Research mode may take 15 to 45 minutes to return, but what you get is a well-sourced, link-backed answer you can verify. 
  • It uses current web data, making it a better choice when you need to stay current, especially for topics like market trends, economic news, or compliance rules. 
  • It will cite and link to original sources, and can also summarize long reports or articles, which is especially helpful when time is short. 

A Warning: Don’t Set It and Forget It 

Perplexity is not quite as user-friendly as ChatGPT, though it’s still fairly easy to learn. It does take some practice to ask the right kind of questions and interpret the results. 

Most importantly: you are still the decision-maker. Don’t make business-altering decisions based on a single AI search. Think of Perplexity as a first draft of research, not the final word. Use it to inform your thinking—but always apply human experience, analysis, and good judgment. 

Takeaway for Local Businesses 

In a fast-changing economy, using a tool like Perplexity might give your business an edge. Whether you’re refining your hiring process, testing a new market, or staying competitive in your industry, this tool can help you move faster, stay informed, and make better calls.