Every claim is traceable to a real source — verify anything in one click
Perplexity attaches numbered citation links to every factual claim, pointing directly to the original source. This is fundamentally different from other AI tools that produce uncited text — with Perplexity, you can verify every statement and read the full context behind any claim.
Web search retrieves multiple relevant sources per query. Perplexity evaluates and selects the most authoritative and relevant ones.
As the answer is generated, each factual statement is tagged to the specific source it derives from — not a general bibliography.
Superscript numbers appear inline throughout the answer text. The source list appears below with titles, domains, and direct links.
Click any citation number to open the original source in a new tab, navigate directly to the relevant section for immediate verification.
Verifying a claim you read online
I read that coffee consumption reduces Alzheimer's risk by 65%. Is this supported by current research? Find the actual studies and report their actual findings versus the claim.
Confirming statistics for a report
What percentage of global electricity is currently generated from renewable sources? Find the most recent IEA or EIA data and cite the exact report.
Checking a competitor's marketing claim
Our competitor claims their product "reduces deployment time by 10x." Find any independent sources, case studies, or analyst reports that either support or contradict this claim.
Look at the domain of each citation — Wikipedia, company blogs, and Reddit are different quality than peer-reviewed journals or government statistics. Perplexity mixes them.
"Find the original study, not reports about the study" or "cite only government statistical sources" narrows citations to the type of source you need.
Perplexity's output with citations is a great first-pass for academic research writing — the citations give you the sources to read in full and cite properly in your own work.
"Find 5 independent sources that confirm this statistic" ensures you're not building on a finding from a single, potentially flawed study or article.