How to Choose Sources in Perplexity: Web, Academic and Your Files

The short version

Where Perplexity looks decides what it tells you. The whole web is the default. For research, academic sources give you studies instead of blogs. For your own work, your connected files give you answers from your documents.

Step by step

1. Open the sources menu in the question box when starting a session.
2. Pick the source:
   • Web: the whole internet. Best for most questions.
   • Academic: scholarly sources, for research and school work.
   • A connected file app: your own documents, once connected.
   • None: deselect the sources if you want Perplexity to answer without searching.
3. Ask your question as usual and check the citations to confirm the sources match your choice.
4. Steer further in the prompt. Name the kinds of sites to use or avoid.
5. Set defaults in a Project. In a Project’s settings, add web links and domains to prioritize, so every search there leans on them.

Connect your files (Pro)

Perplexity’s Help Center says Pro subscribers can connect Google Drive and Dropbox. Open Plugins in the sidebar (or Customize, Connectors), find the service, select Connect and sign in. You can then enable it as a source for a new session or attach specific files. Connected files are copies: if you change the original, add it again.

Prompts to copy

Official sources only:

[Question]. Use only official government (.gov) and agency sources, and link each.

Research, not opinion:

What does peer-reviewed research say about [topic]? Prefer systematic reviews and large studies.
Say how strong the evidence is.

Your files plus the web:

Using my connected [document name] and current web sources, what in it is out of date?

Exclude a type of source:

[Question]. Don't use forums, social media or sites selling the product. Prefer independent testers.

Example

A physical therapist asks about treatments for tennis elbow. With Web, she gets a mix of clinic blogs and health sites. She switches to Academic and asks again: now the answer cites clinical studies and reviews, and notes where the evidence is weak.

Mistakes to avoid

• Using Academic for everyday questions. Recipes and opening hours aren’t in journals.
• Assuming it followed your instruction. Check that the citations match the sources you asked for.
• Expecting connected files to update themselves. Re-add a file after you change it.

Good to know

The exact options in the sources menu can depend on your plan, your account type and what you’ve connected. If you’re signed into an Enterprise organization, Perplexity prioritizes web and internal file sources and doesn’t offer the older Focus options.

Related: research for school with Perplexity and write better Perplexity prompts.