Focus Modes for Specialized Research

What Are Focus Modes?

Perplexity offers specialized focus modes that restrict or prioritize specific source types. Instead of searching the entire web, a focus mode searches a curated subset optimized for your research context.

Available Focus Modes

All (default) — Searches the full web. Good general-purpose starting point.

Academic — Prioritizes peer-reviewed papers, preprints, and academic publications via sources like PubMed, arXiv, and Semantic Scholar. Use for literature reviews, scientific claims, and medical questions.

Writing — Optimized for content creation research. Returns editorial content, long-form articles, and authoritative blog posts rather than news or academic papers.

Video — Searches YouTube transcripts. Excellent for finding specific information in technical talks, tutorials, or conference presentations.

Social — Searches Reddit, Twitter/X, and discussion forums. Use for understanding community sentiment, finding authentic user opinions, or discovering niche conversations.

Math — Uses Wolfram Alpha and computational sources. Returns equations, derivations, and numerical answers rather than explanations.

Choosing the Right Focus Mode

Academic Focus in Practice

For claims that need evidence: switch to Academic focus and ask for peer-reviewed evidence. This is invaluable when you need to cite sources in reports or validate claims before presenting to leadership.

Example: "Academic: What does peer-reviewed research say about AI's impact on knowledge worker productivity?"

Social Focus for Customer Intelligence

Social focus is underused for business research. Try:

"Social: What are SaaS founders on Reddit saying about their biggest pricing mistakes?"

You get authentic community insights, not polished marketing content.