Welcome back ⚡
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🔧 Tool of the Week: Perplexity AI
What it is: A search engine powered by AI that gives you direct answers with cited sources — instead of a list of links to click through.
Why it matters: Google's model is 25 years old. You type a question, you get 10 blue links, you click three of them, skim for the answer, go back, repeat. Perplexity flips that. You ask a question in plain English, it searches the web in real time, synthesizes the best information, and gives you a clear answer with sources right there on the page.
I've been using it daily for 6 months and it's quietly replaced Google for about 70% of my searches.
Where it actually shines:
Research questions — "What are the best practices for cold email subject lines in 2026?" Instead of clicking through 8 SEO-optimized blog posts, Perplexity gives you a synthesized answer with sources in 10 seconds.
Comparing options — "What's the difference between Notion and Obsidian for note-taking?" It lays out a side-by-side comparison that would take you 20 minutes to assemble yourself.
Fact-checking with receipts — Every answer comes with numbered citations you can click. You're not just trusting the AI — you can verify exactly where the information came from.
Follow-up questions — You can drill down in the same conversation. "Now tell me which one is better for teams" — and it remembers the context.
Free vs. paid: The free version is genuinely excellent and handles 90% of use cases. The $20/mo Pro plan adds GPT-4 and Claude as the underlying model, image generation, and unlimited searches. Start free.
One caveat: It's not great for very recent breaking news (there can be a slight lag) and it occasionally hallucinates sources. Always click the citation if you're using the information somewhere important.
Try it: perplexity.ai — free, no account required to start.
⚡ Quick Hits
1. OpenAI released GPT-4.5 — The new model is noticeably better at "feeling" like a natural conversation. Less robotic, more nuanced. Worth testing if you use ChatGPT regularly.
2. Canva just added AI video generation — You can now generate short video clips directly inside Canva from a text prompt. Still early, but if you make social content this is worth experimenting with.
3. Google NotebookLM got a big update — You can now upload up to 50 sources (PDFs, YouTube videos, websites) and have an AI that's deeply trained on just those documents. Incredibly useful for research-heavy work.
4. Cursor hit 1 million users — The AI-powered code editor crossed a massive milestone. If you write any code at all — even basic scripts or formulas — it's worth trying. Free tier available.
💡 Prompt of the Week
The "Explain It Three Ways" Prompt
Use this when you need to communicate something complex to different audiences:
"I need to explain [topic/concept] to three different audiences. Write a version for: (1) a complete beginner with no background, (2) someone with intermediate knowledge, and (3) an expert in the field. Keep each version to 3–4 sentences."
I use this constantly — for explaining technical concepts to clients, for writing newsletter sections, for training new employees. It forces you to really understand something when you see it laid out three ways.
Try it with any topic you're currently working on.
🛒 Before You Go
If you want to shortcut the learning curve on AI prompting, my AI Prompt Power Pack has 65+ tested prompts organized by use case — writing, research, marketing, productivity, and more.
Grab it for $27: https://coffeyscott.gumroad.com/l/pznkc
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See you next week.
— Scott