Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT: Not Your Average Chatbot Comparison

Welcome to our not-so-average AI chatbots comparison of Perplexity vs ChatGPT! Chatbots have become our trusted digital friends, from helping with research papers to brainstorming ideas. So, why not test which of these friends is better?

With so many AI choices, figuring out which one works best for you can be confusing. That’s why we’ve tested the free versions of Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT, saving you the trouble of trying both.

We’ll see how these two AIs handle tough questions, deliver accurate information, and tackle different challenges. Will Perplexity’s focus on research give it an advantage, or will ChatGPT’s smooth conversation style come out on top? Let’s find out!

Quick Overview

ChatGPT, developed by OpenAI, is the chatbot that revolutionized the AI assistant market with its different capabilities spanning from coding assistance to creative writing. Its success inspired numerous competitors to develop their own AI solutions.

When asked about weaknesses and strengths compared to its competitor Perplexity AI, ChatGPT mentions that it is stronger in fields like creative writing and problem-solving, but weaker in fields like fast web access and source citation.

Perplexity describes itself as an answer engine: it searches the live web the moment you ask and writes an answer where every claim carries an inline citation. Since 2026 it also includes Perplexity Computer, an agent that carries out multi-step tasks from research to a finished document, and Comet, an AI browser that brings the same assistant into your web pages.

When asked about its weaknesses and strengths compared to ChatGPT, Perplexity AI mentions that it’s better in web-grounded research and current-information questions but weaker in creation and multimodal features.

While we could have tested standard metrics like processing speed or response time, we decided to base our test categories on these answers from both AI Chatbots. That is why this won’t be your average chatbot comparison.

Key Differences: Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT

Here is a short comparison table of key differences of the AI models:

Worth noting: if neither of these tools quite fits what you need, there’s a third option worth considering. Ajelix offers an Agentic AI Chat as a workspace-first alternative. It’s built for professionals who need working outputs, not just answers. Where ChatGPT and Perplexity give you information, Ajelix gives you the finished file.

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Enough theory, let’s start testing!

The Most Up-to-Date Information

No doubt that this was the most difficult category to test! Although ChatGPT claimed that its weakness, compared to Perplexity AI, is real-time web access, we spent unhealthy hours brainstorming new questions about recent events.

This comparison might interest you: DeepSeek vs ChatGPT

We decided to ask chatbots about Latvian news to try and trick them. A Latvian news page published an article about a requested government today. In Latvian, of course.

We asked AIs this specific question: How much money is the health ministry of Latvia asking from the government for cybersecurity?

Here are the results:

Both chatbots answered correctly, but Perplexity added additional details for more context. It also used a lot more sources than ChatGPT to ensure its answer is full and correct.

Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT: Reasoning

Reasoning is an important skill for chatbots because it shows how well they can think through complex questions and provide logical answers, so we decided to test it.

We gave this prompt to both AI models: Should we invest more in artificial intelligence development or cybersecurity? Why? Give me an answer in a maximum of 100 words.

Here are the answers chatbots gave us:

In our eyes, ChatGPT earns the winner title. Why? ChatGPT’s claim came across stronger and cleaner.

The Jury Vote

Of course, it wouldn’t be us if we didn’t ask for a second opinion. So, we did. To find the best answer, we consulted with our other AI Chatbot friends: DeepSeek and Claude.

For objectivity reasons, we didn’t mention the names of the chatbots. The first answer they analyzed was ChatGPT’s, and the second was Perplexity’s.

Let’s see what the AI jury had to say:

Wonderful to find out that our AI Jury thinks the same! ChatGPT’s answer to both AIs seems more direct and with clearer positioning.

Generic AI tells you what to do. Agentic AI does it.
Ajelix completes your business workflows end-to-end — from raw data to finished, shareable asset.

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The Creative Soul

Chatbots themselves said that they both think ChatGPT is more creative than Perplexity. Of course, we had to check that.

In one of our recent comparisons of chatbots (yes, we love making them!), Anthropic’s Claude proved to be the most creative model in our organized rap battle. So, for this reason, we decided to ask Claude for ideas for the creativity test. We knew we wanted to make chatbots write a short film scenario, just didn’t know the topic.

In case you have missed this ultimate face-off: ChatGPT vs Claude vs Gemini Comparison

Claude came to the rescue and made this prompt: Write a 100-word film scenario reimagining Cinderella as an undervalued content creator at a social media agency. The royal ball becomes an exclusive influencer convention, and the charming prince is now a visionary tech CEO searching for authentic talent.

Here are the Oscar-worthy film scenarios:

We would give the Oscar creativity award to Perplexity. It kept some original Cinderella aspects and reinvented them as a 21st century romcom, especially with the moving line.

AI Oscars Jury Vote

Of course, we had to consult our AI jury, DeepSeek and Claude, for an objective judgment.

Here is what the AI Oscars Jury had to say:

For the first time in our jury testing, the chatbots didn’t agree – Claude said Perplexity’s was better, while DeepSeek claimed ChatGPT’s was. We agreed with Claude, as ChatGPT’s seemed more generic, while Perplexity read like prose.

The Excel Expert

We call ourselves experts in Excel: no wonder we have dedicated so many AI Tools to Excel efficiency. The decision to test chatbots in Excel VBA code skills was a natural choice.

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We gave our dear chatbots this Excel task:

Give me Excel VBA code for these steps:
1) Generate an example dataset that represents e-commerce sales data
2) Use Excel solver to uncover hidden data patterns to improve profit
3) Create a dashboard
4) Make sure the code works perfectly
5) Code should be exactly 70 lines long

Well, it would not look aesthetically pleasing if we just shared long VBA codes with you, but what we can say: ChatGPT for sure wins this category!

Perplexity proved why it has the reputation of a search engine because its code was full of mistakes. Also, ChatGPT was right when it mentioned that it is stronger in coding than Perplexity.

To do a proper VBA code analysis, we used the Ajelix AI agents to help with identifying and fixing code errors, then visualizing them within the Ajelix interface.

Here is how Ajelix visualized the codes as dashboards within an Excel sheet:

One wonderful thing about this tool is that it is created with a focus on teaching. So, it not only generates a perfect code but it also explains exactly what it has changed. Many of our users love to learn and continuously improve their skills, so this is one of the many ways we help them do so.

Here is the explanation of the bugs found and fixed by Ajelix:

While Perplexity’s dashboard seemed more visually pleasing to us, Ajelix found twice as more bugs in its code, so in this round, the winner’s title goes to ChatGPT.

Long live AI, especially when it comes to giving a helping hand in Excel!

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The Best Researcher

According to Perplexity AI, its web research skills are better than ChatGPT. Of course, we must check this statement.

We fully expected to give the winner’s title here to Perplexity, but we were underwhelmed by its answer. While the 1st and 3rd facts were correctly provided by both chatbots, ChatGPT’s news piece was more fun. The way ChatGPT embedded the facts with pictures was more visually pleasing, than just a block of text from Perplexity.

Therefore, though it’s surprising, ChatGPT wins this category!

Who is the Champion: Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT?

Here is a summary of the results in all five categories:

After our not-so-average tests, ChatGPT is the ultimate winner.

Both tools clearly have strengths here, but reasoning alone doesn’t finish your work. If your goal is to go from a question to a completed deliverable, a report, a dashboard, or a model, Ajelix Agentic AI picks up where both leave off by autonomously executing the task, not just reasoning about it.

Generic AI tells you what to do. Agentic AI does it.
Ajelix completes your business workflows end-to-end — from raw data to finished, shareable asset.

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Conclusion

After comparing Perplexity AI vs ChatGPT through our five tests, one thing is clear: both are capable, but in very different ways.

Perplexity AI proved itself as a methodical researcher, delivering well-cited answers, a formal tone, and solid logic, while also having an eye for creativity. However, ChatGPT, our ultimate winner, came through as a multitasker: impressing us with its reasoning skills, Excel knowledge, and surprisingly sharp access to web research.

While ChatGPT technically takes home the gold with three wins out of five, your real takeaway should be that the best chatbot depends on what you need it for. Research-heavy work? Go with Perplexity. Creative brainstorming or coding? ChatGPT!

And if you need the work actually done, not brainstormed, not researched, but built and ready to use, Ajelix Agentic AI Chat is worth a free try. It launched in early 2026 with a persistent workspace, multi-model AI, and the ability to generate Excel files, dashboards, and presentations autonomously. Over 350,000 professionals are already using it.

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