How Perplexity Quietly Killed My Search Habit

06 May, 2026

🔍 I Didn’t Plan to Switch

I didn’t set out to replace Google. It just sort of happened.

I was already using Ecosia out of habit, and then Perplexity started creeping into more and more of my everyday searching.

At first it was just a test. A quick question here, a deeper dive there. Then I started pairing it with Comet browser, and suddenly the whole thing made a lot of sense.

It felt like everything was in one place. I could ask something, poke at it, follow up, and actually do something with the answer.

That’s a big deal when your brain likes moving from one thing to the next without too much fuss.

🤖 Why It Fits My Day

As a Product Owner, I’m usually trying to get to the point quickly. I want the shape of the answer, the useful bit, the next step.

I don’t always want to spend ten minutes opening links, comparing sources, and then realising I’ve got three tabs open and no clear conclusion.

Perplexity suits that. It gives me a clean starting point, then lets me go deeper if I need to. With Comet alongside it, the workflow feels even tighter. Less jumping around. Less friction. More getting on with it.

That matters more than people think.

When I’m planning something for work, I like being able to ask a question, get a solid summary, and then refine it from there. When I’m doing something more practical — whether that’s organising a scout camp, sorting a radio-related task, or just figuring something out at home — it’s the same story. I want momentum, not clutter.

⚡ The Good Bit

There’s a lot to like about this setup.

It’s quicker, obviously. But it’s more than speed.

I can ask follow-up questions without starting again.
I can probe deeper without losing the thread.
I can move from curiosity to action in the same place.
I don’t have to keep opening tabs like I’m preparing for battle.

That last one probably says more about me than I’d like.

There’s also something psychologically nice about having one tool do several jobs. It feels neat. Tidy. Like the digital equivalent of having a desk where everything has its place.

And for someone who spends a lot of time thinking in terms of structure, process, and making things easier for other people, that’s very appealing.

🌍 What You Miss

But here’s the honest part: traditional search still has its place.

Google, Ecosia, and the rest are messier, yes, but that mess is sometimes useful.

You get a wider spread of sources. You see different voices. You can tell pretty quickly when the web disagrees with itself, which is often a clue that you need to slow down and do a bit more checking.

AI search can flatten that a bit.

It gives you the answer in a way that feels smooth and sensible, but that also means you can lose some of the rough edges. And those rough edges matter, because they remind you the world is not always neat.

Sometimes the best thing about a search engine is that it points you somewhere and leaves you to figure out what matters.

🧭 Why Another Search Engine Can Still Be Better

There are times when a classic search engine is simply the better tool.

If I want breadth, I’ll use one.

If I want source variety, I’ll use one.

If I’m trying to compare opinions, check a fact, or fall down a rabbit hole I didn’t know existed, search engines are still brilliant.

They’re better at discovery. They’re better at letting you wander. They’re better when the question isn’t “what’s the answer?” but “what’s out there?”

That’s a different kind of usefulness, and I don’t think AI replaces it.

⚖️ Not Either-Or

So I’m not really choosing one over the other.

Perplexity has become my default because it fits how I work and think right now. It’s convenient, focused, and all in one place with Comet. That’s hard to ignore.

But another search engine is still better when I want the wider internet, not just the cleaned-up version of it.

That’s probably the real answer: not which one wins, but which one suits the moment. Sometimes I want a conversation. Sometimes I want a map. Sometimes I want both. And that, annoyingly perhaps, is where the balance lives.