Perplexity Cheat Codes (2026): Focus Modes, Operators & Pro Search

🎯 Focus Modes

Cheat Code	Use	Example
`Focus: Web`	General search	State-of-the-art LLM benchmarks 2026
`Focus: Academic`	Papers only	RAG evaluation methods
`Focus: Social`	Reddit + forums	Real experiences with Notion AI
`Focus: YouTube`	Video sources	Cursor tutorials for beginners
`Focus: SEC/Finance`	Filings & finance	NVDA Q1 26 revenue mix

Cheat Code	Use	Example
`site:`	Limit to a domain	site:arxiv.org sparse attention
`-site:`	Exclude a domain	-site:pinterest.com kitchen design
`"exact phrase"`	Force exact match	"model context protocol"
`after:YYYY-MM-DD`	Only recent results	after:2026-01-01 EU AI Act
`filetype:pdf`	PDFs only	filetype:pdf annual report 2025

Cheat Code	Use	Example
`/pro`	Use Pro Search	/pro compare 3 CRMs for a 5-person team
`/deepresearch`	Multi-step research report	/deepresearch India EV supply chain
`/reason`	Show reasoning	/reason which model, why?
`/steps`	Numbered steps	/steps set up Postgres RLS

Cheat Code	Use	Example
`/table`	Markdown table	/table pricing, context, speed
`/compare`	Head-to-head	/compare Claude vs GPT-5
`/timeline`	Chronological	/timeline OpenAI product launches
`/cite`	Inline citations only	/cite each numeric claim
`/nofluff`	Facts only	/nofluff key numbers, no intro

Do operators work in every mode?

site:, -site:, and "exact" work in Web mode reliably. Academic mode ignores site: because sources are curated.

Pro vs Deep Research?

Pro Search runs a couple of extra searches and refines. Deep Research produces a multi-page report with 30+ sources and takes minutes.