Perplexity launches Sonar APIs for web-grounded answers

Perplexity introduced Sonar and Sonar Pro as application programming interfaces (APIs) for answers backed by web search. The launch lets applications retrieve information and generate a cited response without sending the person asking the question to the Perplexity website.

Search inside an application

Sonar was positioned for quick question-and-answer features. Sonar Pro supports deeper, multi-step searches and a larger context window for longer questions and follow-ups. The announcement also expanded access to source customization, search-domain filters, and structured JSON output for selected usage tiers.

Possible uses include:

• Researching companies or products from published web information.
• Adding cited answers to an application's search feature.
• Answering questions that depend on information beyond a model's training data.

Citations help with checking

A citation provides a route back to the material behind an answer. It still takes a check of that material to establish whether it actually supports the claim. Source choice and answer quality matter alongside response time and API cost.

The Perplexity profile covers its developer products and current access and billing options.