Perplexity Sonar Pro

The read

Sonar Pro answers from a live search index rather than from training data alone, and returns citations as part of the response instead of as an afterthought. For anything that has to be current, or defensible, that is a different product from a frontier model with a search tool bolted on. The retrieval step costs time, the model underneath is not frontier-class, and you cannot host any of it yourself.

Where it shines

• Live web retrieval built into the model, not bolted on
• Citations returned as structured data with every answer
• Search costs are included rather than billed separately

Worth knowing first

• Slower than a plain model, because retrieval happens first
• The underlying model is not frontier-class on its own