How-To Guide: Use Perplexity for Construction Market Research

1

of 5— Go to Perplexity and start your research

What you'll accomplish

You'll use Perplexity AI to research current material costs, labor rate trends, subcontractor market conditions, escalation rates, and competitive landscape data — with cited sources you can verify. Instead of calling 5 suppliers or spending an hour on Google, you'll get research-backed answers in minutes. Especially useful for projects in new markets or for unfamiliar project types.

What you'll need

Perplexity account (free tier available; Pro adds more depth)
Specific research question in mind — the more specific, the better the answer
Time needed: 5-10 minutes per research query
Cost: Free tier available; Pro is $20/month

How-To Guide: Use Perplexity for Construction Market Research

Step 1: Go to Perplexity and start your research

Go to perplexity.ai in your browser
Create a free account with your email (or sign in with Google)
You'll see a search bar — this is where you ask questions

What you should see: A clean search interface, similar to a search engine but designed for conversational questions.

Tools:Perplexity