A guide to Perplexity collection AI Prompts with examples

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Perplexity AI Prompt engineering
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Perplexity Collections lets you group related conversations and set custom AI prompts. By creating a collection, you can provide instructions and guidelines using “collection ai prompts” that will be applied to every thread in that collection. This can make Perplexity AI responses more consistent, efficient, and focused within a collection.

Why Add AI Prompts to Perplexity Collections?

Simple collections with just a name help organize your searches and conversations in Perplexity. However, you can boost productivity by adding descriptions and AI prompts to your collections. Here’s why:

(1) Personalized Replies

Custom AI prompts help perplexity give answers that fit your needs. For instance, you can tell the AI to focus on works by specific authors when doing research by using collection prompts.

(2) Consistent Replies

Custom AI prompts ensure that all threads within the collection follow a consistent format and tone. This is especially useful when working on a specific project or topic that requires a particular writing style or formatting.

(3) Save Time

Providing a detailed collection prompt saves time and avoids the need to repeat instructions in each thread. This lets perplexity focus on generating relevant and accurate responses based on the specified prompt.

By specifying prompts in collections, you can reduce the need for rewriting prompts and providing context on each new thread, as the AI will generate responses that are more likely to meet the required standards.

(4) Better Formatting

Custom prompts can also specify formatting and readability requirements, such as using headings, bullet points, Roman figures, and bold text. This makes the output more readable and easier to understand.

(5) Providing negative prompts

Large Language Models (LLMs) can sometimes struggle to understand what you want. By using custom prompts you can help Perplexity AI overcome these limitations by providing clear guidance on what the AI should focus on and what it should avoid outputting in responses within a collection.

See Also: Beginner guide to perplexity search

How to Write Good Collection Prompts

Including “Collection AI prompts” can be very helpful and can improve your productivity. But to get the best results, you need to write good prompts that help Perplexity understand what you want. Here are some tips for writing good AI prompts when you create or edit Perplexity collections:

(a) Define the Collection’s Goal

Start by understanding the purpose of the collection. What task or topic do you want the AI to help with? Understanding will help you with prompt development.

(b) Provide Detailed Instructions

Include clear, step-by-step instructions for what you want the AI to do. Be specific about the format, tone, and how detailed the responses should be.

(c) Specify Formatting

Include the formatting you prefer the response in every thread to be in, and specify whether you want bullet points, bold text, or code blocks. This helps the AI understand the expected format.

(d) Include Examples

Provide sample responses or templates to show the expected format and quality. This gives the AI a clear reference.

(e) Allow Some Flexibility

While being specific, also leave room for the AI to be creative and provide unique insights. Avoid making your prompts too detailed and restrictive, as this might limit the assistant’s ability to provide valuable responses.

(f) Test and Adjust

Try out different collection prompts and see how the AI responds. If the AI doesn’t give you the results you want, adjust the prompts until you get the desired outcome.

Examples of Collection Prompts

Still wondering how to write a collection prompt and what to include? Here are some ideas to help you get started:

Prompt for providing context

If you are researching Coke (the soda) and want to avoid confusion with Coke (the drug) without having to specify on every new thread within a collection that you are referring to Coke soda, you can use a prompt like:

Prompt: “Strictly return info about Coke soda, not Coke drug.”

By specifying the entity, you provide the necessary context to avoid confusing the AI. This trick can also work when researching people with common names, such as specifying which Michael Jordan you are researching.

Prompt for Content Creation

If you want to create engaging content with Perplexity, you could create a collection called “Content Writing” and write a prompt that provides criteria for engaging content. Here is an example prompt:

Prompt: “Follow these guidelines in all your responses:

  • Tailor your responses to [target audience].
  • Use clear, concise language.
  • Write catchy headlines.
  • Use storytelling.
  • Break up text with subheadings, and bullet points for easy reading.”

Prompt for Travel Planning

Consider this scenario: you travel frequently and want Perplexity to provide consistent details about potential locations before traveling. Here is a prompt you can use to get basic info by just entering the city or town:

Prompt: “You are a seasoned travel planner. For each city/town I provide, give a comprehensive 7-day itinerary, including:

  • Recommend 3-4 famous hotels with pricing and location details.
  • Suggest daily activities, attractions, and dining options.
  • Format using a bulleted list:
  • Morning: [Activity 1], [Activity 2]
  • Afternoon: [Activity 3], [Lunch Recommendation]
  • Evening: [Dinner Recommendation], [Evening Activity]
  • Add other tips for making the most of the trip.”

Prompt for Coding Responses

AI tools like Perplexity can help with special tasks like programming. If you’re a programmer, you may want to create a collection for your project to get answers in the format you want, so you don’t have to specify this information every time you prompt Perplexity to generate code. Here is an example prompt:

Prompt: “Output all code in JavaScript.”

Prompt for quick recipes

If you’re a busy mom who loves cooking or a content creator with a niche blog about recipes with the shortest cooking time, here is a collection prompt you can add to a collection that is dedicated to getting recipes with the shortest cooking time for any meal:

Prompt: “You are a professional chef. Whenever I ask for a recipe, give me the one with the shortest cooking time, including cooking time, ingredients, instructions, tips, and serving suggestions. Use clear language.”

By crafting clear and detailed prompts, you can get high-quality and relevant AI responses for your specific needs.

How to make perplexity follow the collection AI prompt?

If your prompt in the “collection AI prompt” field is good and your questions are on topic, but Perplexity isn’t following your collection prompt in threads, ask it to follow the collection prompt. if that doesn’t work try changing the focus. Try “Writing” or “Academic” focus first.

It’s important to note that creating AI prompts for Perplexity collections takes some skill. You should understand how to write effective prompts, be aware of perplexity limitations, and adjust your prompts accordingly.

See Also: perplexity collections features and limitations

Conclusion

Using AI prompts in Perplexity Collections boosts the efficiency and quality of your interactions with the AI assistant. Custom prompts help save time, maintain consistency, and ensure responses meet your specific needs. Try out this feature and see how it can improve your research, content creation, and problem-solving tasks.