Perplexity Decisions API adds live web search before answering
The new web_grounding mode in Decisions API runs one Fast Search web query per question before pplx-decider-v1.2 returns its probability.
AT A GLANCE
Key points
- Fast Search runs one web query for each question.
- Search results join the request state as evidence before the decision model answers.
- The feature is enabled with mode set to web_grounding.
What is changing?
Perplexity has added a web_grounding mode to Decisions API, bringing live web information into the decision model. According to the company’s official November 4 announcement, when the mode is enabled Fast Search runs one web query per question, and the results are added to the state as evidence before pplx-decider-v1.2 answers.
Decisions API returns probabilities rather than prose. The change is intended for tasks where facts may have changed since training. Perplexity lists claim checking, detecting a newer stable software release, and monitoring executive changes at companies among the example uses.
Developers enable the feature by setting the request’s mode field to web_grounding. In production, teams should measure result freshness, source quality, probability calibration, latency, and per-query cost separately; web search alone does not guarantee the correctness of the final decision.
Explore the original sources
Source date: 5 November 2026.
Published by AI Radar: 5 Nov 2026, 08:00 (Istanbul, UTC+3). Updated: 5 Nov 2026, 08:01.
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