← Perplexity
Perplexity role-play cheat sheet
For the mock cold call at the end of most SDR interviews.
What they sell, in one line
An AI-powered search and answer engine that gives sourced answers, with enterprise plans and an API for developers.
Who you'd be calling
IT, innovation and knowledge leaders at large companies, plus engineering leads and developers who build AI products.
Your opener
“Hi Sam, this is Alex from Perplexity. I know I'm calling out of the blue. Do you have a quick minute? I'm calling teams about how their people find answers at work, and I wanted to ask how much time yours lose searching.”
Problems you solve for them
- Employees waste time digging through search results and documents for answers
- Teams worry about trusting AI answers that don't show sources
- Developers need a search-grounded AI to build into their own products
Discovery questions to ask
- How do your people research things today, and what slows them down?
- Is your company already using any AI tools at work, and how is that going?
- How does your team check that AI answers are trustworthy?
Objections they'll throw at you
“I'm busy right now.”
→ Of course, I'll be brief. I just want to learn how your team handles research. Can I book ten minutes later this week?
“We're not interested.”
→ No worries, a lot of people say that before they see a sourced answer. Is your team using any AI for research already?
“We already use ChatGPT or Copilot.”
→ Great, so your team is already comfortable with AI. What do they use it for most, and where do they still go back to regular search?
“Just send me an email.”
→ Happy to. Would it be more useful for me to cover enterprise team use, or the API for building products?
Competitors worth knowing
ChatGPT (OpenAI), Google Gemini
Interview tips for this company
- Use the product before the interview. Ask it a real question, check the cited sources, and be ready to say what you liked.
- The company profile is short, so plan to ask the interviewer who buys enterprise plans and who buys the API.
Written from public information about Perplexity to help you practice. Ask an insider what their role play looked like; it's the best prep there is.