Gemini Notebook vs Perplexity
Two tools coaches often weigh against each other, compared on the same terms.
Gemini Notebook
Google's research notebook, formerly NotebookLM: upload your course manual or notes and get answers, quizzes and audio overviews grounded in them.
Perplexity
An AI search engine that answers with citations — useful for quickly getting a sourced overview of a topic before you read the actual research.
Pricing
Gemini Notebook: Free with a Google account; paid Google AI plans raise limits
Perplexity: Free tier; Pro adds more advanced searches and model choice
Category
Gemini Notebook: Education
Perplexity: Education
Topics
Gemini Notebook: Courses, Books
Perplexity: Courses
Last checked
Gemini Notebook: 2026-09-28
Perplexity: 2026-09-28
What it is
Gemini Notebook
Formerly NotebookLM, renamed in July 2026. You load it with your own sources — PDFs, docs, videos, websites — and it answers only from them, with citations back to the page. It can also turn a stack of sources into a podcast-style audio overview.
Perplexity
Ask a question, get a written answer with numbered links to the pages it drew on. Closer to a research assistant than a chatbot.
Best for
Gemini Notebook
Studying for a certification, or turning your own programme materials into a searchable knowledge base. Audio overviews of a dense manual make the commute useful.
Perplexity
Getting up to speed fast: what the current guidance says on a supplement, a new training method, or a coaching model a client mentioned. The citations tell you where to read next.
Watch out for
Gemini Notebook
Grounded does not mean infallible — it still summarises badly sometimes. And do not upload client files to a tool you have not checked the data terms of.
Perplexity
A citation is not a good source. It will happily cite a blog post as confidently as a meta-analysis — click through before you repeat anything to a client.
Editorial comparison — nothing here is paid placement. Pricing changes often; treat the vendor’s own page as the truth. How we review