AI Tool Series – Episode 38: Redefining Search with Comet Browser

Comet Browser is an AI-powered browser from Perplexity that turns everyday browsing into an action-oriented workflow. Instead of just loading pages, Comet understands your instructions, navigates, extracts information, and helps you act on it—like drafting emails, organizing your inbox, summarizing upcoming meetings, and running competitive research.

This post summarizes what Comet can do today, how to use it effectively, and a few things to keep in mind.

What Comet Browser is

• An assistant inside your tabs. You write natural-language prompts; Comet reads the current page (or pages it opens for you), performs the steps, and returns usable output.
  
• Actionable by default. Beyond summarizing, Comet suggests next steps and can execute practical tasks (open apps/sites, draft emails, triage inbox items, and more).
  
• Works with your existing accounts. For actions like email, you sign in as usual; Comet Browser then drafts messages in your own Gmail account for review and sending.
  

Key capabilities (with example prompts)

1) Summarize any web page and propose next steps

• What it does: Extracts the key points of a Bizio home page (e.g., a product website) and generates concise bullets plus “what to do next.”
• Why it matters: Faster decision-making—no need to read the entire page.
• Try:
  • Summarize this page into bullet points and give me actionable next steps.
  • Condense that further to 5 bullets for a quick share.
    

2) Share findings via email—drafted for you

• What it does: Opens Gmail in a new tab and composes an email from your signed-in account using the summary it created.
• Why it matters: Saves you from copy/paste and context-switching.
• Notes: You remain in control—review/edit before sending.
• Try:
  • Write a professional email to a colleague summarizing the key points above. Keep it brief and actionable.
    

3) Glanceable schedule summaries

• What it does: Provides a quick overview of your upcoming meetings (e.g., next seven days) based on your calendar context.
• Why it matters: Rapid planning without opening a separate calendar view.
• Try:
  • Summarize my meetings for the next 7 days.
    

4) Inbox triage and labeling

• What it does: Filters promotional/spam-like messages, deletes or labels them, and can organize threads.
• Why it matters: Keeps your inbox focused on what matters.
• Try:
  • Find promotional emails from the last 30 days and move them to the Promotions label.
  • Delete unread, obvious ad emails from the past week.

5) Competitor research with pros/cons and a recommendation

• What it does: Searches for top competitors to a product/service, compares them, lists pros/cons, and recommends a “best for enterprise IT use.”
• Why it matters: Turns general research into an evaluative, decision-ready summary.
• Try:
  • “Find the top three competitors to [product/service]. Compare features, pros/cons, pricing, and recommend the best option for enterprise IT.”
    

How to work with Comet (prompt patterns)

• Start broad, then refine. Ask for a summary, then request a shorter version for sharing.
  
• Always ask for the next steps. Pair summaries with action lists to move work forward.
  
• Chain tasks. Example: summarize a page → condense → draft email → open Gmail to send.
  
• Be explicit about outputs. “Give me 5 bullets,” “limit to 120 words,” “include pros/cons table.”
  
• Use verbs. Summarize, compare, recommend, label, delete, draft, open, schedule.
  

Where Comet fits in your workflow

• Knowledge digestion: Turn long pages into crisp bullets.
  
• Decision support: Add pros/cons and next steps to summaries.
  
• Communication: One-click drafting of professional emails based on the context you’re viewing.
  
• Admin hygiene: Quick meeting overviews and inbox cleanup to reduce busywork.
  

Limitations and things to watch

• Login and permissions. For actions like email, you must be signed in; review drafts before sending.
  
• Inconsistent availability messaging. During early access, you may see conflicting hints (e.g., “free assistant” vs. “upgrade or join waitlist”).
  
• Verification needed for critical decisions. AI-generated comparisons are a strong starting point; validate before committing.
  

Quick-start checklist

1. Install and sign in with the account you’ll use (e.g., Gmail for email actions).
   
2. Open a target page and prompt: “Summarize this page and give me actionable next steps.”
   
3. Ask for a condensed version suitable for sharing.
   
4. Prompt Comet to “draft an email to [recipient role], using that summary, with a crisp subject line.”
   
5. For planning, ask “Summarize my meetings for the next 7 days.”
   
6. For cleanup, ask “Find promotional emails from last 30 days and move to Promotions.”
   
7. For research, ask “Compare the top three competitors to [X] and recommend the best for enterprise IT.”
   

Conclusion

Comet Browser by Perplexity is designed to be a daily companion that turns browsing time into progress—summarizing information, suggesting next steps, and helping you act immediately. Used well, it compresses research, communication, and admin tasks into a single, streamlined flow.

Explore Episode 39