My Medium friends can read this story over there as well.
When Perplexity announced their new Comet Browser, I didn’t give it much thought. Another new browser…
But then I got an invitation for it. It was waitlist only at that time.
So, I tried it.
And suddenly, I was staring at something pretty useful that got more powerful with each idea I had.
Here’s how I use it daily now for writing. (And also how I got Perplexity Pro for free with it).
What is Comet
Comet isn’t just a chat box glued to a browser window like a ChatGPT extension or something like that.
It’s also not a chatbot like ChatGPT, although it can be used like it.
Instead, Comet is an AI-native workspace that reads what you read, learns what you’re doing, and helps you research, categorize, summarize, and rewrite, all inside your normal browsing flow.
It also handles many of the tedious tasks no one wants to do all day.
Make it Work For a Writer
Comet is built by Perplexity, the team behind the smart search engine that’s been taking on Google with a new search engine approach.
Inside the Comet Browser, you get:
- A side assistant that can summarize, rewrite, cross-reference, and fetch data.
- Context awareness (it knows what page you’re on, what text you’ve highlighted, and what you’re working on).
- Research clustering, tab grouping, and automation for repetitive tasks.
- It can take action on pages, like looking through websites, searching for pages and content, clicking links, buttons, fields, opening pages, copying and pasting, and much more.
How I Actually Used Comet
Instead of just testing Comet on random tasks, I threw it into my real workflow.
Here’s how it helped me get a better understanding of my own writing, uncover gaps, and plan future projects.
1. I let Comet categorize my Substack archive.
I opened my Substack archive with hundreds of posts spanning a couple of years and asked Comet to categorize my writing into themes with suggested tags.
It ran through the entire archive and gave me a breakdown that looked something like:
- Writing & Creativity
- Productivity & Tools
- Minimalism & Simplicity
- History & Reflection
- Substack Growth Tips
- Nutrition & Health
With that, I had a bird’s-eye view of what I actually write about most, not what I think I write about.
That’s pretty helpful for an archive of nearly 1000 posts.
It helped me spot overlaps (“Ah, I’ve written 12 posts about writing habits but only 2 about publishing strategy”) and even inspired me to start organizing my newsletter more intentionally.
Basically, Comet did what would haven taken me a long time to do manually in just minutes.
So, I dug deeper.
2. I used Comet to find all my Substack tips & tricks.
Next, I asked Comet to go through my Substack archive again, this time with a specific mission:
“Find every post that includes tips, tricks, or advice about writing or Substack.”
In minutes, it returned a clean list of all those posts, including old ones I’d completely forgotten about.
Then I went further:
“Show me what topics I’ve already covered, what’s missing, and which ones could be combined into new articles.”
So, Comet outlined a content map. It showed me:
- What I’ve already written about (so I don’t repeat myself)
- What’s missing (so I can fill the gaps)
- How existing pieces could connect into a larger project, like a guide or ebook
In other words, it helped me turn years of insights into something coherent. A system + a potential product.
That’s something no “AI tool” managed before, because Comet works on top of your actual writing, not in a blank prompt box.
Then, I tried more.
3. I used Comet to dig through my old Medium stories.
The nostalgia trip.
I’ve been publishing on Medium since 2021. Some stories blew up, others sank into the algorithmic swamp.
I asked Comet to:
“Go through my Medium archive and find posts with high read counts, engagement, or responses.”
Then I followed with:
“Identify which of these could be updated for 2025, or rewritten as new stories for Medium and Substack.”
Again, within minutes, I had a list of my top-performing stories from the past, annotated with potential refresh ideas.
A few of those pieces became new drafts within the week.
If you’ve been writing online for years, you know how chaotic archives get. Even if you kept those neatly organized in Notion like I did for a long time, surfacing old stuff still requires mostly manual work.
Comet made that automatic and actionable.
What Comet Does Best for Writers
Why It Works for Writers
Comet molds around your existing habits, which, let’s be honest, are probably some combination of Word, Google Docs, Notion, Apple Notes, or any other writing and organizing tool… and pure chaos.
Comet doesn’t make you learn a new workflow or productivity app.
You just… do what you already do, and asks for what you need. And it delivers. At least 90% of the time, in my experience after a month of testing.
- It helps me think in structure and find things quickly
- It saves time
- It’s smart enough to help without getting in the way
- It’s useful for so many little things
The Only Real Warning
Privacy is (as always) a concern. By using Comet, you give Perplexity access to a lot of your content, data, and tools.
I wouldn’t let it touch my private stuff like bank accounts, email accounts, etc. I use Safari for that.
I also don’t let it browse unpublished drafts or private notes.
Security concerns around AI browsers (prompt injection, data sharing, etc.) are real.
Keep anything sensitive offline or local.
The point isn’t to let the AI “write for you.” It’s to help you find things, do tedious work, and write faster, the same way spellcheck won’t turn me into Shakespeare, but at least, I found a few more mistakes.
The Bottom Line
Comet is great for writers.
The space where we spend 90% of our creative life (the browser) is actually helping me create, rather than distracting me.
It organizes. It remembers. It suggests. It helps you rediscover your own work.
And if you’re a long-time writer with a messy archive (like me), it’s like a time capsule.
And I got Perplexity PRO for free with Comet, because they were running a campaign with PayPal. If you connect your PayPal account to Perplexity, you get Perplexity Pro for free for 12 months.