Perplexity's New Playbook Reveals How to ACTUALLY Use AI At Work
Top Insights
How Google’s AI Overviews Are Accelerating change in paid search
Adthena tracked 21 million Google searches across two different time periods and the results show why advertisers should be worried. AI Overviews could drop click-through rates on paid ads by 20 to 40 percent. And Google's AI isn't just appearing on long research queries anymore. It's now showing up on shorter, commercial keywords where companies actually spend their ad budgets.
Finance saw the fastest growth, with AI answers appearing almost 10% more often in just four months. Healthcare and travel are following the same path. The brands gaining visibility aren't the ones buying more ads. They're sites with how-to guides and comparison content that Google's AI pulls from to build its answers.
Perplexity's 44-Page Playbook Shows How to Actually Use AI at Work
Perplexity's new 44-page guide breaks down exactly how their AI platform handles the roadblocks that kills your productivity. They frame it around three levels of using AI at work. First, blocking distractions by letting their Email Assistant sort your inbox and Comet browser handle repetitive tasks. Second, scaling yourself through deep research that reads hundreds of sources at once and Labs that builds presentations or reports in minutes.
Third, getting results like prepping performance reviews, generating lead lists, or turning meeting prep into a chat instead of a scavenger hunt across five different apps. The guide includes actual prompts, workflow examples, and templates you can copy. They're extremely useful even without using Perplexity itself.
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Discover All 5 'Copy Blocks' Now
Prompt of the Week
This Week's Feature: Product Ad Magic
Without the right prompt, AI generated product photos can easily look fake. Wrong lighting. Floating shadows. Materials that don't behave like real glass, metal, or fabric.
This prompt fixes that. It generates ultra-realistic product hero shots by encoding professional photography principles: adaptive lighting that changes based on material type, correct specular highlights, grounded shadows, and cinema-grade composition.
All to have 8K product images that look like $10k photoshoots, ready for ads, landing pages, or Amazon listings.
Credit to Aziz AI on X, who engineered this beast.
Just replace [product_image], [product_name], and [brand_colors] in the JSON:
"product_name": "[PRODUCT_NAME]",
"product_image": "[IMAGE_URL_OR_UPLOAD_ID]",
"brand_colors": ["[COLOR1]", "[COLOR2]"],
"style": {
"realism": "ultra_realistic",
"resolution": "8K",
"hdr": true,
"aspect_ratio": "1:1",
"depth_of_field": "shallow",
"camera": {
"lens": "35mm prime",
"shot": "hero close three-quarters",
"angle": "slightly_above_eye_level",
"movement": "subtle_dolly_in"
}
},
"environment": {
"background_mode": "auto_minimal_contextual",
"surface": "clean_reflective",
"weather": "none",
"extras": []
},
"lighting": {
"mode": "adaptive_magic",
"primary_key": "soft_key_high_kelvin_for_highlights",
"rim": "neon_kicker_if_metallic_else_soft_rim",
"fill": "soft_diffused",
"accents": [
"specular_highlights_on_brand_edges",
"micro_glow_on_signature_detail"
]
},
"magic_touch": {
"type": "contextual",
"rules": [
"if glass_or_liquid -> faint_particles + condensation + gentle_glow",
"if fabric_or_leather -> soft_gradient_aura + fiber_sheen",
"if metal_or_chrome -> neon_rim + star_bloom",
"if tech_or_gadgets -> subtle_holographic_reflection",
"if food -> warm_steam + appetizing_oil_sheen"
],
"intensity": "medium",
"keep_it_classy": true
},
"composition": {
"framing": "centered_product_dominant",
"negative_space": "balanced",
"reflections": "subtle_true_reflection",
"shadows": "grounded_soft_hard_mix",
"no_text_overlays": true,
"no_extra_props": true
},
"output": {
"num_images": 1,
"seed": "auto",
"consistency_note": "match lighting and background mood to product material and brand_colors"
},
"prompt": "“[PRODUCT_NAME] — ultra-realistic hero shot of the actual product from [IMAGE_URL_OR_UPLOAD_ID], centered on a clean reflective surface with adaptive, cinematic lighting. Background is minimal and context-aware to the product category. Use [COLOR1] and [COLOR2] as subtle accents only. Sharp micro-details, natural textures, correct material response (specular/roughness), soft DOF. Add a tasteful ‘magic touch’ that suits the material: glass→micro particles & condensation; metal→neon rim & star bloom; fabric/leather→soft gradient aura & fiber sheen; tech→subtle holographic reflection; food→warm steam & appetizing sheen. Maintain high realism, no text, no logos added, no extra props. 8K, HDR, clean composition, balanced negative space.”"
}
Tool to Try
Octane AI builds product quizzes for Shopify stores that convert at 7-25% (versus the usual 2-3%). Customers answer questions, get matched to products, and their responses sync straight to your ESP for personalized emails. Beauty brands use the AI image analyzer for shade matching from uploaded photos. Supplement stores route people to specific stacks based on health goals.
AI Tool Highlights:
🎯 Smart Product Matching: The AI studies your product catalog and automatically builds quiz logic that routes people to the right items based on their answers (no manually mapping 47 different response combinations).
📸 Image Analysis for Shade Matching: Customers upload photos and the AI analyzes skin tone or other visual elements to recommend exact product matches...huge for beauty and cosmetics brands.
🔌 Direct Klaviyo Integration: Quiz data syncs automatically so you can segment audiences and personalize email flows based on what people actually said they need (not just purchase history).
⚡ Drag-and-Drop Builder: Build quizzes in under 13 minutes without touching code... then customize fonts, colors, and logic to match your brand (though you can add custom CSS if you want more control).
📊 Built-In A/B Testing: Test different questions, images, or result page layouts to see what converts better.
💬 Proactive Support Team: Their support crew will write custom code for your quiz if you ask them... most apps ghost you after purchase.
One More Need-to-Know News Story
Man Who Created AI Holiday Coke Ad Says It Took More Creativity Than You Realize
Jason Zada spent a month on Coca-Cola's AI holiday ad with 20 artists, and he's tired of people assuming they just typed prompts into a computer. His crew hand-sketched every character first, built entire animated worlds, then used AI to speed up what normally drags on for months.
Yeah, Hollywood types called it garbage and some illustrator wants everyone to boycott Coke. But Zada's whole argument is that traditional animation takes forever and brands need stuff done faster than that.
He compares it to when visual effects showed up and everyone freaked out, then those tools ended up creating way more jobs than they killed. Artists who figure out AI instead of fighting it can crank out work ten times faster. Most regular people watching don't even care how it got made anyway.
Mind Fodder
Thanks for reading.
Until next time!
The AI Marketers
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