Replacing Google with DuckDuckGo and Perplexity improved my results

I stopped using Google for general searches and now separate web searches from AI queries: DuckDuckGo handles standard search results while Perplexity provides AI answers. I wanted search results free from AI influence and a dedicated AI tool when I need generated responses.

In 2025 I made Perplexity my default, but I missed traditional search results and needed greater privacy. DuckDuckGo offered the privacy I wanted and the option to switch off AI results, so I made it my default search engine instead of Google. Most browsers let you create custom search engines and shortcuts.

In Opera, go to Settings > Search engine > Manage search engines and site searches, scroll to Site search and click Add. Enter Name - Perplexity, Shortcut - plex, and URL - https://www.perplexity.ai/?q=%s, then switch your default search engine from Google to DuckDuckGo.

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