Nikonomics - The Economics of Small Business

275 - Best of 2025! Beyond ChatGPT: Exploring Perplexity and the Deep Dive Revolution with Chris Koerner

Feb 3, 2026

Chris Koerner, AI practitioner and entrepreneur focused on AI research tools and business ideas. He compares Perplexity Deep Research to ChatGPT Pro and explains his faster scraping and workflow setup. They outline custom GPT/deep-dive workflows, using AI plus Google Trends to spot niche product ideas like banana ketchup, and brainstorm low-cost mobile side hustles and vending-machine retrofits.

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ADVICE

Choose Perplexity For Deep Research

Use Perplexity's Deep Research for long-form, source-linked research instead of paying $200/month for ChatGPT Pro.
Ask it to scrape specific sites and output tables to get fast, actionable summaries.

ADVICE

Pick One Pro AI And Replace Non-Geographic Google Searches

Pick one AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini) and upgrade to the pro plan to get reliable results.
Stop using Google for non-geographic queries and use AI to synthesize long documents and ideas.

ADVICE

Validate Niche Foods With Google Trends

Use travel and local food discovery to spot international product ideas, then validate with Google Trends.
Look at multi-year trend windows to confirm growing demand before investing.

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Join me, Nik (https://x.com/CoFoundersNik), for another episode of HCB with Chris Koerner! In this episode, we dive deep into the latest AI tools, debating whether the $200/month ChatGPT Pro plan is actually worth it compared to Perplexity's Deep Research features.

We discuss why Chris prefers Perplexity over Operator for research tasks and share our specific prompting frameworks for getting the best results. We also brainstorm unique business ideas, including a breakdown of the banana ketchup market in the Philippines and how to validate niche trends using Google Trends data.

Later, we get real about the state of AI agents versus Robotic Process Automation (RPA), pitch a mobile side hustle inspired by Activate Games, and share the wild story of Ethan Cohen pivoting from a sports book to retrofitting vending machines with credit card readers.

Questions This Episode Answers:

1. Is the $200 ChatGPT Pro plan better for deep research than Perplexity?

2. How can you use AI and Google Trends to identify international product opportunities like banana ketchup?

3. What is the difference between true AI agents and Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

4. How can you turn a high-cost retail concept like Activate Games into a low-cost mobile side hustle?

5. Can you build a profitable business by retrofitting old vending machines with modern technology?

Enjoy the conversation!

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Please fill out this brief survey with your opinion or email me at nik@cofounders.com with your thoughts.

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This week we covered:
00:00 The Rise of AI and Deep Research

05:51 Custom GPTs and Their Applications

12:05 Exploring Business Ideas Through AI

18:06 The Future of Agents and Automation

23:54 Innovative Business Models and Side Hustles