Accessing URLs with Perplexity in Google Sheets Using SheetXAI

Overview

SheetXAI offers a powerful way to analyze web content directly in Google Sheets by integrating with Perplexity. This feature allows you to extract information, summaries, and insights from URLs without leaving your spreadsheet.

How to Access URL Content with SheetXAI

Step 1: Configure Your URL Model Settings

Important First Step: Before analyzing URLs, you must set Perplexity as your URL model in SheetXAI settings:

Open SheetXAI sidebar
Go to Settings
Under URL Model options, select "Perplexity"
This ensures all URL-related queries are routed through Perplexity's web access capabilities

Method 1: Using the SAI Formula

Set up your spreadsheet:
- Place URLs in a column (e.g., column A)
Create the SAI formula:
- Type =SAI followed by your question about the URL
- Include a reference to the cell containing the URL
- Example: =SAI("What's this website about? Give me a detailed summary of all the strategies mentioned", A2)
Apply to multiple URLs:
- After the formula works for one URL, simply drag it down to apply to other URLs
- Each cell will analyze its corresponding URL independently

Method 2: Ask SheetXAI to Create the Formula

Request formula creation:
- Ask SheetXAI to "put this formula in column B for all URLs in column A"
- Describe what information you want to extract from each URL
Confirm the implementation:
- SheetXAI will explain what it's about to do
- Confirm to have the formula applied to all relevant cells

Method 3: Use the Formula Builder

For complex URL analysis, you can use the Formula Builder:

Click the Formula Builder icon in SheetXAI
Type your request in the expanded text area
Preview the results before applying

Technical Notes

URL Detection: SheetXAI identifies URLs by looking for indicators like "https://", "http://", and "www."
Source References: You may notice source indicators (like [1], [2]) in the output - these are added by the API
Upcoming Improvements:
- Direct Perplexity integration coming soon
- Potential Google Gemini 2.0 Flash integration for URL analysis

Use Cases

This capability is perfect for:

Analyzing competitor websites
Summarizing article content
Extracting key metrics from online reports
Researching multiple resources simultaneously
Creating content briefs from reference URLs

By leveraging Perplexity's web access capabilities through SheetXAI, you can bring external web data directly into your spreadsheets for analysis and processing without manual copying and pasting.