# Perplexity Search Images Scraper (`searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper`) Actor

Scrapes image results from Perplexity's image search. Extracts the canonical image schema: title, alt text, full image URL, thumbnail, dimensions, aspect ratio, format, source attribution, license, and citation context.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [Search API](https://apify.com/searchapi) (community)
- **Categories:** Developer tools, Automation
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $1.99 / 1,000 perplexity search images scraper results

This Actor is paid per event and usage. You are charged both the fixed price for specific events and for Apify platform usage.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md):

```bash
npm install apify-client
```

In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md):

```bash
pip install apify-client
```

In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md):

````bash
# MacOS / Linux
curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash
# Windows
irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex
```bash

In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md).

If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).


# README

## Perplexity Search Images Scraper

### What is this tool?

Perplexity Search Images Scraper helps you collect images data from Perplexity (the AI-powered answer engine). Just type in what you're looking for, and the tool will gather images with their full-size URLs, thumbnails, dimensions, file formats, and the websites where they were published.

### What can you use it for?

- Find images on any topic
- Visual research and design inspiration
- Build image collections for content, reports, or presentations
- Track visual trends

### What data do you get?

Each result includes up to **58 fields**, organized into the following categories:

**Identity** (4 fields): #, type, resultType, page

**URLs** (14 fields): Image URL, Thumbnail, Domain, url, link, originalUrl, sourceUrl, hostPageUrl, pageUrl, domain, hostPageDomain, favicon, creatorUrl, searchUrl

**Text** (5 fields): Title, altText, alt, sourceName, inAnswerContext

**Media** (2 fields): thumbnail, photographer

**Image Details** (10 fields): Format, Aspect, sizePixels, format, fileSize, size, Animated, color, dominantColor, isAdult

**Ratings** (1 fields): previewImage

**Location** (1 fields): country

**Categorization** (1 fields): tags

**Source** (2 fields): Creator, source

**Search Context** (5 fields): Query, searchQuery, searchEngine, language, searchMetadata

**Other** (13 fields): License, W, H, Cite, Scraped At, caption, copyright, mimeType, orientation, isAd, isSponsored, isPrimary, focusMode

### How to use it

#### Step 1: Enter your search
Type in your search term, like "northern lights photography".

#### Step 2: Set your preferences
Adjust the options below to customize your search.

#### Step 3: Run the tool
Click the run button and wait for your results. The tool will gather all the data and save it in a clean, organized format.

### Input options

| Option | What it means | Required | Default |
|--------|---------------|----------|---------|
| **Search Query** | The image search query. Perplexity returns one set of images per query. | Yes | northern lights photography |
| **Max Items** | Max images to scrape. | No | 50 |
| **Multiple Queries (batch)** | Optional array of additional image search queries. | No | — |
| **Focus Mode** | Perplexity's focus mode (search scope). 'images' targets image search specifically; 'web' may also include inline answer images. Options: images (Images), web (Web), social (Social), writing (Writing). | No | images |
| **Include inline answer images** | When true, also captures images that appear inline within an AI answer (not just the image grid). Requires focus mode to be 'web' or 'academic'. | No | true |
| **Language** | Language code for the answer locale (e.g. 'en-US', 'en-GB', 'de-DE', 'fr-FR'). | No | en-US |

### Output

Your results come in a clean, organized table with **two views**:

#### Overview view
Shows the most important fields at a glance:

- **#**
- **Title**
- **Image URL**
- **Thumbnail**
- **Domain**
- **Creator**
- **License**
- **W**
- **H**
- **Format**
- **Aspect**
- **Cite**
- **Query**
- **Scraped At**

#### Full details view
Shows all 58 fields in detail. See "What data do you get?" above for the complete list.

### Tips for best results

✅ **Be specific** with your search terms for more relevant results

✅ **Try different variations** of your search term to discover more results

✅ **Browse multiple pages** of results to get a wider variety

### Frequently asked questions

**Why use Perplexity?**
Perplexity is an AI-powered answer engine that combines the best of search engines and large language models. It searches the web in real-time and uses AI to generate comprehensive answers with cited sources.

**How do I get the results?**
Your results are saved in your Apify dashboard. You can download them in various formats (JSON, CSV, Excel) or access them via the API.

**Can I run it on a schedule?**
Yes! Apify supports scheduled runs. You can set up the tool to run automatically at any interval (hourly, daily, weekly, etc.) from your dashboard.

**What if I get fewer results than I asked for?**
This can happen if the search engine doesn't have enough matching results for your search, or if some results are blocked. Try different keywords or relax your filters.

**Need more help?**
If you have questions or run into issues, our support team is ready to help. Just reach out through the Apify platform and we'll get back to you quickly.

# Actor input Schema

## `query` (type: `string`):

The image search query. Perplexity returns one set of images per query.
## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum number of images to scrape.
## `queries` (type: `array`):

Optional array of additional image search queries.
## `focusMode` (type: `string`):

Perplexity's focus mode (search scope). 'images' targets image search specifically; 'web' may also include inline answer images.
## `includeInlineAnswerImages` (type: `boolean`):

When true, also captures images that appear inline within an AI answer (not just the image grid). Requires focus mode to be 'web' or 'academic'.
## `language` (type: `string`):

Language code for the answer locale (e.g. 'en-US', 'en-GB', 'de-DE', 'fr-FR').
## `proxyConfiguration` (type: `object`):

Proxy settings. Residential proxies are strongly recommended — Perplexity aggressively blocks datacenter IPs.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "query": "northern lights photography",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "queries": [
    "Eiffel tower night",
    "Vintage cars 1950s"
  ],
  "focusMode": "images",
  "includeInlineAnswerImages": true,
  "language": "en-US",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}
````

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "query": "northern lights photography",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "queries": [],
    "focusMode": "images",
    "includeInlineAnswerImages": true,
    "language": "en-US",
    "proxyConfiguration": {
        "useApifyProxy": true
    }
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "query": "northern lights photography",
    "maxItems": 50,
    "queries": [],
    "focusMode": "images",
    "includeInlineAnswerImages": True,
    "language": "en-US",
    "proxyConfiguration": { "useApifyProxy": True },
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"])
for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "query": "northern lights photography",
  "maxItems": 50,
  "queries": [],
  "focusMode": "images",
  "includeInlineAnswerImages": true,
  "language": "en-US",
  "proxyConfiguration": {
    "useApifyProxy": true
  }
}' |
apify call searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "command": "npx",
            "args": [
                "mcp-remote",
                "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=searchapi/perplexity-search-images-scraper",
                "--header",
                "Authorization: Bearer <YOUR_API_TOKEN>"
            ]
        }
    }
}

```

## OpenAPI specification

```json
{
    "openapi": "3.0.1",
    "info": {
        "title": "Perplexity Search Images Scraper",
        "description": "Scrapes image results from Perplexity's image search. Extracts the canonical image schema: title, alt text, full image URL, thumbnail, dimensions, aspect ratio, format, source attribution, license, and citation context.",
        "version": "2.0",
        "x-build-id": "VkKlLY997wLTCuSCR"
    },
    "servers": [
        {
            "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2"
        }
    ],
    "paths": {
        "/acts/searchapi~perplexity-search-images-scraper/run-sync-get-dataset-items": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-searchapi-perplexity-search-images-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/searchapi~perplexity-search-images-scraper/runs": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "runs-sync-searchapi-perplexity-search-images-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK",
                        "content": {
                            "application/json": {
                                "schema": {
                                    "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema"
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        },
        "/acts/searchapi~perplexity-search-images-scraper/run-sync": {
            "post": {
                "operationId": "run-sync-searchapi-perplexity-search-images-scraper",
                "x-openai-isConsequential": false,
                "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.",
                "tags": [
                    "Run Actor"
                ],
                "requestBody": {
                    "required": true,
                    "content": {
                        "application/json": {
                            "schema": {
                                "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                "parameters": [
                    {
                        "name": "token",
                        "in": "query",
                        "required": true,
                        "schema": {
                            "type": "string"
                        },
                        "description": "Enter your Apify token here"
                    }
                ],
                "responses": {
                    "200": {
                        "description": "OK"
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    },
    "components": {
        "schemas": {
            "inputSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "required": [
                    "query"
                ],
                "properties": {
                    "query": {
                        "title": "Search Query",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "The image search query. Perplexity returns one set of images per query."
                    },
                    "maxItems": {
                        "title": "Max Items",
                        "minimum": 1,
                        "maximum": 500,
                        "type": "integer",
                        "description": "Maximum number of images to scrape.",
                        "default": 50
                    },
                    "queries": {
                        "title": "Multiple Queries (batch)",
                        "type": "array",
                        "description": "Optional array of additional image search queries.",
                        "items": {
                            "type": "string"
                        }
                    },
                    "focusMode": {
                        "title": "Focus Mode",
                        "enum": [
                            "images",
                            "web",
                            "social",
                            "writing"
                        ],
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Perplexity's focus mode (search scope). 'images' targets image search specifically; 'web' may also include inline answer images.",
                        "default": "images"
                    },
                    "includeInlineAnswerImages": {
                        "title": "Include inline answer images",
                        "type": "boolean",
                        "description": "When true, also captures images that appear inline within an AI answer (not just the image grid). Requires focus mode to be 'web' or 'academic'.",
                        "default": true
                    },
                    "language": {
                        "title": "Language",
                        "type": "string",
                        "description": "Language code for the answer locale (e.g. 'en-US', 'en-GB', 'de-DE', 'fr-FR').",
                        "default": "en-US"
                    },
                    "proxyConfiguration": {
                        "title": "Proxy Configuration",
                        "type": "object",
                        "description": "Proxy settings. Residential proxies are strongly recommended — Perplexity aggressively blocks datacenter IPs."
                    }
                }
            },
            "runsResponseSchema": {
                "type": "object",
                "properties": {
                    "data": {
                        "type": "object",
                        "properties": {
                            "id": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "actId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "userId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "startedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "finishedAt": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "format": "date-time",
                                "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z"
                            },
                            "status": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "READY"
                            },
                            "meta": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "origin": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "API"
                                    },
                                    "userAgent": {
                                        "type": "string"
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "stats": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "inputBodyLen": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2000
                                    },
                                    "rebootCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "restartCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "resurrectCount": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "computeUnits": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "options": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "build": {
                                        "type": "string",
                                        "example": "latest"
                                    },
                                    "timeoutSecs": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 300
                                    },
                                    "memoryMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1024
                                    },
                                    "diskMbytes": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 2048
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "buildId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultKeyValueStoreId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultDatasetId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "defaultRequestQueueId": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "buildNumber": {
                                "type": "string",
                                "example": "1.0.0"
                            },
                            "containerUrl": {
                                "type": "string"
                            },
                            "usage": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 1
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            },
                            "usageTotalUsd": {
                                "type": "number",
                                "example": 0.00005
                            },
                            "usageUsd": {
                                "type": "object",
                                "properties": {
                                    "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATASET_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "number",
                                        "example": 0.00005
                                    },
                                    "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    },
                                    "PROXY_SERPS": {
                                        "type": "integer",
                                        "example": 0
                                    }
                                }
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            }
        }
    }
}
```