Perplexity clone that sends the bill to you

What it does

This full-stack TypeScript app mimics Perplexity’s search experience. You ask a question, it pulls live web results via Google Search, has Gemini 2.0 Flash synthesize an answer with source citations, and renders everything in a chat-style interface. Follow-up questions stay in the same session, so it feels like a conversation rather than a series of isolated searches.

The interesting bit

The project is mostly plumbing. Gemini 2.0 Flash handles the web search, synthesis, and citations through its native “grounding” feature; this repo is essentially wiring—an Express backend that talks to the Gemini API and a React frontend that streams the response. The real craft is the UI polish: Tailwind, shadcn/ui, and a clean layout that makes Google’s API output look like a finished product.

Key highlights

• Uses Gemini 2.0 Flash’s built-in Google Search grounding for real-time citations
• Follow-up questions maintain context within the same chat session
• Frontend: React, Vite, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and shadcn/ui components
• Backend: Express.js plus TypeScript
• Runs on a single Google API key; no additional AI providers needed

Verdict

Worth a look if you want a local Perplexity equivalent for testing Gemini’s grounding capabilities or as a foundation for a branded search UI. Not for you if you need custom ranking logic, multi-model fallback, or deep control over how web results are retrieved and weighted.