# Finding 009: Perplexity Controlled-Browser Image-Alt-Mismatch No-Hit

## Status

Confirmed no-hit (bounded evidence window)

## Summary

Perplexity (incognito mode, free/basic search tier) was prompted with an
image-alt-mismatch reading test (`reading-image-alt-mismatch`, prompt code
`manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05`) via a fresh Perplexity chat
in the OpenClaw controlled browser profile. Perplexity returned
`fetched:false`, `pages_opened:[]`, `confidence:0.12`, stating tool calls
were disabled and it could not access the target page. No matching
direct-origin server events were found in the bounded
`2026-06-28T01:42:46Z–01:43:20Z` UTC window.

## Test Details

- **Attempt ID:** `manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05`
- **Source Prompt ID:** `reading-image-alt-mismatch`
- **Prompt Code:** `manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05`
- **AI System:** Perplexity
- **Surface:** perplexity-web (incognito mode)
- **Triggered By:** openclaw-controlled-browser
- **Target URL:** `https://ai-crawler-lab.kaistone.ai/lab/reading/alt-mismatch?id=manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05`
- **Timestamp Window:** `2026-06-28T01:42:46.000Z` – `2026-06-28T01:43:20.000Z` UTC

## Model Response

```json
{
  "attempt_id": "manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05",
  "source_prompt_id": "reading-image-alt-mismatch",
  "prompt_code": "manual-client-perplexity-20260625-001-p05",
  "ai_system": "Perplexity",
  "model_id": "perplexity-manual",
  "fetched": false,
  "pages_opened": [],
  "answer": "I cannot access the target page from this client, so I cannot read the image or its alt text.",
  "evidence_quote": "Tool calls are disabled for this turn and I cannot open the URL, so no page content was retrieved.",
  "limitations": "No web access from this client during the turn, so I cannot open the target URL or inspect the image or alt text; I did not infer values from the URL slug or other metadata.",
  "confidence": 0.12
}
```

## Origin Evidence Review

- **Raw Event IDs:** none
- **Server Page Count:** 0
- **Resource Fetch Count:** 0
- **Client Capability Count:** 0
- **IP Matches:** none
- **Confirmation Status:** `registered_no_hit`
- **Confirmed Hit From Prompt:** false

The bounded evidence window (`01:42:46–01:43:20 UTC`) contains zero
direct-origin events matching this attempt. Consistent with all prior
Perplexity controlled-browser results.

## Notable Observation

Perplexity reported "Tool calls are disabled for this turn" — this is a
lower confidence (0.12) than the p04 result (0.98), and indicates
Perplexity's tool-use layer was explicitly disabled in this incognito
session. This is a product behavior signal: incognito mode may restrict
tool availability for Perplexity, further explaining the consistent no-hit
pattern.

## Publication Thesis Verification

- Thesis: Perplexity web chat (incognito, free/basic tier) does not fetch
  target URLs from the lab server when prompted with an image-alt-mismatch
  reading test, producing no direct-origin server events.
- Source: Direct-origin server logs from lab infrastructure.
- Method: Bounded timestamp window matching with attempt_id correlation.
- Bias: Negative result reduces confirmation bias.
- Consensus: Consistent with all prior Perplexity no-hit results (p01–p04,
  p09, p15–p19).
- Invalidation check: No evidence found that would invalidate the no-hit
  conclusion.
- Verdict: `supported_for_recorded_attempt`
- Confidence: high for the recorded attempt; the explicit tool-disabled
  signal adds confidence that incognito mode restricts retrieval.
- Additional tests suggested: re-run with Perplexity Pro tier to verify
  whether paid tier enables tool access; test with non-incognito Perplexity
  chat to isolate whether incognito mode is the causal factor for tool
  disability.