AI Engine · by Perplexity AI
How Perplexity chooses which brands to recommend
- Where it gets sources
- Live web search on every query
- How it attributes
- Numbered inline citations on every claim
How it picks who to name
Retrieval happens per query, so citations respond to changes on the web within days rather than months.
It extracts passages, not pages. An answer buried below a long introduction loses to a shallower page that leads with one.
Undated pages are disadvantaged on anything with a temporal element, which is far more queries than most publishers assume.
How to get cited by Perplexity
- 1
Allow PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User
The first crawls for the index, the second fetches pages to answer a live question. Blocking either removes you from consideration.
- 2
Lead with the answer
Put a complete, self-contained answer in the first hundred words, under a heading phrased the way the question is asked.
- 3
Show and maintain dates
Publish and update dates should be visible on the page and in structured data, and should reflect real changes.
What makes Perplexity different
The fastest engine to reflect a change, which makes it the best early read on whether a content fix is working. If Perplexity citations move and nothing else has yet, the work is usually landing.
Does Perplexity name you?
We ask real buyer questions and show you the answer, the brands named instead, and every source cited.
Related questions
Perplexity searches the live web for every query, retrieves a shortlist of pages, and cites the ones whose passages most directly answer the question. It favours pages with a clear, extractable answer near the top, recent publication or update dates, and topical focus — a narrow page that answers precisely often beats a broader, higher-authority one.
Yes, more than in traditional search. Many questions carry an implicit 'right now', and engines resolve that by preferring pages with visible, recent dates. Undated content is systematically disadvantaged — an engine cannot tell whether it is current, so it reaches for something it can date.
Pages that answer one question directly, near the top, under a heading that matches how the question is asked. Comparison tables, specification lists, dated statistics, and short definitional passages are extracted most often, because each can be lifted whole and remain true without the surrounding page.
Other AI engines
Frequently asked about Perplexity
How does Perplexity decide which brands to recommend?+
Perplexity searches the live web for every question and cites the pages whose passages most directly answer it. It favours a clear answer near the top of a page, a visible recent date, and tight topical focus — a narrow page that answers precisely regularly beats a broader, more authoritative one.
How do I get cited by Perplexity?+
Allow PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User: The first crawls for the index, the second fetches pages to answer a live question. Blocking either removes you from consideration. Lead with the answer: Put a complete, self-contained answer in the first hundred words, under a heading phrased the way the question is asked. Show and maintain dates: Publish and update dates should be visible on the page and in structured data, and should reflect real changes.
Where does Perplexity get its information?+
Live web search on every query. Citations: numbered inline citations on every claim.
What makes Perplexity different from other AI engines?+
The fastest engine to reflect a change, which makes it the best early read on whether a content fix is working. If Perplexity citations move and nothing else has yet, the work is usually landing.