To get cited by Perplexity, allow its crawler, PerplexityBot, to reach your pages, keep the answers on those pages direct, specific and current, and make sure your pages rank in web search for the parts of the questions your buyers ask. Perplexity searches the web for almost every question and shows numbered citations next to each claim, so it rewards pages that state a clear fact in a sentence that can stand alone. Freshness matters more than on most platforms, because many Perplexity questions are about current information.
How Perplexity finds and cites sources
Perplexity is an answer engine: for most questions it runs web searches, reads the results and writes an answer with inline citations linking to the sources. Its crawler documentation describes two user agents:
| User agent | Purpose |
|---|---|
| PerplexityBot | Crawls the web to surface and link websites in Perplexity’s search results. Perplexity says it respects robots.txt. |
| Perplexity-User | Fetches a page when a user’s question needs it. Perplexity says that because the fetch is requested by a user, it generally ignores robots.txt rules. |
Blocking PerplexityBot keeps your pages out of its search index, which removes most of your chances of being cited.
Step 1: allow PerplexityBot
- Check robots.txt does not disallow PerplexityBot.
- Check your CDN and firewall do not challenge it; Cloudflare and security plugins often do.
- Test with our AI crawler access checker.
Step 2: write answers Perplexity can cite sentence by sentence
Perplexity attaches citations to individual claims. Sentences that contain a complete, specific fact are the easiest to attach a citation to:
| Hard to cite | Easy to cite |
|---|---|
| Our process is quick and thorough. | The audit takes about two weeks and covers crawler access, rendering, schema and a baseline of AI answers. |
| Prices vary. | Monthly plans start at Rs 8,000 for sites under 50 pages. |
More examples in 10 before-and-after rewrites.
Step 3: keep content current and dated
- Show a visible “last updated” date and keep it honest.
- Update figures, prices and lists when they change, and note what changed.
- For fast-moving topics, publish timely updates when something changes in your field.
See our guide to freshness signals.
Step 4: rank for the sub-questions
Perplexity’s answers draw on web search results, so pages that rank for the specific parts of a question have more chances to be read. Map those parts with query fan-out keyword research and give each one a direct answer.
Step 5: be present on the sources Perplexity cites for your topic
Ask Perplexity your buyers’ questions and note the domains it cites. For many topics these include review platforms, forums and industry publications alongside company sites. If competitors are named from sources where you are absent, those are the places to be listed or mentioned. See competitor analysis in AI answers.
Step 6: measure
- Visits from perplexity.ai appear as referrals in analytics; group them with other AI assistants in a custom channel group.
- Run your question set in Perplexity monthly, several times each, and record citations.
- Check server logs for PerplexityBot visits and their status codes.
Publishers
Perplexity launched a publisher program in 2024 that shares revenue with participating publishers when their content is used in answers alongside ads. It is relevant mainly to news and media organisations; for most businesses, being cited is the goal.
Frequently asked questions
How is Perplexity different from ChatGPT for GEO?
Perplexity searches for nearly every question and cites sources for each claim, while ChatGPT answers some questions from its training data. Freshness and sentence-level clarity matter especially on Perplexity. See getting cited in ChatGPT search.
Can we block Perplexity from using our content?
You can block PerplexityBot in robots.txt and at your firewall. Note Perplexity’s statement that user-requested fetches by Perplexity-User generally ignore robots.txt.
Does Perplexity use Google or Bing?
Perplexity runs its own crawler and index and has not published full details of every source it uses. Visibility in major search engines still helps.
Sources
- Perplexity, “Perplexity crawlers” documentation
- Perplexity, announcement of its publisher program, 2024