How to Get Recommended by Perplexity AI

To get recommended by Perplexity, let PerplexityBot crawl your site, publish clear factual pages that answer specific questions, keep those pages visibly up to date, and earn mentions on the third-party sources Perplexity cites. Because Perplexity shows the sources behind its answers, you can see exactly which pages it relies on and work towards being one of them.

Perplexity SEO is less mysterious than it sounds. The sources are in front of you. The work is making your pages, and the pages about you, the best available answer.

How does Perplexity choose what to recommend?

Perplexity searches the web for each question, reads the pages it retrieves, and writes an answer with numbered citations linking to its sources. Like every AI company, Perplexity does not publish a ranking formula, so there is no fixed “Perplexity AI ranking” to climb. Answers also vary with wording, location and time.

What you can say with confidence is this: Perplexity can only recommend what it can retrieve and understand. That gives you three levers:

• Access: can Perplexity’s crawler read your pages?
• Clarity: do your pages state the facts and answers plainly?
• Corroboration: do other trusted pages say the same things about you?

PerplexityBot vs Perplexity-User: what’s the difference?

Perplexity uses two user agents, and they do different jobs:

If your robots.txt blocks PerplexityBot, or blocks all bots with a wildcard rule, your pages are less likely to be in the index Perplexity draws from. Check your CDN and security settings too, since some block unknown bots automatically. Blocking training-only crawlers such as GPTBot or CCBot is a separate choice and does not remove you from AI search answers.

Our guide to allowing AI crawlers in robots.txt has example rules, and the free AI Crawler Checker shows which AI bots your site currently allows.

What kind of pages does Perplexity cite?

Perplexity answers questions, so it needs pages that contain answers. Pages that are easy to quote tend to share a few traits:

• A direct answer near the top. If the question is “How much does teeth whitening cost in Austin?”, give a clear answer or range in the first paragraph, then explain what changes the price.
• Concrete facts. Services, areas served, opening hours, qualifications, process steps, what is and is not included.
• One topic per page. A focused page on “commercial cleaning in Dubai” is easier to match to a question than a general page listing everything.
• Clear headings phrased the way people ask, plus lists and tables for comparisons.
• A named author or business with real contact details, so the source is identifiable.

For more on structure, read how to write content AI cites and how to write FAQs AI assistants quote.

Why do freshness signals matter on Perplexity?

Many people use Perplexity for questions where current information matters: prices, opening hours, new regulations, the best options this year. An answer engine has to judge whether a page is still accurate, and an undated page gives it nothing to go on.

Make freshness visible and real:

1. Show a “last updated” date on pages where timing matters, and only change it when you actually update the content.
2. Review key pages on a schedule. Prices, service lists, team members and hours go out of date quietly.
3. Remove or redirect stale pages, such as old promotions or discontinued services, so they cannot be quoted.
4. Keep your sitemap current with accurate last-modified dates.
5. Update your profiles too. If your hours change, change them on your Google Business Profile, Bing Places, Apple Business Connect and directories, not just your website.

Changing a date without changing the content does not make a page fresher. It can also create conflicts when the details on the page no longer match other sources.

How do third-party sources affect Perplexity recommendations?

For “best” and “top” questions, such as “best co-working space in Lahore” or “top bookkeepers in London for startups”, Perplexity often cites pages you do not own: directories, review platforms, comparison lists, local news and community discussions. If those pages name your competitors and not you, Perplexity has little reason to mention you.

The useful part is that Perplexity shows its sources, so you can work from evidence:

1. Ask Perplexity the questions your customers ask.
2. Open each cited source and check whether it mentions you.
3. For the gaps, find a legitimate route in: claim or complete a directory listing, send accurate information to a list author, answer questions in relevant communities as yourself, or earn coverage with genuinely useful work.
4. Keep your name, address and phone consistent everywhere so these mentions clearly connect to one business.

See AI citation sources, profiles and directories for a starting list, and entity SEO for AI search for keeping your identity consistent.

How should you test questions in Perplexity?

Pick a set of questions that reflect real buying moments, not just your brand name:

• Recommendation: “Who is the best wedding photographer in Sydney?”
• Comparison: “Is X or Y better for small restaurants?”
• Problem: “How do I fix a leaking flat roof in winter?”
• Brand: “What is [your business] and how do I contact them?”

Ask each question more than once and on a regular schedule. Record whether you are mentioned, where you appear in the answer, and which sources are cited. Answers from Perplexity’s API can differ from its consumer app, and location affects results, so look for patterns across many answers rather than reacting to one.

Our guide to finding the questions customers ask AI helps you build the list.

How do you measure Perplexity visibility?

Track a few measures over time:

• Mention rate: how often answers to your questions name your business.
• Citations of your pages: how often your own URLs appear as sources.
• Source gaps: cited pages that mention competitors but not you, and whether that list shrinks.
• Accuracy: whether Perplexity states your details correctly.
• Referral visits: traffic from perplexity.ai in your analytics, where it is recorded.

Measure Perplexity alongside ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI features, because your customers use more than one. See tracking brand mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini and how to rank in ChatGPT.

How Onxeera helps

Onxeera’s Prompt Research asks Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude your customers’ questions through their official APIs with web search on, and records the brands mentioned, their order and the sources cited. The Citation Builder then lists those cited pages, reads each one live to see whether it mentions you or your competitors, and shows the gaps first with action guides for closing them.

Frequently asked questions

Does Perplexity use Google or its own index?

Perplexity runs its own crawler, PerplexityBot, to build a search index, and fetches pages on demand with Perplexity-User when a question needs them. It does not publish the full details of how it retrieves and ranks sources, so the safest approach is to keep PerplexityBot allowed and make your pages easy to understand.

Can I submit my website to Perplexity?

Perplexity does not document a submission form for its organic answers. Focus instead on letting PerplexityBot crawl your site, keeping an accurate sitemap, and earning mentions on pages Perplexity already cites. Then test your target questions regularly to see whether your pages start appearing as sources.

Will blocking Perplexity-User stop Perplexity from reading my pages?

Not reliably. Perplexity says Perplexity-User, which fetches pages for specific user requests, may not follow robots.txt. If you want to control access strictly, you would need server or firewall rules. For most businesses that want to be recommended, allowing both is the simpler choice.

Why does Perplexity cite my competitor's directory listing instead of my website?

Directories and review sites often answer comparison questions in one place, so they are convenient sources. Make sure you have complete, accurate listings on the directories Perplexity cites for your questions, and give your own site a focused page that answers the same question directly.