Bot access check
We test PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User against your robots.txt, CDN and security settings.
You getAccess test results
SEO for Perplexity · USA
SEO for Perplexity, built for live citations
Perplexity searches the web as each question comes in and shows its sources by number. That makes it the plainest test of whether your pages are worth citing.
- 6 AI platforms
- 60 buyer prompts
- No obligation
Perplexityanswer
Which HR software works best for a fifty-person company in Denver?
Most guides recommend Your Brand for clear, published answers1, with Competitor A a close second2. Pricing pages and recent reviews matter3.
1yourbrand.comService page
2industry guideComparison
3news siteArticle
In short
SEO for Perplexity means making your pages easy for Perplexity to retrieve, trust and cite. Perplexity runs live retrieval for most questions and shows numbered citations, so access for PerplexityBot, up-to-date pages and clear, quotable passages matter most. Perplexity doesn't publish its ranking formula, so we test against your real buyer questions instead of guessing.
- Retrieval
- Live, for most questions
- Citations
- Numbered and visible
- Search crawler
- PerplexityBot
- User-triggered fetches
- Perplexity-User
Why it matters
Why Perplexity rewards a different kind of attention
ChatGPTAI OverviewsAI ModeGeminiPerplexityCopilot
Because Perplexity retrieves pages live for most questions, it reflects the web as it is now, not as it was when a model was trained. A page you correct today is the page it reads next time. That cuts both ways: stale pricing pages, outdated team bios and old service lists get quoted too, sometimes word for word, with your URL attached as the source.
Its numbered citations also make it unusually easy to measure. You can see exactly which pages it relied on and where a competitor was chosen instead. Buyers doing careful vendor research tend to value that transparency, which is why we treat Perplexity as its own channel rather than an afterthought. It also makes Perplexity a useful early read on whether your content changes are working.
How it works
How SEO for Perplexity works in practice
Four things decide whether Perplexity can use a page.
- 01
Access
PerplexityBot must be allowed in robots.txt and not caught by firewall or bot-protection rules. Perplexity-User handles fetches a person triggers.
- 02
Freshness
Facts, team details and service lists kept current, with visible update dates on pages where timing matters.
- 03
Quotable passages
Self-contained paragraphs that each answer one question, so a citation still makes sense out of context. If a passage only works after reading the three sections above it, it's hard to quote.
- 04
Corroboration
Other credible pages saying the same thing about you, such as trade associations, review sites and partner pages, which gives an answer engine more confidence to cite you.
What we do
What we deliver
Each item ties back to how Perplexity retrieves and cites.
Citation map
For each of your 60 prompts, which URLs Perplexity cites and how often yours appear among them.
You getPrompt-level citation map
Freshness audit
Pages with outdated facts, missing dates or expired offers flagged and updated.
You getFreshness fix list
Passage rewrites
Key sections restructured so each passage answers a question cleanly and stands on its own.
You getRevised page sections
Comparison content
Honest pages comparing options in your category, a format research-minded buyers look for.
You getNew comparison pages
Measurement & reporting
Perplexity tracked with the other five platforms, reported monthly with the URLs each one cited.
You getMonthly AEO scorecard
Side by side
Perplexity vs ChatGPT for your visibility
| Perplexity | ChatGPT | |
|---|---|---|
| Retrieval | Live retrieval for most questions | Searches the web when a question calls for it |
| How sources show | Numbered citations | Source links within search answers |
| Search crawler | PerplexityBot | OAI-SearchBot |
| User-triggered fetches | Perplexity-User | ChatGPT-User |
| Ranking formula published | No | No |
Allow both search crawlers unless you have a specific reason not to.
Working with us
Our first steps with you
No lock-in surprises. You see the plan, the work and the results.
Get an AEO quote- Phase 1
Free check
A quick look at whether Perplexity and the other platforms mention you at all today.
- Phase 2
Call and scope
We agree on prompts and competitors, then send a quote.
- Phase 3
Citation baseline
Your prompts run across six platforms, with every URL Perplexity cites recorded.
- Phase 4
Fix and re-test
Access, freshness and passage work goes live, then citations are checked again each month.
How does Perplexity choose which sites to cite?
Perplexity doesn't publish its ranking formula. What you can observe is that it retrieves pages live for most questions and cites the ones it uses, so access, relevance, clarity and freshness all play a part. Anyone claiming to know the exact formula is guessing.
How do I allow PerplexityBot on my site?
Check that your robots.txt doesn't disallow PerplexityBot and that your CDN or firewall isn't blocking it as an unknown bot. We test this directly rather than trusting the file alone.
Why does Perplexity cite my competitors but not me?
Common reasons are a blocked crawler, thin pages that don't answer the question directly, or competitors having more corroborating coverage. The citation map shows which pages it picked, and that usually points to the fix.
Does updating my content help with Perplexity?
It can. Since Perplexity reads pages live for most questions, accurate and current content is what it sees. Updating for accuracy is worthwhile; changing a date without changing the substance isn't.
Is SEO for Perplexity worth it for a small business?
If your buyers research before calling, yes. A custom home builder in Charlotte or a bookkeeping firm in Philadelphia can earn citations with a few strong, specific pages. Smaller sites sometimes have an advantage here, because a focused page can answer a narrow question better than a large, generic one.
What's the difference between PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User?
PerplexityBot is Perplexity's search crawler. Perplexity-User fetches pages when a user's question triggers it. Both need access if you want to be retrieved and cited.
Find out which pages Perplexity cites instead of yours
Start with the free check, then we'll build your Perplexity citation map.