Someone is asking Perplexity right now: "What's the best tool for [the thing you sell]?"
Perplexity searches the web, finds sources it trusts, writes a response, and attaches numbered citations. Your competitor's blog post is [1]. An industry roundup is [2]. A Reddit thread is [3].
You're not there.
The frustrating part? Unlike ChatGPT, which sometimes pulls from training data memory, Perplexity searches the web fresh for every single query. That means your current content directly determines whether you show up. And that also means you can influence this starting today.
What makes Perplexity different from other LLMs
Perplexity isn't just another chatbot. It's closer to a research engine with a conversational layer on top. Every answer it gives is backed by sources it found in real-time.
Three things make it unique:
Live web search on every query. Perplexity doesn't rely on what it learned months ago during training. It searches right now. This levels the playing field for smaller brands, because you don't need years of web presence to appear. You need relevant, findable content today.
Built-in source citations. Every response comes with numbered references. Users see exactly where Perplexity got its information. This makes it a trust engine. If you're cited, you get credibility and click-throughs.
Recency matters more. Because it's always searching live, Perplexity naturally favors content that's current. A well-written blog post from last month can outrank a dated guide from two years ago.
1. Check your current Perplexity visibility
Before changing anything, you need a baseline.
Go to Perplexity and ask the questions your ideal customers would ask. Think relevant queries:
- "Best [your category] for [your target audience]"
- "Which [product type] should I use for [specific problem]?"
- "Top [category] tools for [use case]"
For each query, write down:
- Were you cited at all?
- What citation number? ([1] carries more weight than [6])
- Which page on your site got cited?
- Who else showed up instead of you?
This manual check gives you a snapshot. For ongoing monitoring, a tracking tool like Mentionable automates this across Perplexity and other AI platforms so you're not running these tests by hand every week.
2. Create content that earns citations
Perplexity doesn't cite content because it's optimized. It cites content because it directly and clearly answers the question being asked.
Answer questions explicitly. If people ask "best CRM for freelancers," your page needs to use those words and provide a clear, direct answer. Don't make Perplexity dig through paragraphs of fluff to find what it needs.
Lead with the answer, then explain. Put your clearest statement early. Follow it with context, nuance, and supporting detail. Journalists call this the "inverted pyramid" and it works perfectly for AI citation.
Use structured formatting. Headings, numbered lists, comparison tables, FAQ sections. Perplexity pulls information from content it can easily parse. A wall of unbroken text makes extraction harder.
Be specific, not generic. "Here are 7 CRM options for freelancers with pros and cons" is far more citable than "CRMs are important for managing customer relationships." Specificity is what earns the citation slot.
3. Build authority signals Perplexity trusts
Perplexity doesn't just look at your content. It evaluates whether your source is trustworthy enough to cite.
Earn quality backlinks. Links from respected sites in your industry tell Perplexity (and its underlying search mechanisms) that your content is credible. One link from a well-known industry publication beats fifty from random directories.
Get mentioned on third-party sites. Reviews on G2, Capterra, or industry blogs. Guest posts on relevant publications. Podcast features. These external mentions build the authority profile that makes Perplexity more likely to cite you.
Demonstrate expertise consistently. A site with 50 thorough articles about your niche signals more authority than one with 5 generic posts. Depth and consistency over time compound into trust.
Add author credentials. Bylines with real expertise indicators help. "Written by [Name], 10 years in email marketing" is a credibility signal.
4. Keep content fresh and accurate
This matters more for Perplexity than almost any other LLM.
Since it searches the web live, it can see when content was last updated. Stale content with outdated information loses to current content that reflects reality.
Update key pages quarterly. Review your most important content every few months. Are the facts still accurate? Have prices changed? Are the tools you mention still around?
Display publish and update dates. Let Perplexity see that your content is maintained. A visible "Last updated: January 2026" is a positive signal.
Remove outdated claims. Wrong information doesn't just hurt your citations. It hurts your credibility if Perplexity cites you and users find errors.
5. Don't block Perplexity from finding you
This sounds obvious, but it trips up more sites than you'd expect.
Check your robots.txt. Look for any rules blocking PerplexityBot. If Perplexity can't crawl your pages, it literally cannot cite you.
Avoid login walls on key content. Content behind a signup form is invisible to Perplexity's crawlers. If you want citations, the content needs to be publicly accessible.
Make sure your site loads fast. Perplexity is searching in real-time and building responses quickly. Slow-loading pages may get skipped in favor of faster alternatives.
Keep content out of heavy JavaScript. If your page content only loads after JavaScript execution, bots might not see it. Server-rendered or static content is safer.
Common mistakes that hurt your Perplexity visibility
Writing vague content. Perplexity needs clear, quotable statements. "It depends on many factors" won't earn a citation. "For teams under 10 people, the best option is..." will.
Ignoring the question format. People ask Perplexity questions. If your content doesn't address questions, it's harder to cite. Add FAQ sections. Use question-based headings.
Chasing quantity over depth. Ten thin 400-word posts won't beat one comprehensive 2,000-word guide. Perplexity prefers citing authoritative, complete sources.
Forgetting about competitors. If three competitors have better content on the exact query a user is asking, Perplexity will cite them, not you. Study what's getting cited and make something genuinely better.
Treating this like keyword stuffing. Repeating "best CRM for freelancers" fifteen times doesn't help. Writing genuinely useful content about CRMs for freelancers does. Perplexity understands meaning, not keyword density.
Realistic expectations
Perplexity visibility can shift faster than other LLMs because everything is real-time. That's both encouraging and humbling.
Week 1-2: Audit your current visibility. Identify gaps. Fix any technical blockers (robots.txt, page speed).
Month 1-2: Create or improve content targeting your highest-value queries. Focus on being directly useful and clearly structured.
Month 2-3: Build external authority through reviews, mentions, and backlinks. This takes time but compounds.
Ongoing: Monitor what's working. When you earn a citation, study why. When you lose one, investigate what changed.
The good news is that improvements can show up relatively quickly with Perplexity since it searches live. You don't need to wait for a training cycle refresh like with ChatGPT.
Your next moves
Start by running those manual Perplexity queries for your most important topics. Get honest about where you stand.
Then pick your top 3-5 relevant queries and create (or improve) content that directly, clearly, and thoroughly answers them.
Track your progress over time. Mentionable monitors your Perplexity citations automatically alongside ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Claude, so you can see the full picture without manual testing.
Perplexity's user base is growing fast. The citations you earn now will keep paying off as more people use it to make decisions about what to buy and who to hire.
