Perplexity to Introduce Advertising in AI-Powered Search Engine

AI startup Perplexity plans to integrate advertising into its search system in the fourth quarter, according to a presentation obtained by CNBC.

The document, accessed by the media, reports 2 million downloads of the company’s app and over 230 million search queries per month. Eighty percent of users hold a bachelor’s degree, and 30% are in executive positions.

Initially, the advertising will cover technology, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, art, entertainment, finance, food, and beverages. Advertisers will be able to pay more than $50 per 1000 impressions for products related to search queries, the channel notes.

Previously, Perplexity was embroiled in a scandal over plagiarism accusations. In June, Forbes reported finding portions of its article in Perplexity’s content without source attribution. Later, Wired complained of a similar issue.

The AI startup informed CNBC that it has since made changes to how cited sources are displayed following the accusations.

In April, it raised approximately $63 million, valuing the company at over $1 billion.

In June, it was revealed that Apple held talks with Perplexity to integrate AI models in addition to the company’s internal systems.

In July, OpenAI announced its own search engine, SearchGPT.