How Perplexity picks the brands it names, and how to track it.
Perplexity searches the web for every answer and lists the pages it used, so it is the engine where you can see exactly which page put a competitor ahead of you. Proofsource tracks the questions where Perplexity names you, who it names instead, and the sources behind each answer.
2 free scans, today and tomorrow: 25 questions on 4 engines. No card.
How does Perplexity build an answer?
- Perplexity runs a search for each question, reads the top pages, and writes an answer with numbered citations.
- Its own crawler, PerplexityBot, builds the index it searches. If PerplexityBot cannot reach your site, your pages cannot be among the sources.
- Because it reads pages live, Perplexity can pick up a change to your site faster than an engine answering from training, but it can also repeat old copy from its index until it re-crawls.
Which crawlers decide whether Perplexity can read your site?
As documented by the vendor. Check your CDN as well as robots.txt: an edge bot-blocking setting can turn a crawler away even when robots.txt allows it.
| User agent | What it does |
|---|---|
| PerplexityBot | Indexes sites for Perplexity search results; Perplexity says it is not used for AI training. |
| Perplexity-User | Fetches a page when a user's question needs it; Perplexity says it generally ignores robots.txt because a person asked. |
What did Perplexity say in our own scan?
- Asked 5 questions about Proofsource by name, Perplexity was the only engine of the four to describe us correctly in all 5, because it read our site.
- It also repeated an older version of our trial terms from its index, a reminder that it quotes what it last crawled.
- Across 20 category questions, Perplexity named Otterly.AI and Profound in 10 answers each.
From Proofsource's own scan of proofsource.co on 4 Oct 2026: 20 category questions and 5 brand questions, one answer each per engine. A small sample from one category, shown as an example, not a benchmark.
PerplexityHow do you get named more often by Perplexity?
- Allow PerplexityBot, at your CDN as well as in robots.txt.
- Read the citations on the questions you lose: they name the pages to win.
- Keep facts such as price and trial terms in plain text on your own pages, so a re-crawl picks up changes.
How does Proofsource track Perplexity?
Proofsource asks Perplexity the buyer questions you approve, alongside ChatGPT, Claude, Google AI Overviews, with the same wording on each. It records whether you are named, in what position, next to whom, and which pages are cited.
Paid plans ask every question every day; the free trial runs 2 scans, today and tomorrow. Each percentage carries a 95% Wilson interval, so a change is flagged only once it is bigger than the noise. See the methodology.
Where a Perplexity number can mislead: Perplexity's sources change with the search results of the moment, so a single run can over- or under-state you. Read its numbers with their interval.
What people ask about Perplexity and brands
How does Perplexity choose its sources?
It searches the web for each question, reads the results and cites the pages it drew on. Pages it can crawl and that answer the question directly have the best chance of being cited.
Does Perplexity use robots.txt?
Perplexity says PerplexityBot respects robots.txt, and that Perplexity-User, which fetches a page because a user asked, generally ignores it.
Why does Perplexity show old information about my company?
It quotes pages as it last indexed them. Updating the page and making sure PerplexityBot can reach it lets the next crawl correct the answer.
Find out if Perplexity says your name.
See which buyer questions name your brand, who gets named instead, and what to fix. 2 free scans, today and tomorrow: 25 questions on 4 engines. No card.
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