Sell Your Products Through Perplexity

Why Perplexity Is a Growing Commerce Channel

Perplexity combines AI-powered research with instant purchasing -- users get sourced recommendations and can buy without leaving the platform.

Perplexity is not just another search engine. It is an AI-powered answer engine that synthesizes information from multiple sources and provides cited, research-grade responses. For shopping, this means consumers get detailed product comparisons with sources, not just a list of links.

With a $20 billion valuation and $1.6 billion in total funding (DemandSage, Feb 2026), Perplexity is the most well-capitalized AI search platform outside of Google and OpenAI. The platform handles over 435 million queries per month (NVIDIA data), and its shopping features are expanding rapidly.

What makes Perplexity unique for commerce is its research-first approach. When a consumer asks "what are the best noise cancelling headphones for office use under $300?", Perplexity does not just list products -- it synthesizes reviews, compares specifications, and explains trade-offs with cited sources. This research depth builds consumer confidence and drives higher purchase intent.

How Perplexity Shopping Works

Perplexity offers product recommendations to all users and one-click checkout for Pro subscribers, powered by PayPal and Venmo.

Product Recommendations (All Users)

When users ask shopping-related questions, Perplexity displays product cards with images, prices, ratings, and links to merchant websites. These recommendations are based on Perplexity's product index, user reviews, and real-time web data. The experience is available to all users -- free and Pro.

Buy with Pro (Pro Subscribers)

Launched in November 2024, "Buy with Pro" enables one-click checkout for Perplexity Pro subscribers. Users save shipping and billing information once, then purchase select products directly inside Perplexity without visiting external websites. Some purchases include free shipping.

PayPal-Powered Checkout (All Users)

In May 2025, Perplexity partnered with PayPal to bring checkout capabilities to all users. Consumers can complete purchases using PayPal or Venmo directly from search results. In November 2025, Perplexity expanded this free shopping experience to connect with over 5,000 merchants (TechBuzz, Nov 2025).

Firmly.ai Native Checkout

In March 2025, Perplexity partnered with Firmly.ai to power native checkout within search results, making it easier for merchants of any size to enable direct purchasing through Perplexity (Digital Commerce 360, Dec 2025).

The Perplexity Merchant Program

The Merchant Program gives brands better product indexing, higher recommendation likelihood, and access to one-click checkout features.

Perplexity's Merchant Program is the primary way brands connect their products to the platform. Benefits include:

• Better product indexing: Merchant Program participants get their products indexed with complete data, increasing the chance of being a "recommended product"
• Richer product data: More robust product details help Perplexity determine quality and relevance to user queries
• Payment integration: Access to Buy with Pro and PayPal checkout experiences
• Performance visibility: Insights into how your products appear in Perplexity search results

Perplexity vs ChatGPT: Different Approaches to AI Commerce

ChatGPT focuses on conversational shopping with Instant Checkout; Perplexity focuses on research-driven recommendations with PayPal-powered purchasing.

Both platforms represent significant commerce channels, and most retailers will benefit from being present on both. See our ChatGPT integration guide.

What You Need to Integrate

Integration requires joining the Merchant Program, optimizing product data for AI comprehension, and enabling PayPal checkout.

Multi-Channel AI Commerce

Perplexity is one of several AI shopping channels -- connecting to all of them through a single integration maximizes your reach.

AI commerce is fragmenting across multiple platforms, each with different integration requirements. ChatGPT uses ACP, Google AI Mode uses UCP, Perplexity uses its Merchant Program and PayPal, and Microsoft Copilot supports ACP.

Managing these integrations individually is complex and resource-intensive. Paz.ai provides a single integration point -- connect your catalog once and distribute to every AI shopping channel with feeds optimized for each platform. Learn more about the agentic commerce landscape.