To get recommended by Perplexity, publish a page that answers each question your customers ask, plainly and near the top, and let Perplexity's crawler read it. Then ask the question again after the page goes live and check whether Perplexity names you and links your page.
Perplexity is built to read the web, and it says so. Its crawler documentation, read on 29 September 2026, describes two visitors. The first is PerplexityBot, which "is designed to surface and link websites in search results on Perplexity." The second is Perplexity-User. When someone asks Perplexity a question, it "might visit a web page to help provide an accurate answer and include a link to the page in its response." So the page you publish is the thing Perplexity reads, and the link it shows is how a customer reaches you.
How Perplexity decides who to name
Every AI assistant answers in one of two ways. It answers from the web, by reading pages at the moment someone asks. Or it answers from its memory, from what its model learned in training. Perplexity's own documentation describes the first path: a crawler that surfaces and links websites, and a visitor that reads pages when people ask a question.
That leaves three things for you to get right. They are the same three that decide any answer built from the web.
- Perplexity can read the page. Your settings let its crawler in, and your words are in the page itself, not assembled later by a script.
- The page answers the question plainly, near the top. An assistant building an answer lifts what it can quote. A page that circles the point for 400 words gives it nothing to lift.
- Your facts agree with other sources. When your prices, places and product names match across your own pages and the sites that list you, an assistant has one version of you to repeat.
None of this is special to Perplexity. The page Perplexity can use is the same page ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini can use when they search the web. That is useful: one good answer page serves every assistant that reads it.
How to get recommended by Perplexity, in five steps
Do these in order. Each step removes a guess from the next one.
Step 1: List the questions your customers ask
Write down the questions a buyer types before they know your name. Use their words, not yours. Say you sell standing desks online. Your list starts with four kinds of question:
- Category questions: "What is the best standing desk for a small apartment?"
- Comparison questions: "Is a bamboo desktop better than laminate?"
- Cost questions: "How much does a good standing desk cost?"
- Questions with your name in them: "Is [your brand] worth it?" and "[your brand] vs [a rival]: which is better?"
Aim for 10 to 20 questions. Fewer than that and one odd answer skews the picture. Many more is hard to track by hand.
Step 2: Ask Perplexity each question and write down what happens
Open Perplexity and ask each question the way a customer would. For every answer, record four things: whether you were named, who was named instead, which pages were linked, and the date.
Ask each question more than once, on different days. Answers change from one ask to the next. One answer tells you little. A pattern across several asks tells you where you stand.
A simple sheet is enough:
| Question | Date asked | Named you? | Named instead | Pages linked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The question, in the customer's words | The day you asked | Yes or no | Each business named | Each link shown |
The questions where someone else is named and linked are the questions you are losing. They are your list for step 4.
Step 3: Fix what stops Perplexity reading your site
Perplexity cannot recommend a page it cannot read. Check three things before you write anything new.
Settings that let AI visit your site. A file called robots.txt tells crawlers which pages they may read. Perplexity's documentation says: "To ensure your site appears in search results, we recommend allowing PerplexityBot in your site's robots.txt file." A rule that blocks every bot you have not named blocks PerplexityBot too. If your file has one, add a rule that allows PerplexityBot by name.
Words AI can see on your pages. Some sites build their text in the browser with JavaScript. A crawler that reads only what your server sends can miss those words. Your answer should be in the page as it is served.
One clear answer per page. A headline that matches the question, and the answer in the first two sentences under it.
Rankli's free check reads your site the way an AI visitor does, with no JavaScript, and lists what to fix first. It checks your settings for Perplexity's visitors by name. It asks no AI assistant anything, so it is free and needs no account. To see which pages Perplexity cites for your market, the free Perplexity visibility checker asks it three research questions and lists who it named.
Step 4: Publish an answer page for each question you are losing
For each question from step 2 where someone else was named, publish one page that answers it. Make that page easy to quote:
- A title that matches the question, in the customer's words.
- The answer in the first one or two sentences, before any background.
- Specifics a reader can check: prices, sizes, places, dates and limits.
- The same facts as the rest of your site. If your pricing page says one number and a blog post says another, an assistant can repeat either one.
- A visible date, so a reader can tell the page is current.
Give each question its own page. A page about one question can answer it in its first lines. A page about twenty questions buries nineteen of them.
Step 5: Ask again after the page goes live
Wait a week after the page goes live. Then ask the same question again, a few times, and compare the answers with what you recorded in step 2. Did Perplexity name you? Did it link your new page? Ask again a week after that.
One check is a snapshot. Two checks after publishing, set against the answers from before, show whether the page changed anything. Rankli's re-ask works the same way: 7 and 14 days after an article goes live, it asks the article's question again, 3 times on each assistant your plan tracks, and shows you before and after on the article.
What a Perplexity recommendation looks like
A win on Perplexity has two parts. Record both.
The first is being named: your business appears in the answer as one of the options. The second is being linked: your page appears among the pages Perplexity shows with its answer.
The two can come apart. Perplexity can name you from someone else's page, such as a directory or a review site, without linking your own. It can also link your page for one fact while it recommends a rival. That second case is worth spotting. It means Perplexity already reads your page, and the page needs a clearer answer to the question that was asked.
Both parts are useful. A link sends a customer to your page. A mention puts your name in front of them. Rankli records every answer both ways, so you can see which one moved after you published.
What not to do
Do not block Perplexity by accident. A security tool or an old robots.txt rule can block every bot that is not on a short list. Read your file, or run the free check, before you blame your pages.
Do not write for the machine. A page that repeats the question ten times reads badly to a person. It also gives an assistant nothing new to quote.
Do not judge on one answer. Ask each question several times, on different days, before you decide you are winning or losing it.
Do not hide the answer. An answer behind a sign-in form, inside an image or at the bottom of a long page is hard for any reader to lift. A crawler cannot fill in a sign-in form.
Do not change five things at once. If you rewrite the page, change the title and move the answer in the same week, you will not know which change moved the answer.
How Rankli runs these steps for you
Rankli runs this loop every week, in four steps:
- Ask. Every week, Rankli asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini the questions your customers ask. Perplexity too, on Scale and Agency.
- See what you're losing. You see each question where AI recommends someone else, and who it picks instead.
- Publish the answers. Rankli writes an article aimed at each question you're losing and publishes it to WordPress, Webflow, Shopify or the other connected platforms.
- Re-ask and show what moved. 7 and 14 days after each article goes live, Rankli asks its questions again and shows you before and after.
Rankli asks each assistant with its web search turned on, then records who it names and which pages it cites. How Rankli tracks AI answers has the detail. The questions, assistants and articles in each plan are on the pricing page. The same steps for two more assistants are in how to get recommended by Claude and Gemini.
Rankli starts with a 7-day free trial. A card starts it, and starting it runs your first analysis: your questions put to ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, with the ones you are losing listed. On day 8 it becomes your plan unless you cancel, which is one click in the app. Cancel during the trial and nothing is charged.
Questions
Does Perplexity show which pages it used?
Yes. Perplexity's documentation says that when it visits a page to answer a question, it can include a link to that page in its response. Rankli records whether your page was linked as well as whether you were named.
What happens if my site blocks PerplexityBot?
You block the crawler that Perplexity says surfaces and links websites in its search results, and Perplexity recommends allowing it. Rankli's free check reads your settings and tells you if a rule blocks it.
How often should I check what Perplexity says?
Answers change from one ask to the next, so check the same questions on a schedule, several times each. On Scale and Agency, Rankli asks Perplexity every week and again 7 and 14 days after each article goes live.
Which Rankli plans include Perplexity?
Scale and Agency track Perplexity alongside ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini. Every plan tracks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini, and every Rankli plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
Is getting recommended by Perplexity different from ChatGPT?
The pages that work are the same: a plain answer near the top, open to the assistant's crawler, with facts that match other sources. Rankli asks each assistant the same questions, so you see every answer before and after the same article.