So, Perplexity is selling ads?

Just how big is Perplexity compared to Google and ChatGPT? Here are four stats to know now that Perplexity is starting to sell ads:

1️⃣ Perplexity's web user base has grown more than 3x in the past year.

2️⃣ But Perplexity is minuscule compared to ChatGPT (just 3% of its size, based on web users) and a speck of dust compared to Google (0.38% of Google's size).

3️⃣ However, Perpexity's user engagement regularly tops ChatGPT's. In recent months it routinely outranked ChatGPT in desktop webpages visits per user.

4️⃣ And its share of web searches is growing rapidly, up 5x between May 2023 and May 2024.

These datapoints all come from my recent Sonata Insights white paper with Datos, A Semrush Company. For more on consumer search behaviors and how they are changing in the age of AI, download the paper here.

I think Perplexity's move to sell advertising is an important step in the evolution of consumer AI experiences. In the coming year I expect we'll also see ads on SearchGPT, ChatGPT, Meta's AI experiences, and more.

As with any new ad medium, advertisers will need to navigate the PR boost that can come from being first to sign on with a partner and the reality that results will be spotty and the execution will be bumpy.