How to get your business cited by Perplexity
By the Pickgap team · Updated Oct 15, 2026 · 4 min read
Perplexity runs a live web search for nearly every question and builds its answer from the pages it finds, with numbered citations. For local questions those pages are mostly directories, review sites, local lists and business websites. To be named, be on the pages it cites, let PerplexityBot crawl your site, and make your own pages answer the question directly.
How Perplexity builds an answer
Perplexity is an answer engine: it searches the web for almost every question, reads the top results, and writes an answer with numbered citations you can click. That makes it the most transparent of the major AI surfaces. You can see exactly which pages it relied on, and that tells you where to work.
For "best roofer in Charlotte", the citations are typically directory listings, review platforms, a local news or magazine roundup, a Reddit thread or two, and a few roofers' own websites.
Step 1: Read the citations for your questions
Ask Perplexity 5 to 10 questions your customers ask, in your city, and note every cited page. Group them:
- Directories and platforms where you can claim or improve a profile.
- Lists and articles that name competitors and not you: outreach targets.
- Forums and threads, where the answer is honest participation, not posting about yourself.
- Competitors' own pages: what do they say that you don't?
A Pickgap report does this across many questions and shows how often each domain was cited and whether those answers named you.
Step 2: Let PerplexityBot in
Perplexity's crawler is PerplexityBot. If your robots.txt or firewall blocks it, Perplexity may still find you through other pages, but it can't read your site directly. Check robots.txt and any "block AI crawlers" setting in your CDN. See robots.txt for AI crawlers.
Step 3: Make your pages quotable
Perplexity quotes passages that answer the question. Pages that bury the answer are less useful to it.
- Lead with the fact: "We're a family-owned roofing company in Charlotte, NC, serving Mecklenburg County since 2009."
- Use specific, checkable details: licenses, service areas, warranties, response times.
- Give each main service its own page with a heading that matches the question.
See content AI cites for local questions.
Step 4: Be named on third-party pages
Because Perplexity leans on what others say, your presence on directories, lists and local press matters more than anything on your own site. Prioritize the domains that show up in citations for your category. See the directories AI cites and getting into "best of" lists.
Step 5: Keep reviews coming
Ratings and review counts show up on the directory pages Perplexity cites. More recent, genuine reviews make those pages work in your favor. See how to get more Google reviews.
What Perplexity can't see
Perplexity reads what a web search returns. It can't log in, open your booking app, read text baked into images, or see a menu that only exists as a PDF scan. If the facts customers ask about (prices, insurance, hours, service areas) only live in those places, then for Perplexity they don't exist. Move them into plain text on a normal web page.
Reading the citations: an example
Say you run a moving company in Columbus and ask Perplexity "best local movers in Columbus for a small apartment". A typical set of citations might look like this, and each kind calls for a different response:
| Cited page | What it means | What to do |
|---|---|---|
| A moving directory's Columbus page | Perplexity trusts this directory for movers | Claim and complete your profile there |
| A local magazine's "best movers" list | Editors' picks carry weight | Pitch the editor before the next edition |
| A Reddit thread asking for mover recommendations | Real customers' words count | Ask happy customers to share honest experiences where they already post |
| A competitor's "apartment moves" page | A focused page matched the question | Write your own page for that service |
The pattern repeats across trades. Once you know which domains Perplexity trusts for your category in your city, the to-do list writes itself.
A monthly routine
- Ask the same 10 questions on the first of each month and save the citations.
- Note new domains, and domains that dropped out.
- Pick the two cited pages where you're missing and work on them this month.
- Check that your own pages still say the basics plainly: city, services, hours, prices or insurance.
Measuring Perplexity
Perplexity's answers vary less than some assistants' because they're tied to search results, but they still change with wording and location. Track the same questions over time and compare which sources were cited before and after your changes.
Questions
- Is Perplexity worth the effort for a local business?
- Its audience is smaller than ChatGPT's or Google's, but the work overlaps: the directories, reviews and clear pages that get you cited by Perplexity also help the other AI surfaces. Its citations are also the easiest way to see where AI looks.
- Does Perplexity have ads?
- Perplexity has tested sponsored follow-up questions, labeled as sponsored. There is no paid way to be named in the answer itself.