Whether you love or hate AI, one thing is for sure: the AI search wars have ignited a new era of innovation. In just the past few months, we’ve seen Microsoft introduce Bing Generative Search, Google introduce AI Overviews, OpenAI introduce SearchGPT, and now… drumroll please… Perplexity AI has added “Buy with Pro,” where Pro subscribers ($20/month in the U.S.) can buy products directly from Perplexity’s search results. Saved billing and shipping info handles the details, and free shipping sweetens the deal. If the product isn’t supported, you’ll get kicked to the merchant’s website. (Wait. What? Is this like link-based search?)
Perplexity says they’re not taking a cut from sales… yet. Spokesperson Sara Platnick confirmed (“There’s no commercial element”), but it’s hard to ignore where this might be heading.
For non-subscribers, Perplexity has spruced up its search results with AI-generated product cards. Think images, prices, and cherry-picked reviews, all bundled to make you click faster.
They’ve also added “Snap to Shop,” a Pro-only feature that lets you snap a pic of a product and get instant intel; think Google Lens (but with a subscription fee).
For merchants, Perplexity’s new seller program promises insights into shopping trends and more product recommendations in searches. Translation: pay up and maybe we’ll show your stuff (aka “pay for play”). Ugh!
Just when I was about to give up on Perplexity (SearchGPT is my default search tool this week)… but credit where credit is due. We haven’t seen this much innovation in search since Google introduced Universal Search in 2007. Anyone taking bets on what’s next?
Author’s note: This is not a sponsored post. I am the author of this article and it expresses my own opinions. I am not, nor is my company, receiving compensation for it. This work was created with the assistance of various generative AI models.