A Perplexity executive told the Financial Times that once users see ads, they start doubting all of the answers. The company considers itself to be in the “business of accuracy” and is instead focusing on subscription models priced between $20 and $200 per month. According to the company, Perplexity has more than 100 million users and is valued at $18 billion.

By contrast, OpenAI has only recently introduced advertising in ChatGPT, while Google also displays ads in its AI mode. Anthropic has likewise chosen to avoid advertising in its chatbot Claude and explicitly highlighted that stance during the U.S. Super Bowl.

The timing of Perplexity’s announcement can therefore also be seen as a marketing move — something the company has done before, such as when it publicly offered to acquire TikTok and Chrome.