Perplexity to pay Snap $400M to power search in Snapchat | TechCrunch

Perplexity's decision to pay Snap $400 million to power search in Snapchat marks a significant investment in integrating AI-powered search capabilities into social media platforms. This deal highlights the growing importance of AI-driven search functionality in popular apps, potentially changing how users interact with online content. For website owners, this means that AI-powered chatbots and search engines will increasingly influence how users find and engage with their websites. As Perplexity's technology is integrated into Snapchat, website owners may see changes in referral traffic patterns, with more users potentially arriving from chatbot-driven searches. This shift could also lead to new opportunities for website owners to optimize their content for AI-powered search engines, potentially increasing their online visibility. To adapt to this changing landscape, website owners can take several actionable steps: (1) monitor their website's traffic patterns closely to identify any changes in referral traffic from Snapchat or other platforms integrating AI-powered search; (2) review and optimize their website's content to ensure it is easily discoverable by AI-driven search engines like Perplexity; and (3) consider updating their llms.txt files to reflect any changes in their website's content or structure, ensuring that AI bots can efficiently crawl and index their site.