Snap announces AI search powered by $400 million Perplexity deal, and its stock price soars

Snap's partnership with Perplexity to bring AI-powered search to its platform, fueled by a $400 million deal, marks a significant investment in enhancing user experience. This integration is expected to revolutionize how users interact with Snapchat, providing more accurate and contextual search results. For website owners, this development means that AI-driven traffic patterns may shift, as users increasingly rely on AI-powered search features within social media platforms like Snapchat. As a result, website owners may see changes in referral traffic from social media, potentially impacting their content's discoverability and engagement metrics. This could also lead to a greater emphasis on optimizing content for AI-driven search algorithms, rather than traditional search engines. To adapt to these changes, website owners can take several actionable steps: first, monitor their website's traffic patterns closely to identify any shifts in referral traffic from social media platforms. Second, review and optimize their content to better align with AI-powered search algorithms, which may prioritize contextual relevance and user intent. Lastly, update their llms.txt files to reflect any changes in AI bot traffic, ensuring that their website's content is properly indexed and accessible to AI-powered search features.