Introduction to Perplexity Discover
Perplexity has a content discovery feed called Discover, which generates content on trending news topics. A post on LinkedIn praised the feed as a positive example of programmatic SEO. However, some predicted that its days in Google’s search results are numbered. Everyone in the discussion believed those pages were one thing, but in reality, they are something else entirely.
What is Perplexity Discover?
Perplexity publishes a Discover feed of trending topics, featuring short summaries and links to web pages containing the full summary plus links to the original news reporting. The page is like a portal to the news of the day. SEOs have noticed that some of those pages are ranking in Google Search, spurring a viral discussion on LinkedIn.
Perplexity Discover and Programmatic SEO
Programmatic SEO is the use of automation to optimize web content and could also apply to scaled content creation. A LinkedIn post calling attention to the Perplexity AI-generated Discover feed cited it as an example of programmatic SEO "on steroids." The post wrote: "For every trending news topic, it automatically creates a public webpage. These pages are now showing up in Google Search results. When clicked, users land on a summary + can ask follow-up questions in the chatbot." One of the comments in that discussion hailed the Perplexity pages as an example of good programmatic SEO, stating that it is a "bold move" and a "smart way to capture attention and traffic."
The Truth About Perplexity Discover
However, contrary to what was said in the LinkedIn discussion, Perplexity is not engaging in "programmatic SEO," nor are they trying to rank in Google. A peek at the source code of any of the Discover pages shows that the title elements and the meta descriptions are not optimized to rank in search engines. Every single page created by Perplexity appears to have the exact same title and meta description elements. Every page contains the same canonical tag, and it’s clear that Perplexity’s Discover pages are not optimized for Google Search and that the pages are not created for search engines. The pages are created for humans.
What is Perplexity Actually Doing?
Perplexity’s Discover pages are examples of something bigger than SEO. They are web pages created for the benefit of users. The fact that no SEO is applied shows that Perplexity is focused on making the Discover pages destinations that users turn to in order to keep in touch with the events of the day. Perplexity Discover is a user-first web destination created with zero SEO, likely because the goals are more ambitious than depending on Google for traffic.
The Surprising SEO Insight
It may well be that a good starting point for creating a website and forming a strategy for promoting it lies outside the SEO sandbox. Promoting a site with strategies focused on building brand name recognition with an audience tends to create the kinds of user behavior signals that we know Google is looking for. SEO limits how you can promote a site with arbitrary rules, but promoting a site with strategies focused on building brand name recognition can create popularity.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Perplexity Discover is not an example of programmatic SEO, but rather a user-first web destination created with zero SEO. The fact that the pages are not optimized for Google Search and are created for humans shows that Perplexity is focused on making the Discover pages a destination for users. This approach can be a good starting point for creating a website and forming a strategy for promoting it, as it focuses on building brand name recognition and creating user behavior signals that Google looks for. By looking beyond the standard SEO framework, we can create a more effective strategy for promoting a site and building popularity.