Perplexity AI operates as a Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) system. Unlike ChatGPT which relies mostly on offline weights (or Bing indexes for search), Perplexity performs multi-step live queries, scrapes relevant websites, and compiles a comprehensive citation report.
The Scraping Lifecycle of PerplexityBot
When a user triggers a Perplexity search:
1. The engine rewrites the user query into search terms.
2. It fetches organic index listings from Bing and Google.
3. PerplexityBot crawls the top 10-20 landing pages.
4. An LLM parses the crawled page contents to synthesize the answer.
Make your content scannable. Using logical headings, summary paragraphs, and bullet points ensures PerplexityBot reads your core specs correctly.