Perplexity shows a product card in only 5% of shopping answers, against 64.4% for Google AI Mode and 28.5% for ChatGPT, and it showed no ads at all in AEOsome's four-engine study of 5,583 shopping questions. What it does instead is cite: about 10 sources per answer, led by editorial and review sites. Below are 36 numbered statistics on Perplexity shopping: launches, checkout, product cards, cited sources, buyer queries and the Amazon case. Each one comes from Perplexity, PayPal, a court record or an original study, and all sources were read on 3 November 2026.
What are the key takeaways?
- Shopping is free for every US user. Perplexity opened shopping to all US users on 25 November 2025, with PayPal checkout and the merchant as merchant of record.
- Product cards are rare. AEOsome found cards in 5.0% of Perplexity shopping answers, the lowest of four engines, and no ads at all.
- Perplexity is a citation engine first. It cited 10.2 sources per answer and almost never answered without one (0.1%).
- Review sites win the shortlist. In LLM Authority Index's data, review sources were 55.3% of citations when Perplexity ranked options; company sites were 54.1% when it evaluated one brand.
- Engines barely agree. Perplexity's product cards overlapped with ChatGPT's at a Jaccard score of 0.08.
- Agentic shopping is legal ground being tested. The Ninth Circuit vacated Amazon's injunction against Perplexity's Comet agent on 4 August 2026.
What has Perplexity launched for shopping?
Perplexity launched shopping for US Pro subscribers on 18 November 2024 with one-click Buy with Pro checkout, Snap to Shop visual search and a free merchant program. On 25 November 2025 it made shopping free for all US users and added PayPal Instant Buy, where the merchant stays merchant of record.
- Buy with Pro gave US Pro subscribers one-click checkout with free shipping on every Buy with Pro order. Other products redirect to the merchant's site. Source: Perplexity, "Shop like a Pro", 18 November 2024.
- Product cards are not sponsored, Perplexity said at launch. Source: Perplexity, 18 November 2024.
- The product index runs on a Shopify integration covering Shopify businesses that ship to the US. Source: Perplexity, 18 November 2024.
- The Perplexity Merchant Program is free. Members get a higher chance of being recommended, payment integration, free API access and a custom dashboard. Source: Perplexity, 18 November 2024.
- Shopping became free for all US users on 25 November 2025, first on desktop and web, with iOS and Android to follow. Source: Perplexity, "Shopping that puts you first", 25 November 2025.
- Instant Buy launched with merchants including Abercrombie & Fitch, Ashley Furniture, Fabletics, Adorama and Newegg. Source: PayPal, "PayPal and Perplexity Launch Instant Buy", 25 November 2025.
- The launch offer was 50% back, up to $50, on a first Instant Buy purchase, from 25 November to 1 December 2025. Source: PayPal, 25 November 2025.
- Perplexity answers more than 150 million questions a week, according to the joint launch release. Source: PayPal, 25 November 2025.
| Date | Milestone | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 18 Nov 2024 | Buy with Pro, Snap to Shop and the free Merchant Program for US Pro users | Perplexity |
| 2025 | Comet browser released | Ninth Circuit |
| Nov 2025 | Amazon sues Perplexity over the Comet agent | Ninth Circuit |
| 25 Nov 2025 | Free shopping for all US users; PayPal Instant Buy | Perplexity |
| Mar 2026 | District court grants Amazon a preliminary injunction | Ninth Circuit |
| 4 Aug 2026 | Ninth Circuit vacates the injunction and remands | Ninth Circuit |
How often does Perplexity show product cards?
Rarely. AEOsome asked 5,583 shopping questions on four engines in May 2026 and found product cards in 5.0% of Perplexity answers, against 64.4% for Google AI Mode, 44.5% for Copilot and 28.5% for ChatGPT. When Perplexity did show a card, it listed 6.6 products on average.
- 5.0% of Perplexity shopping answers had a product card. Google AI Mode had 64.4%, Copilot 44.5% and ChatGPT 28.5%. Source: AEOsome, "AI Shopping Visibility Study 2026, chapter 2", 11 October 2026.
- Card answers listed 6.6 products on average (median 7). Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- 0.0% of Perplexity shopping answers carried an ad. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Every Perplexity card showed a price; the median was $169. Only 17.0% showed a rating, and 83.0% showed zero reviews. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- 99.3% of card links pointed to Shopify-style store URLs, and 8.6% of card slots were on non-US domains. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
| Engine | Shopping answers with a product card |
|---|---|
| Google AI Mode | 64.4% |
| Copilot | 44.5% |
| ChatGPT | 28.5% |
| Perplexity | 5.0% |
Source for the table: AEOsome, 11 October 2026. For ChatGPT's own shopping numbers, see our ChatGPT shopping statistics; for Google, see Google AI Mode statistics.
Which brands and merchants win Perplexity product cards?
A few brands take most card slots, while merchants are spread thin. In AEOsome's data, 128 brands appeared in Perplexity cards and the top 10 held 63.8% of slots. Merchants were the opposite: 823 distinct stores, with the largest, Electroeshop, at 5% and the top three at 9.4%.
- 128 distinct brands appeared in Perplexity product cards; the top 10 held 63.8% of slots. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- 823 distinct merchants appeared in cards. The top merchant, Electroeshop, held 5% and the top three held 9.4%. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Perplexity was HP's largest engine for card slots, at 36.3% of HP's total, and Samsung had 224 Perplexity card slots. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Perplexity's product cards overlapped with ChatGPT's at a Jaccard score of 0.08. When Perplexity showed a card, Google AI Mode also showed one 95.3% of the time. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
What sources does Perplexity cite for shopping questions?
Perplexity cites more than other engines and leans on editorial and review sites. AEOsome counted 10.2 sources per shopping answer, 44.0% of them editorial. Hasmord found review sites or media in 98% of Perplexity shopping answers and a brand's own site in 53%. Amazon.com made up 0.0% of Perplexity's sources.
- 10.2 sources and 8.7 distinct domains per shopping answer; only 0.1% of answers cited nothing. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Editorial sites were 44.0% of sources, retail 19.3%, community 18.9%, marketplaces 4.7% and brand-owned sites 3.7%. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- YouTube was 8.4% of sources, Reddit 7.4% and amazon.com 0.0%. Perplexity cited Reddit in 44.7% of shopping answers. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Perplexity accounted for 75% of all nytimes.com citations across the four engines, 61% of alibaba.com's and 51% of cnet.com's. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Review sites or media appeared in 98% of Perplexity shopping answers, a brand's own site in 53% and a retailer in 32%, with a median of 9 sources. Source: Hasmord, "Who ChatGPT and Perplexity cite for shopping questions", 17 October 2026.
- Perplexity's most-cited shopping sites were nytimes.com, cnn.com, goodhousekeeping.com, forbes.com and rtings.com in Hasmord's 60-question run through the Sonar API. Source: Hasmord, 17 October 2026.
- Only 13% of the sites Perplexity cited were also cited by Google's AI Overview for the same question. Source: Hasmord, 17 October 2026.
| Source type | Share of Perplexity shopping answers citing it (Hasmord) |
|---|---|
| Review site or media | 98% |
| Brand site | 53% |
| Retailer | 32% |
| Professional or institution | 23% |
| Forum or social | 8% |
| Independent blog | 3% |
| Video (YouTube) | 0% |
The two studies differ on Reddit and YouTube. Hasmord queried the Sonar API once per question; AEOsome collected 22,335 answers across four engines. Track your own prompts rather than assuming one study's mix. Our Reddit AI citation statistics cover Reddit's share across engines.
Does Perplexity cite review sites or brand sites when buyers compare?
Both, at different stages. LLM Authority Index analysed 7,662 Perplexity Sonar citations across 150 buying scenarios. When Perplexity ranked the best options, review sources were 55.3% of citations and company sources 21.4%. When it evaluated one company in detail, company sources rose to 54.1%.
- Review sources were 55.3% of ranking-stage citations; company sources were 21.4%. Source: LLM Authority Index, "What Sources Does Perplexity Cite for High-Intent Buying Questions?", updated 21 September 2026.
- Company sources were 54.1% of fit-stage citations, when Perplexity evaluated a single company against a buyer's need. Source: LLM Authority Index, 21 September 2026.
- 16.1 citations and 8.7 recommendations per ranking answer across 150 responses. Source: LLM Authority Index, 21 September 2026.
- The top 10 domains took 19.5% of Perplexity's citations. ConsumerAffairs, the broadest source, appeared in 37 of 150 scenarios. Source: LLM Authority Index, 21 September 2026.
- Company-owned citation share ranged from 40.2% in credit repair to 80.5% in stairlifts. Source: LLM Authority Index, 21 September 2026.
- Perplexity's cited domains overlapped with OpenAI's by 10.9% per prompt on average. Source: LLM Authority Index, 21 September 2026.
How does Perplexity search and answer a shopping question?
Perplexity rewrites most shopping questions into shorter searches, often adding "best". AEOsome counted 1.35 sub-queries per answer, with 18.7% containing "best". The median answer ran 377 words, 61.0% ended with a clarifying question, and only 5.3% named a single pick.
- 1.35 sub-queries per answer; only 15.4% matched the question word for word, and the median sub-query was 31.8% of the question's length. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- 18.7% of sub-queries contained "best" and 13.2% contained "vs". For budget-framed questions, 53.8% of searches added "best". Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- 4.9 related-query suggestions per answer; of 27,600 suggestions, 16.1% contained "best", 12.5% "how" and 10.4% "vs". Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
- Median answer length was 377 words. 61.0% asked a clarifying question, 20.7% named a retailer, 14.4% quoted a price and 5.3% gave a single pick. Source: AEOsome, 11 October 2026.
What did the courts decide about Perplexity's Comet shopping agent?
The Ninth Circuit vacated Amazon's preliminary injunction against Perplexity's Comet agent on 4 August 2026 and sent the case back. It held Amazon was unlikely to win its computer-fraud claims because the user, not Perplexity, accessed Amazon with the agent's help. The case now returns to the district court.
- Amazon sued in November 2025; a district court granted a preliminary injunction in March 2026; the Ninth Circuit vacated it on 4 August 2026. Source: Ninth Circuit, Amazon.com Services v. Perplexity AI, No. 26-1444, 4 August 2026.
- Comet's agent sends screenshots of the user's browser to Perplexity's servers and gets back navigation instructions. The dispute centred on Perplexity not using a user-agent string that would let Amazon block the agent. Source: Ninth Circuit, 4 August 2026.
Where does Mentionova fit, and where does it not?
Mentionova tracks whether Perplexity names and cites your brand for the questions buyers ask. It runs your prompts on a weekly, two-weekly or monthly schedule or on demand, and logs whether you were named, whether your domain was cited, your position, the sentiment and every source used.
What it does well:
- Answers "why isn't my brand in Perplexity?" You see which competitors were named and which review sites and pages were cited instead of you.
- Shows how to track AI visibility across engines. Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Reddit are covered, which matters when card overlap between engines is as low as 0.08.
- Explains why AI cites competitors by listing the sources each rival was cited from.
Where it does not fit: Mentionova does not manage Perplexity merchant listings, product feeds or checkout. Those run through Perplexity's merchant program and partners.
Pricing, checked on 3 November 2026: Starter is $99 a month billed annually ($125 monthly) with 25 tracked prompts and three engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google). Scale is $320 a month billed annually ($400 monthly) with 100 prompts and all six engines. Every paid plan starts with a free trial, no card. See pricing.
Where does each number come from?
- Perplexity: 18 November 2024, 25 November 2025.
- PayPal: 25 November 2025.
- US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit: No. 26-1444, 4 August 2026.
- AEOsome: 5,583 questions, four engines, US, 5 to 14 May 2026, 22,335 answers (study).
- Hasmord: 60 shopping questions, one run on 17 October 2026 (study).
- LLM Authority Index: 150 buying scenarios, 10 categories, 27 July to 9 September 2026 (study).
What do people ask about Perplexity shopping?
Is Perplexity shopping free?
Yes. Since 25 November 2025, shopping on Perplexity has been free for all US users, with checkout through PayPal. The earlier Buy with Pro checkout, launched in November 2024, was limited to US Pro subscribers.
Does Perplexity show sponsored products?
Perplexity said at launch that its product cards are not sponsored. In AEOsome's May 2026 study of 5,583 shopping questions, 0.0% of Perplexity answers carried an ad.
Who is the merchant of record when I buy on Perplexity?
The merchant is. Perplexity says purchases made through its PayPal checkout keep the retailer as merchant of record. Checkout itself runs through PayPal.
How do I get my products into Perplexity shopping?
Perplexity's product index runs on a Shopify integration for Shopify stores that ship to the US, and large retailers can join the free Merchant Program. Beyond cards, Perplexity cites about 10 sources per answer, so coverage on review sites matters as much as listings.
Why does Perplexity recommend my competitors and not me?
Usually because review and editorial sites it cites list them and not you. Review sources were 55.3% of Perplexity's citations when it ranked options. Check which pages it cites for your buying questions and get onto them.
Does Perplexity cite Amazon for product questions?
Almost never in AEOsome's data: amazon.com was 0.0% of Perplexity's shopping sources. Amazon also sued Perplexity over its Comet agent; the Ninth Circuit vacated the injunction on 4 August 2026.
How do I track my brand's visibility in Perplexity?
Run your buyers' questions on Perplexity on a schedule and log whether it names you, cites your domain and who it names instead. Mentionova does this on Perplexity and five other engines, with a free trial and no card. Our Perplexity statistics cover usage.
Find out whether Perplexity recommends your brand. Start a free trial, no card.