What makes Perplexity cite certain sources? Trying to understand the selection criteria

Sophia, I’ve studied Perplexity’s selection extensively. It’s fundamentally different from Google.

The four core evaluation criteria:

Why your observations make sense:

1. Competitor with lower DA gets cited more:

   • They probably answer questions more directly
   • Or have clearer content structure
   • DA matters less than content quality

2. Newer content outperforms evergreen:

   • Recency is a major factor
   • Update your evergreen content with fresh dates
   • Add recent examples/data

The fundamental difference:

Google asks: “Which page deserves to rank highest?” Perplexity asks: “Which sources can I cite to answer this question?”

Different questions, different selection criteria.

Structured data makes a massive difference for Perplexity.

Why schema markup helps:

Perplexity’s system needs to:

1. Understand your content type
2. Extract key information
3. Cite specific facts

Schema makes this explicit rather than inferred.

High-impact schema types:

Implementation example:

{
  "@type": "FAQPage",
  "mainEntity": [{
    "@type": "Question",
    "name": "How does Perplexity select sources?",
    "acceptedAnswer": {
      "@type": "Answer",
      "text": "Perplexity evaluates sources based on..."
    }
  }]
}

Our results:

Pages with FAQPage schema: 3.4x more Perplexity citations than equivalent pages without.

“Clarity” is the most underestimated factor.

What makes content extractable:

Good for Perplexity:

• “The average processing time is 3.2 milliseconds.”
• “There are three main steps: First… Second… Third…”
• Tables with structured data
• Bullet points with specific facts

Bad for Perplexity:

• “Experts generally agree that performance varies…”
• Dense paragraphs with buried insights
• Vague claims without specifics
• Context-dependent statements

The extraction test:

Ask yourself: “Can someone quote a specific fact from this paragraph?”

If yes = extractable = citable If no = vague = skipped

Practical transformation:

Before: “Our platform helps businesses improve their marketing performance through various advanced features.”

After: “Our platform increases email open rates by an average of 34% through AI-powered subject line optimization.”

The second version is quotable. That’s what Perplexity can cite.

Relevance is about matching query intent exactly.

How Perplexity understands queries:

Not just keywords - semantic intent:

The match problem:

Your article might cover CRM generally, but if someone asks specifically about “CRM for healthcare startups,” Perplexity looks for content that addresses that exact combination.

Content strategy:

1. Research actual queries - What do people ask?
2. Create targeted content - Answer specific questions
3. Use natural language - Match how people ask

Competitive advantage:

While competitors write broad content, create specific pages:

• “Best CRM for Healthcare Startups in 2025”
• “CRM Pricing Comparison: Salesforce vs HubSpot vs Pipedrive”

These match query intent exactly.

Technical requirements people forget:

PerplexityBot access:

Check your robots.txt:

User-agent: PerplexityBot
Allow: /

Blocking PerplexityBot = zero citations.

Content accessibility:

• JavaScript-rendered content may not be seen
• Server-side render key content
• Test with disabled JavaScript

Speed factors:

Perplexity has retrieval timeouts. Slow pages may not be fully indexed.

Our audit checklist:

Analyze competitors who get cited more:

What to look for:

1. Content structure - How do they format answers?
2. Specificity - Do they include specific data?
3. Freshness - How recent is their content?
4. Author credentials - Do they showcase expertise?
5. Schema markup - View source, check for structured data

Our competitive analysis:

Competitor getting 5x our Perplexity citations:

• Every article has author bio with credentials
• FAQPage schema on all relevant content
• Statistics with specific numbers
• Updated within last 90 days
• Clear heading structure (H2s answer specific questions)

What we changed:

Implemented all five elements. Results after 60 days:

• Perplexity citations up 320%
• Citation position improved (earlier in answers)
• Share of voice increased vs competitor

Third-party presence affects Perplexity credibility:

Where to build presence:

The indirect effect:

You might not get direct citations from Reddit, but:

1. Perplexity sees you mentioned on Reddit
2. This builds brand credibility profile
3. Your main site becomes more trustworthy
4. More likely to be cited

Strategy:

Don’t just optimize your site. Build presence across the web where Perplexity looks for authority signals.

How to track what’s actually working:

Manual testing:

1. Ask Perplexity questions your content should answer
2. Note which sources get cited
3. Compare your content structure to cited sources
4. Iterate and test again

Automated monitoring:

Tools like Am I Cited can:

• Track citation frequency over time
• Alert when you’re cited (or when you drop)
• Compare against competitors
• Identify which content performs best

Key metrics:

The feedback loop:

Monitor → Identify patterns → Optimize → Monitor again

Without measurement, you’re optimizing blind.

This thread completely changed my optimization approach. Here’s my new strategy:

The four pillars (from Perplexity’s perspective):

1. Credibility

   • Add expert author bios to all articles
   • Include credentials and affiliations
   • Cite sources within our content

2. Recency

   • Update top content quarterly
   • Add new data/examples
   • Refresh publication dates (with real updates)

3. Relevance

   • Research actual user queries
   • Create content for specific questions
   • Match natural language patterns

4. Clarity

   • Structure for extraction
   • Lead with direct answers
   • Use specific data, not vague claims

Technical checklist:

• PerplexityBot allowed in robots.txt
• FAQPage schema on Q&A content
• HowTo schema on tutorials
• Author schema with credentials
• Page speed optimized

Content audit priorities:

1. Identify highest-potential articles
2. Restructure for clarity and extraction
3. Add specific data points
4. Update with fresh information
5. Implement schema markup

Monitoring plan:

• Set up Am I Cited tracking
• Weekly competitive analysis
• Monthly optimization reviews
• Quarterly strategy adjustments

The mindset shift:

Stop thinking about rankings. Start thinking about citations. Perplexity wants to answer questions - make your content the obvious source to cite.

Thanks everyone for the actionable insights.