Is Perplexity AI Indexing Your Site? How to Check in 5 Minutes

You want to know if Perplexity can find and cite your content. The answer isn't always obvious. Here's a concrete 5-step diagnostic workflow.

Step 1: Check Your Server Logs for PerplexityBot

The most direct verification: look for user-agent containing "PerplexityBot" in your access logs.

PerplexityBot user-agent:

Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; PerplexityBot/1.0; +https://perplexity.ai/perplexitybot)

Also check for Perplexity-User (real-time query fetches). Example log line:

192.168.1.1 - - [16/Feb/2026:10:00:00] "GET /blog/post HTTP/1.1" 200 - "Mozilla/5.0 ... PerplexityBot/1.0 ..."

If your hosting doesn't expose raw logs (e.g., Vercel, Netlify), check analytics for perplexity.ai as referrer.

Tip: grep your logs with:

grep -i "perplexitybot\|perplexity-user" access.log

Step 2: Verify Your Robots.txt

Check that you're not blocking Perplexity. Visit yourdomain.com/robots.txt and look for any Disallow rules matching PerplexityBot.

If no PerplexityBot-specific rules exist, check the wildcard (*) rules. Good: no mention = allowed by default.

Bad: User-agent: PerplexityBot / Disallow: / blocks all crawling.

Also verify Perplexity-User isn't blocked. That's the agent used for real-time access during queries.

Step 3: Run Test Queries on Perplexity

Direct verification: go to perplexity.ai and ask about a specific topic your site covers in detail. Ask about your brand name directly.

  • Check the citations at the bottom of the answer
  • Look for your domain in the source URLs
  • If not cited: doesn't necessarily mean not indexed; just not selected for that query
  • Try multiple queries across your topic areas

For more on how Perplexity selects sources, see how Perplexity AI finds sources.

Step 4: Verify Your Bing Index Status

Perplexity uses Bing as a backend. Go to Bing.com and search site:yourdomain.com. Check how many pages are indexed.

Compare with Google: run site:yourdomain.com on Google. Common gap: sites indexed by Google but missing from Bing.

If Bing shows few or no pages: this is likely why Perplexity can't find you. Fix: add your site to Bing Webmaster Tools, submit sitemap, and use ShowUpInAI using IndexNow to push updates.

Step 5: Check PerplexityBot IP Ranges

For advanced verification: Perplexity publishes IP ranges at perplexity.ai/perplexitybot.json. Cross-reference with your server logs.

Useful if you suspect false bot traffic. IP verification confirms legitimate PerplexityBot visits.

Common Issues and Fixes

PerplexityBot visits but I'm not cited

Content may not be relevant enough, too thin, or competing against stronger sources. See our Perplexity AI SEO guide.

No PerplexityBot visits at all

Check robots.txt, ensure Bing indexing. Your site may not be popular enough for scheduled crawling yet.

I was cited before but not anymore

Content may be outdated, competitors published fresher content, or your Bing index dropped.

Perplexity-User visits but not PerplexityBot

Normal for smaller sites. Perplexity fetches on-demand from Bing.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is PerplexityBot the same as Perplexity-User?

No. PerplexityBot is the scheduled crawler. Perplexity-User fetches pages in real-time during user queries.

My site is on Vercel. Can I check PerplexityBot visits?

Vercel doesn't expose raw server logs, but you can check Vercel Analytics for referrals from perplexity.ai.

Will using ShowUpInAI help Perplexity find my site?

Yes, indirectly. ShowUpInAI uses IndexNow to push updates to Bing, and Perplexity uses Bing as a search backend.

Can Perplexity access content behind a paywall?

No. PerplexityBot and Perplexity-User follow standard HTTP authentication. Paywalled content is not crawled.

Automate Your Bing Index Freshness

The most common reason Perplexity can't find you is missing Bing index coverage. ShowUpInAI uses IndexNow to keep your Bing index current, so Perplexity always has access to your latest content.

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