Perplexity Pauses New Ad Deals: What B2B Marketers Do Now

Perplexity has been one of the most closely watched “answer engines” for marketers because it sits at the intersection of AI responses and search intent. When a platform like that adjusts its advertising posture, it’s not a small product tweak—it changes how (and whether) you can buy visibility inside the answer experience.

This matters now because B2B media plans are already being forced to adapt to answer-first experiences across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI. If one of the few AI-native platforms experimenting with ads hits pause, you need to treat it as a signal: the ad layer in answer engines is still volatile, and your plan can’t depend on it.

What happened: Perplexity hit pause on new ad deals

According to coverage surfaced via Google News under “Perplexity Ads,” Perplexity has “paused new advertising deals” in order to “reassess ambitions.” The headline language is explicit: “Perplexity Pauses New Advertising Deals to Reassess Ambitions.”

In separate coverage also surfaced via Google News, the shift is framed as strategic: “Why Perplexity is now less focused on advertising, and what’s next for the AI search platform.”

Taken together, the reported changes you should care about are:

• Perplexity paused new advertising deals (a change in advertising availability).
• Perplexity is now less focused on advertising (a shift in strategic emphasis away from ads).

That combination is the key point for B2B marketers: even if you’ve been exploring Perplexity as a new channel, the platform is signaling that advertising is not currently the primary growth lever—or at least not the one it wants to scale aggressively right now.

What this means for B2B marketers and media buyers

1) Treat answer-engine ads as “optional upside,” not the foundation

The immediate implication of “paused new advertising deals” is simple: you may not be able to expand (or even start) a new Perplexity ad relationship on your timeline. If your 2026 plan assumed Perplexity would be a reliable incremental channel, you now have execution risk.

More importantly, the second claim—Perplexity being “less focused on advertising”—suggests that availability and priority could remain fluid. For B2B teams, that’s a reminder to build durable visibility through what answer engines cite and summarize, not only what they sell.

2) Your AEO program becomes the hedge against channel volatility

When a platform de-emphasizes advertising, organic presence inside answers becomes proportionally more important. Across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI, the common thread is that answers are assembled from sources the systems deem credible.

If Perplexity is stepping back from ads, the competitive battleground shifts toward: being referenced, being quotable, and being easy to extract into a correct answer. For B2B, that’s AEO fundamentals—clear product definitions, tight positioning language, and proof points that can be pulled into an answer without ambiguity.

3) Budget pressure will move to other “certainty” channels

If Perplexity ad inventory is harder to access due to a pause in new deals, budget that was earmarked for experimentation will likely flow back into channels with predictable buying mechanics (search, paid social, sponsorships, programmatic). That can raise auction pressure elsewhere.

The practical takeaway: you should be ready to justify spend based on outcomes you can measure—and build an AEO layer that improves performance even when you’re buying traditional media (because your landing pages and content will be the same assets answer engines evaluate).

4) Vendor and platform risk just increased—update your testing framework

Perplexity’s reported shift (“reassess ambitions” and “less focused on advertising”) is exactly why answer-engine advertising tests need a different governance model than mature channels. You’re not just testing creative and targeting—you’re testing platform direction.

If you’re a B2B media buyer, the risk isn’t only “did the ads work?” It’s also “will this buying surface exist in the same way next quarter?”

Action items: what to do right now

1) **Audit your 2026 plan for Perplexity dependency**

• If you planned to launch or expand Perplexity advertising, mark it as at-risk based on the reported “paused new advertising deals” and the platform being “less focused on advertising.”
• Reallocate a portion of that budget to efforts that improve performance across multiple answer engines (content updates, proof-point pages, comparison pages).

2) **Shift experimentation from “ad units” to “answer presence”**

• Build a short list of 10–20 high-intent questions your buyers ask (pricing, implementation, integrations, alternatives).
• Create or update pages that answer each question in clean, extractable language (one question per page where possible).
• The goal is to earn inclusion in answers from ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI—regardless of ad availability.

3) **Strengthen the pages answer engines pull from**

• Tighten your “what it is / who it’s for / how it works” sections so an answer engine can summarize you correctly.
• Add clear, specific claims you can stand behind (avoid vague superlatives). If you can’t verify a statement internally, don’t publish it.
• Make your comparison and “alternatives” pages genuinely helpful—these are commonly queried in answer-first experiences.

4) **Create an AEO measurement baseline before the next platform swing**

• Track branded and non-branded question visibility across the answer engines you care about (at minimum: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, Meta AI).
• Record whether your brand is mentioned, whether you’re cited, and whether the answer is correct about you.
• This gives you a way to prove progress even when ad opportunities change.

5) **If you were already in Perplexity ad conversations, get clarity fast**

• Ask directly whether your deal is considered “new” under the reported pause, and what timelines look like.
• Confirm what success metrics will be available and what the platform can commit to during this reassessment period.

Bottom line

Perplexity reportedly paused new advertising deals and is now less focused on advertising, which makes answer-engine ad buying less predictable. For B2B marketers, the smart move is to hedge with AEO: build answer-ready content that earns visibility across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI—whether ads are available or not.