{"id":934455,"date":"2026-09-16T07:15:59","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/perplexity-is-betting-big-on-creators\/"},"modified":"2026-09-16T07:15:59","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T12:15:59","slug":"perplexity-is-betting-big-on-creators","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/09\/16\/perplexity-is-betting-big-on-creators\/","title":{"rendered":"Perplexity is betting big on creators"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Krystal Scanlon<\/a> and Seb Joseph<\/a><\/span> \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 September 16, 2026<\/span> \u00a0\u2022<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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<\/p>\n

\n Ivy Liu <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Social networks poured money into TV advertising even though their whole existence was anathema to it. AI platforms are doing the same with creators now, chasing them hard despite being viewed by many as an existential threat to their livelihoods.<\/p>\n

Perplexity is the latest name in that line. The company has spent recent weeks advertising for an exec to run its creator marketing, but the listing is no longer accepting applications. The company has yet to publicly name who landed the role.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Perplexity said the role was a backfill for an existing position, rather than a newly created creator-marketing function. The person previously in the role was moved internally to take on bigger responsibilities, and the position has since been filled. The company said it has partnerships with hundreds of influencers, ranging from niche creators to \u201ccultural juggernauts\u201d including Lewis Hamilton and Joe Rogan.<\/p>\n

The listing read like a typical creator lead role. Someone builds the function from scratch and owns it through execution, campaigns running past 100 creators, budgets in the multi-millions. Contracting and negotiation sit with this person too, covering one-off deals and longer partnerships.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a performance layer bolted onto the usual brief. Perplexity wants creator work tied to conversion, working alongside growth rather than treating impressions as the endpoint. One line stands out: reviewing creator \u201cbuilds\u201d made with Perplexity Computer, checking they\u2019re original and actually showing what the product does.<\/p>\n

The salary runs $175K to $225K. Five years minimum in creator or performance marketing, including time leading or founding that function elsewhere.<\/p>\n

A role like this spinning up isn\u2019t surprising. AI has had an image problem for a while, making people feel empowered one minute and endangered the next. Those perceptions land harder on some companies than others depending on the moment, but they\u2019re pervasive enough now that every major player in the space wants some grip on the story before it runs away from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For instance, Anthropic hired Lexie Barnhorn in March to run influencer marketing across social and podcasts. She came over from Notion. A few months later OpenAI acquired the creator media company Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN). OpenAI took a different route this summer, flying a group of creators out for a lavish trip in New York. That one backfired, doing the brand more damage than good. Different as all these examples are they\u2019re all ultimately trying to get people to understand, and ultimately use, AI products.<\/p>\n

Ben Woods, head of creator economy at Enders Analysis said the size of Perplexity\u2019s planned budget shows the company is serious about creators as a promotional channel. But he said he doesn\u2019t see the move primarily as an attempt to overcome wider concerns about AI safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about getting potential users interested in AI\u2019s usefulness and practical benefits,\u201d Woods said. \u201cEspecially around why a user should adopt one AI tool over another.<\/p>\n

Now more than ever that\u2019s becoming table stakes for AI companies. With so much existential dread hanging over the wider adoption of the technology, companies like Perplexity have to think carefully about how their corporate values come through to people. Creators are one way to do that but only if thought through properly. <\/p>\n

OpenAI\u2019s creator events over the summer are a case in point: efforts to bring creators closer to the company prompted backlash from some who saw the outreach as an attempt to win over people whose livelihoods could ultimately be threatened by AI. It was one example of how quickly creator engagement can become a liability when the wider relationship between AI companies and creators remains so fraught.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost audiences are not afraid to challenge their favourite creators if a partnership feels disingenuous or the messaging becomes too corporate,\u201d Woods said.<\/p>\n

Which is why, especially after what happened with OpenAI, Perplexity needs creators who can demonstrate a credible use for the product, rather than simply endorse it.<\/p>\n

Perplexity did not respond to Digiday\u2019s request for comment.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n

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\n More in Marketing<\/span>
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Read More<\/a>
\n Krystal Scanlon<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Krystal Scanlon and Seb Joseph \u00a0\u2022\u00a0 September 16, 2026 \u00a0\u2022 Ivy Liu Social networks poured money into TV advertising even though their whole existence was anathema to it. AI platforms are doing the same with creators now, chasing them hard despite being viewed by many as an existential threat to their livelihoods. Perplexity is<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":934456,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1922,147215,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-934455","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-betting","category-perplexity","category-technology"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934455","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=934455"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/934455\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/934456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=934455"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=934455"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=934455"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}