Perplexity claims that ads will be introduced as “related questions” this quarter, but it seems that affiliate links are already being used secretly in their results. With this potential bias to affiliate partners and brands, LLMs like Perplexity could lose their objectivity and lose trust amongst its users.
In the examples shown in the slides, UTM tracking parameters are visible in links and embedded in ad-style callout boxes. These boxes only appear if an affiliate link is present, and were found for both marketplaces like Amazon and Best Buy and directly with brands such as Garmin or Tag Heuer. This blurs the line between organic and paid ecosystems, heavily promoting traffic where Perplexity could profit. A practice other companies have done with potential legal repercussions.
## What the Data Shows
I conducted a small study on a few hundred commercial keywords and that data shows a clear marketplace bias.
Key findings on Perplexity study:
- 89% of commercial queries contain a link to a marketplace such as Amazon or Best Buy in the cited sources
- Approximately, 18% of these marketplace links are ad-style call out boxes with UTM tracking (possible affiliate links)
- Amazon was the most cited domain, with links appearing in 77% of the answers
- Marketplace links accounted for 25% of all citations.
## What could be the reason?
As LLMs like Perplexity scale up with large funding, they might need to show consistent revenue growth, driving them to integrate affiliate links. This blurring of organic and paid content could raise concerns, particularly in the US and Europe.
## Search’s Unfair Advantage
Traditional search engines have spent decades refining user bases, optimizing results, and perfecting ad models. They differentiate paid and organic results which at least creates the perception of objectivity. But this remains a massive challenge for LLMs. They need to remain objective to keep their users happy so they keep coming back, while building a complementary and innovative ad model. This won’t be easy to achieve.
## Future of ads in LLMs
Currently, Perplexity has the most advanced RAG of the main LLM players and their results seem to attract many users. But is the current implementation – potentially biased affiliate links without any mention of being sponsored – really the best, or even the only way forward?
Sooner rather than later we will see if ad models will work in LLM generated search results or if the user may refuse this blending of organic and paid results. I will continue to study how LLMs will leverage search and keep you updated.
llm perplexity rag
This post was originally shared by Marcus Tober on Linkedin.