Mozilla has officially added Perplexity AI as a built-in search engine option in the desktop version of Firefox, marking another small but steady move toward AI-driven search interfaces.
- Firefox users can now select Perplexity AI from the address bar search dropdown.
- The feature follows testing earlier this year and is now available on all desktop builds.
- Queries are sent to Perplexity's answer engine.
This is the first time a mainstream browser has bundled an AI answer engine alongside traditional search engines. For SEOs, the implications are murky: visibility will depend on whether your content is cited inside an AI summary, not only where it ranks in search results and does it even matter?
Context
Mozilla's move follows Perplexity's somewhat muted but growing visibility in tech circles and its recent default into the Comet browser. Earlier, Google declined to list Perplexity as a default option in Chrome. This clearly prompted Mozilla to take the opposite approach.
Perplexity, valued near $18 billion, is funded by major tech investors and experimenting with sponsored question ads rather than display formats.
Bottom Line
Firefox's inclusion of Perplexity brings AI answer engines one step closer to the mainstream. For publishers and SEOs, the goal is shifting: not just ranking - but being referenced.
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As the CEO and founder of Pubcon and WebmasterWorld., Brett Tabke has been instrumental in shaping the landscape of online marketing and search engine optimization. His journey in the computer industry has spanned over three decades and has made him a pioneering force behind digital evolution. Full Bio
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