A LinkedIn post highlighted Perplexity’s content discovery feed, Discover, which generates pages on trending news topics. It was praised as a strong example of programmatic SEO, although some predicted its presence in Google’s search results might be short-lived. However, this common view misses the true nature of these pages. **Context: Perplexity Discover** Perplexity’s Discover feed serves as a portal to current news by providing brief summaries and links to full articles and original reporting. SEO professionals noticed some Discover pages appearing in Google Search, sparking widespread LinkedIn discussion. **Perplexity Discover and Programmatic SEO** Programmatic SEO involves automating web content optimization and scaling content creation, which can be effective but also risky if poorly executed. The LinkedIn post described Perplexity’s AI-powered Discover feed as “programmatic SEO on steroids, ” noting: - Automatic creation of public pages for trending news topics - Pages appearing in Google Search results - Users landing on summaries with options to ask follow-up chatbot questions Participants praised this approach as bold and smart, highlighting the integration of AI and SEO and its potential to capture traffic. Some cautioned about sustainability, warning Google could penalize such pages as thin content. Others felt SEO was a significant part of Perplexity’s growth strategy, praising the pages for providing genuine user value, but some predicted Google might soon restrict this trend. **But There Is No SEO** Contrary to the prevailing opinion, Perplexity’s Discover pages are not engaging in programmatic SEO nor trying to rank in Google.

Examining the page source reveals: - Uniform title tags: `<title>Perplexity</title>` - Identical meta descriptions unrelated to specific content: “Perplexity is a free AI-powered answer engine…” - A canonical tag pointing to the homepage (`https://www. perplexity. ai`) on every page This lack of optimization indicates that Discover pages are not designed for search engines, but solely for human users. Consequently, tests show these pages do not rank in Google Search. If any do appear, it is accidental—not by design. **What Is Perplexity Doing?** Perplexity’s approach transcends SEO. Discover pages are built as user-focused destinations to keep visitors informed on daily events, without optimizing for search rankings. Their zero-SEO strategy suggests more ambitious goals beyond relying on Google for traffic. **A Surprising SEO Insight** This case suggests that building a website and promoting it outside traditional SEO frameworks can be effective. SEO’s narrow focus on rankings and strict rules—such as disregarding nofollow links, low-popularity sites, or offline promotion—may overlook broader promotional activities that foster brand recognition and genuine user engagement. Such activities can generate valuable user signals that align with Google’s ranking criteria. Explore Perplexity Discover at [perplexity. ai/discover](https://perplexity. ai/discover). *Featured Image by Shutterstock/Cast Of Thousands*