Perplexity Pauses New Ad Deals: What B2B Marketers Do Now

Perplexity just sent a clear signal to the market: advertising is not the priority—at least not right now. If you’re a B2B marketer treating AI search platforms as the next “must-buy” channel, this matters because it changes your near-term options and your long-term strategy.

This also matters because answer engines don’t behave like traditional search or social. You can’t assume that a new surface will reliably open up scalable paid inventory on your timeline. When a platform pauses deals, it’s a reminder that your best leverage is still what you control: your content, your distribution, and how often your brand becomes the answer.

The news: Perplexity pauses new ad deals and pulls back on ads

Two verified developments are driving the conversation.

First: Perplexity has paused new advertising deals. The announcement is captured in the headline: **“Perplexity Pauses New Advertising Deals to Reassess Ambitions”** (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement).

Second: Perplexity is now less focused on advertising. That shift is reflected in the headline: **“Why Perplexity is now less focused on advertising, and what’s next for the AI search platform”** (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement).

You don’t need to read between the lines: one of the most talked-about AI search platforms is explicitly stepping back from signing new ad deals and is explicitly de-emphasizing advertising.

What this means for B2B marketers (especially media buyers)

1) Treat “answer engine ads” as optional, not foundational

If Perplexity is pausing new advertising deals and becoming less focused on advertising (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement), then paid media in Perplexity should not be a cornerstone of your pipeline plan.

That doesn’t mean Perplexity stops being important. It means you should separate two things:

• **Perplexity as a discovery and influence surface** (still relevant)
• **Perplexity as a scalable paid channel** (now uncertain in the near term)

For media buyers, the practical implication is simple: don’t build a quarter around inventory that may not be available.

2) Your AEO strategy can’t depend on any one platform’s business model

Perplexity’s shift is a useful reminder: answer engines can change direction quickly. Today it’s Perplexity pausing ad deals; tomorrow it could be a different platform changing formats or priorities.

So your defensible strategy is to invest in what survives platform swings: becoming consistently cited, referenced, and selected as the answer.

This is where Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) matters across the board—whether the user is in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, or Meta AI. The paid layer may come and go. The “who gets recommended” layer is always on.

3) Expect more scrutiny around “how” brands show up in answers

When a platform is less focused on advertising (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement), it implicitly puts more weight on non-paid mechanisms: relevance, usefulness, and the sources the system chooses to rely on.

For B2B, that’s a big deal because your buyers are often asking high-intent questions that don’t look like keyword lists. They look like:

• “What’s the best [category] for [use case]?”
• “How do I compare [vendor A] vs [vendor B]?”
• “What should I ask in an RFP for [category]?”

If you’re not producing content that directly answers those questions, you’re leaving your visibility up to competitors and third-party sites.

Action items: what to do right now

1) Rebalance your plan: shift from “buying presence” to “earning presence”

Because Perplexity has paused new advertising deals and is less focused on advertising (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement), assume paid access is constrained.

Do this now:

• Reduce dependency on Perplexity-specific paid plans in your media roadmap.
• Move that effort into content and distribution work designed to win citations and mentions across answer engines.

2) Build an “answer-first” content backlog for your category

If you want to show up in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI, you need content that is structured around questions and decision tasks.

Do this now:

• List 25–50 questions your buyers ask in evaluation (not awareness).
• Prioritize the ones that map to revenue moments: comparisons, requirements, implementation, pricing models, security, integration, ROI.
• Create pages that answer each question directly, with clear sections and plain language.

This is not about writing more. It’s about writing the right things in a format answer engines can lift.

3) Put third-party validation at the center of your visibility plan

If a platform is stepping back from ads (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement), your credibility signals matter more than your creative.

Do this now:

• Identify the publications, communities, and analyst-style sources your buyers trust.
• Pitch data-backed perspectives and category guidance, not product announcements.
• Build a calendar for thought leadership that is designed to be referenced.

You’re trying to become the source that answer engines and people both rely on.

4) Create a measurement plan that doesn’t rely on “ad platform reporting”

When advertising availability changes, reporting can change with it.

Do this now:

• Track brand search lift and direct traffic trends alongside lead quality.
• Add “where did you hear about us?” fields that include answer engines (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, Meta AI).
• Monitor which pages are driving assisted conversions and sales conversations.

The goal is to prove influence even when you can’t “buy” the placement.

Bottom line

Perplexity pausing new advertising deals—and being less focused on advertising—means you shouldn’t treat Perplexity as a dependable paid channel right now (Google News: Perplexity Ads, official announcement). Double down on AEO: build answer-first content and third-party credibility so you earn visibility across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Brave, and Meta AI regardless of any single platform’s ad strategy.