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On November 5, 2025, Snap and Perplexity announced a partnership that puts conversational search directly inside Snapchat, fundamentally altering how social platforms monetize artificial intelligence.
How It Works
Starting early 2026, Snapchat's 943 million users will find Perplexity in their chat interface. Ask a question, get sourced answers—no app switching required. The answer engine operates alongside My AI, Snap's existing chatbot, giving users two distinct ways to interact with AI within the same environment.
Who Benefits
Snap gains $400 million in combined cash and equity while diversifying beyond advertising.
Perplexity secures access to a mobile-native audience that skews 13-34 years old across 25+ countries.
Users get real-time answers with citations embedded in a platform they already use daily.
How the Business Model Changed
Traditional integrations see platforms licensing AI capabilities and absorbing costs. Snap reversed this. AI companies now pay for distribution to Snap's audience, treating the platform like premium ad inventory. Perplexity isn't just adding functionality—it's buying a channel and instant brand visibility among Gen Z users who might never download a standalone search app.
This creates a new consideration for marketers: if Perplexity becomes a primary search tool for Snapchat's audience, brands may need to optimize content for AI answer engines the same way they currently do for Google, ensuring their information shows up when millions ask questions through Snapchat.
Strategic Implications
This partnership establishes Snapchat as distribution infrastructure for AI companies. Snap explicitly noted plans for additional partners, suggesting a marketplace approach where multiple AI providers compete for user attention.
The broader implications:
- New revenue model: Social platforms can charge AI companies for access instead of building in-house
- Marketing channel shift: Brands may need to treat Snapchat like a search engine for younger demographics
- Platform positioning: Snap becomes the middleman between AI innovation and mass consumer adoption
- Competitive pressure: Other social platforms will likely pursue similar deals if this succeeds
Takeaway
Snap just changed how platforms make money from AI. Instead of building features themselves, they're charging AI companies for access to their users. If this works, other social platforms will copy it fast.
The big question is whether people will actually use it. Snapchat is all about photos and videos. Will users want to type questions and read answers? Perplexity is betting $400 million that they will.
The proof comes next year. If the revenue shows up as promised, Snap created something new. If not, they just sold expensive real estate that nobody visits.
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