Perplexity is betting big on creators

Perplexity said the role was a backfill for an existing position, rather than a newly created creator-marketing function. The person previously in the role was moved internally to take on bigger responsibilities, and the position has since been filled. The company said it has partnerships with hundreds of influencers, ranging from niche creators to “cultural juggernauts” including Lewis Hamilton and Joe Rogan.

The listing read like a typical creator lead role. Someone builds the function from scratch and owns it through execution, campaigns running past 100 creators, budgets in the multi-millions. Contracting and negotiation sit with this person too, covering one-off deals and longer partnerships.

There’s a performance layer bolted onto the usual brief. Perplexity wants creator work tied to conversion, working alongside growth rather than treating impressions as the endpoint. One line stands out: reviewing creator “builds” made with Perplexity Computer, checking they’re original and actually showing what the product does.

The salary runs $175K to $225K. Five years minimum in creator or performance marketing, including time leading or founding that function elsewhere.

A role like this spinning up isn’t surprising. AI has had an image problem for a while, making people feel empowered one minute and endangered the next. Those perceptions land harder on some companies than others depending on the moment, but they’re pervasive enough now that every major player in the space wants some grip on the story before it runs away from them. 

For instance, Anthropic hired Lexie Barnhorn in March to run influencer marketing across social and podcasts. She came over from Notion. A few months later OpenAI acquired the creator media company Technology Business Programming Network (TBPN). OpenAI took a different route this summer, flying a group of creators out for a lavish trip in New York. That one backfired, doing the brand more damage than good. Different as all these examples are they’re all ultimately trying to get people to understand, and ultimately use, AI products.

Ben Woods, head of creator economy at Enders Analysis said the size of Perplexity’s planned budget shows the company is serious about creators as a promotional channel. But he said he doesn’t see the move primarily as an attempt to overcome wider concerns about AI safety.

“This is about getting potential users interested in AI’s usefulness and practical benefits,” Woods said. “Especially around why a user should adopt one AI tool over another.

Now more than ever that’s becoming table stakes for AI companies. With so much existential dread hanging over the wider adoption of the technology, companies like Perplexity have to think carefully about how their corporate values come through to people. Creators are one way to do that but only if thought through properly.

OpenAI’s creator events over the summer are a case in point: efforts to bring creators closer to the company prompted backlash from some who saw the outreach as an attempt to win over people whose livelihoods could ultimately be threatened by AI. It was one example of how quickly creator engagement can become a liability when the wider relationship between AI companies and creators remains so fraught.

“Most audiences are not afraid to challenge their favourite creators if a partnership feels disingenuous or the messaging becomes too corporate,” Woods said.

Which is why, especially after what happened with OpenAI, Perplexity needs creators who can demonstrate a credible use for the product, rather than simply endorse it.

Perplexity did not respond to Digiday’s request for comment.