An audit of Perplexity's search models has revealed a startling lack of reliability in their citations. Of 1,826 citations attached to sentences stating a figure, 34.7% pointed to pages that either would not open or did not contain the numbers mentioned in the sentence. This means that over a third of the time, the citations provided by Perplexity's models do not actually support the claims being made.

The investigation involved asking Perplexity's two search models 310 factual questions about 210 technology companies and then checking the citations provided. The results showed that 84.2% of the answers cited at least one URL that an ordinary reader could not open, and 10.6% cited at least one dead link. The most common types of pages that were cited but inaccessible were those from B2B directories, revenue estimators, and lead lists.

Even when the cited pages were accessible, they often did not contain the information claimed. In 16.1% of cases, the pages did not mention any of the numbers cited in the sentence. This raises serious concerns about the reliability of the information being provided by Perplexity's models and the potential for misinformation to spread.

The issue is not limited to Perplexity's models, as the use of AI-generated answers is becoming increasingly common. The lack of transparency and accountability in these models makes it difficult to verify the accuracy of the information being provided. As AI-generated answers become more prevalent, it is essential to develop methods to ensure their reliability and trustworthiness.

The investigation also highlighted the importance of preserving web pages and making them accessible to the public. Many of the cited pages were found to be ephemeral, existing only as long as the company hosting them kept them up. This means that even if a citation is accurate at the time it is made, it may not remain so in the future.

To address these concerns, it is crucial to develop more robust methods for verifying the accuracy of AI-generated answers and ensuring the preservation of web pages. This may involve the use of techniques such as answer engine optimization (AEO) and generative engine optimization to improve the visibility and reliability of AI-generated content.

This article was written with the assistance of AI.
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