Context
Perplexity states that it launched its first answer engine in December 2022, combining AI-generated answers with web sources and inline citations.
What changed
AI-native search became a standalone consumer product centered on synthesized answers with source attribution.
Why it matters
It helped establish the answer-engine model that later drove GEO, citation tracking and AI visibility measurement.
Visibility OS interpretation
An important transition from experimental retrieval-grounded systems to public answer-engine products.
What remains uncertain
No event-specific uncertainty note is recorded yet. This record may change as new evidence is reviewed.
Related historical records
Perplexity introduces Q2D-Web for large-scale retrieval evaluation in agentic RAG
That record builds on this event.