In short. A merchant starts with Perplexity's official interest form, prepares detailed product information, and confirms the catalog and checkout integration during onboarding.
Definition: The Perplexity Merchant Program is a route for retailers to share product information with Perplexity's shopping service. A merchant starts by submitting the official interest form; checkout participation depends on compatibility with Instant Buy, Perplexity's checkout system.
Key facts
- As of 17 October 2026, Perplexity's merchant interest form remains available and asks for the business, website, contact details, and shopping category.
- Perplexity's Instant Buy documentation identifies availability, reviews, pricing, and specifications as product details that help its answer engine assess merchants.
- PayPal's Instant Buy announcement describes a catalog route through Store Sync and a payment route through Agent Ready, with retailers remaining the merchant of record, the seller responsible for the transaction.
Where does a merchant apply?
Perplexity's shopping launch announcement, dated 18 November 2024, introduces the Merchant Program for large retailers and links to the interest form. It describes the program as free and says Perplexity follows up with further information.
The form's public field definition lists these application details. The following template matches its field labels, with the shopping category label shortened:
Merchant name:
Merchant URL:
Contact name:
Contact email:
Shopping vertical:
The form gives home goods, hardware technology, and beauty as category examples. Its completion message directs applicants to watch their email for next steps. Submission therefore starts a conversation about participation.
The former merchant landing URL now opens an ecommerce sign-in page for Perplexity Computer. The interest form linked from the shopping announcement is the relevant application destination.
What product information matters?
Perplexity's shopping help page says richer availability, review, price, and specification data makes a merchant more likely to receive a product recommendation. It also describes product selection as depending on relevance and ratings.
The same documentation limits Instant Buy to merchants compatible with its checkout experience. A catalog submission and checkout compatibility are separate parts of participation. The former merchant terms URL returns a page-not-found response, leaving its current technical feed contract to be confirmed during onboarding.
How does the PayPal route work?
Store Sync is PayPal's service for sharing a merchant catalog across participating AI shopping platforms. PayPal's Perplexity announcement, dated 25 November 2025, connects Store Sync to Perplexity product results and Agent Ready to accepting payments through existing PayPal configurations.
PayPal's current Store Sync FAQ recommends Google Shopping CSV or similar structured formats and accepts catalog feeds through an API, a software interface, or SFTP, a secure file-transfer protocol. It names size, color, material, and texture as useful metadata. Merchants can begin with a selected category or subset of products and contact sales to start sharing their catalog.
These are PayPal's published format options for its integration route.
Related terms
FAQ
Is joining free?
Perplexity's launch announcement describes its Merchant Program as free. If you use PayPal Store Sync, its fee FAQ says existing PayPal transaction fees apply; additional Store Sync fees or platform charges may be introduced under its stated conditions.
Can I pay for product placement?
Perplexity's Instant Buy help says advertisers cannot pay to list products in its related-products section. Its algorithm selects those listings using relevance and ratings.
Who handles orders and product questions?
The same help page says orders and payments go directly to the merchant for fulfillment. If you participate, your business handles questions about availability, shipping, prices, and delivery through its customer service channels.
Sources
- Perplexity, "Shop like a Pro: Perplexity's new AI-powered shopping assistant", 18 November 2024
- Perplexity, "Perplexity Merchant Program Interest Form", undated
- Perplexity, "Merchant interest form field definition", undated
- Perplexity, "Grow Your Ecommerce Store with AI", undated
- Perplexity, "What is Instant Buy?", modified 29 August 2026
- Perplexity, "Page Not Found", undated
- PayPal, "PayPal and Perplexity Launch Instant Buy Ahead of Black Friday", 25 November 2025
- PayPal, "Sell Across AI Shopping Channels", undated
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