PayPal extends checkout to Perplexity generative AI platform
PayPal is enabling chat-based shopping in another free AI engine.
The payment platform, which recently began enabling ChatGPT users to check out instantly using its services, is now enabling retailers on its network to become discoverable within the Perplexity generative AI model.
[READ MORE: PayPal to let users pay for their purchases within ChatGPT]
U.S. consumers using Perplexity's new shopping experience can seamlessly transition to purchase, leveraging PayPal’s identity verification, purchase and seller protection, and payment processing, without leaving the Perplexity engine. Participating retailers include Abercrombie & Fitch, Ashley Furniture, Fabletics, Adorama, and Newegg.
Perplexity’s shopping experience, based on generative and agentic AI, will align its discovery to the details of a customer’s query. For example, a shopper who asks, “What’s the best winter jacket if I live in San Francisco and take a ferry to work?” will receive results that match their specific commute. Perplexity maintains the same context throughout the search, including any follow-up questions.
In addition, Perplexity remembers past searches and learns customer patterns, so if customer asks about a desk lamp, it finds options that match their décor. Perplexity creates product cards focused on what matters for specific questions, presented alongside product specs and reviews.
"We are building for the next era of commerce by connecting PayPal’s trusted payments and buyer protection directly to AI-powered shopping," said Michelle Gill, GM, small business and financial services, PayPal. "Our collaboration with Perplexity is the opening act of PayPal’s innovation in commerce for the agentic era. This is the continuation of our decades-long commitment to make AI-driven commerce seamless and interoperable across every platform."
To celebrate the launch and the start of the holiday shopping season, PayPal is introducing a special incentive through 11:59 pm ET on Monday, Dec. 1, 2025, Customers who complete their first purchase using PayPal within Perplexity will receive 50% back, up to $50.
"Shoppers and merchants demand a better e-commerce experience in the age of AI, one that’s as personalized as it is seamless," said Dmitry Shevelenko, chief business officer at Perplexity. "We’re excited to partner with PayPal to bring instant checkout to our new shopping experience."
