Server-render everything that matters
Perplexity's fetch step is fast and unforgiving. Main content that appears only after client-side hydration is frequently missed, so ensure your key passages exist in the initial HTML response.
Match the question granularity
Perplexity decomposes a query into sub-questions and retrieves separately for each. A page that answers one sub-question exceptionally well often outperforms a comprehensive guide that answers all of them vaguely.
Lead with the claim
Put the conclusion in the first sentence of the section and the reasoning after it. Answer synthesis samples the top of a passage far more than the bottom.
Keep dates honest and visible
Show a real published and updated date, and update the content when you change the date. Fresh-but-unchanged pages get demoted once the system notices the text is static.
Cover the related questions
Add a section for each follow-up question Perplexity suggests on your topic. This turns one page into a candidate source across an entire question cluster.
Earn corroboration
Being referenced by other cited sources - forums, roundups, documentation, review sites - increases the chance the retrieval layer treats you as a primary source rather than an also-ran.