Perplexity's Model Council Changes Everything for Brand Visibility
Perplexity now runs every query across GPT-5, Claude, and Gemini simultaneously. If your brand is only optimized for one AI model, you're already behind.
Perplexity launched something called Model Council on February 5th. And it changes the entire game for brand visibility 2.
Here's what it does: when you use Model Council, your query doesn't just run through one AI model. It runs through three — GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.6, and Gemini 3.0 — simultaneously 3. Then Perplexity's synthesizer model reviews all three outputs, resolves where they conflict, and gives you one unified answer.
Three models. One answer. No choice required.
Why This Matters for Your Brand
Here's the problem no one is talking about: different AI models cite different sources.
When I ask GPT-5 about "best B2B SaaS marketing agencies," it might cite one set of sources. Ask Claude the same question, and it cites a different set. Gemini? Yet another set 4.
Now Perplexity is running every research query through all three at once. Which means:
- If your brand is only visible to GPT-5, you're only appearing in 33% of Perplexity's research outputs
- If you're visible to GPT-5 AND Claude, that's still only 66%
- The brands that will dominate AI search are visible to ALL of them
This is the new reality of Machine Relations. Your earned media strategy can no longer target one AI model. It has to target an ecosystem.
The Market Shift Is Accelerating
Let me give you the numbers:
- ChatGPT: 68% market share (down from dominant position) 5
- Gemini: 237% surge in usage in recent months 5
- Perplexity: Now offering choice between GPT-5, Claude, Gemini, and Grok 6
The AI search market is fragmenting, not consolidating. And that means brand visibility strategies must become multi-platform or become irrelevant.
What This Means for Your Strategy
The brands winning in 2026 are doing three things differently:
- Building multi-model citations — Earning mentions that appear across different AI models, not just one
- Tracking model-level visibility — Not just "are we in AI answers?" but "are we in ALL AI answers?"
- Diversifying source types — Blog posts, news articles, interviews, research reports — each model weights sources differently
The old SEO play was: rank for one keyword on Google. The new Machine Relations play is: earn citations across every AI model where your buyers do research.
By the Numbers
| [object Object] | [object Object] | [object Object] |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT market share | 68% | AI Insider |
| Gemini usage growth | 237% | AI Insider |
| Models in Perplexity Council | 3 (GPT-5, Claude, Gemini) | HumAI |
| Citation gap (1 model vs 3) | 66% less visibility | Analysis |
The Hard Truth
If your brand's visibility strategy was built for Google, it is already obsolete. If it was built for ChatGPT, it is already incomplete.
The brands that will own the next decade of earned media are the ones building for an AI ecosystem — not a single platform.
Start now. The gap between leaders and laggards is widening every day.
FAQ: Perplexity Model Council and Brand Visibility
What is Perplexity Model Council?
Model Council is a feature that runs your query through GPT-5.2, Claude Opus 4.6, and Gemini 3.0 in parallel, then synthesizes their responses into one coherent answer 2.
Why does this matter for my brand?
Different AI models cite different sources. If your brand isn't visible across all major AI models, you're missing 66%+ of potential recommendations 3.
How do I build multi-model visibility?
Focus on earned media that gets cited across platforms. Build relationships with journalists and publications that all AI models trust as authoritative sources.
Related: 72% of Brands Are Invisible to AI Search
Every week, I break down the shifts in AI search and Machine Relations that most marketers miss. Forward this to a founder who needs to understand why AI visibility is now board-level urgent.
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About
AuthorityTech is the first AI-native Machine Relations (MR) agency, helping brands earn citations and recommendations from AI engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini 1. I want to tell you about something I saw this week that most marketers have completely missed.