TurboTax is running ads on Perplexity, the AI-powered search engine that has quietly begun testing sponsored results from major brands. The Intuit-owned tax service is an early ad test partner for Perplexity, the AI search startup confirmed to ADWEEK.
In November, Perplexity announced ad partnerships with companies including Whole Foods and Indeed, and ad agencies including PMG and Universal McCann.
TurboTax wasn’t part of that initial group of advertisers. Its presence on Perplexity suggests that it is expanding the number of platforms it runs ads on during tax season.
The move also shows that more brands brands are beginning to experiment with Perplexity’s ads.
Perplexity’s chief business officer Dmitry Shevelenko previously told ADWEEK the platform would begin running brand-sponsored related questions within its AI search results. TurboTax’s placements appear to follow that model. TurboTax’s ads also include more traditional ad formats like branded text ads.
Under the Sponsored Question label, TurboTax ran an ad asking, “Can TurboTax handle investment income?” Another ad simply read “TurboTax Personal,” which, when clicked, surfaced a page highlighting key features of the product. A third, “TurboTax help with Roth IRA limits,” directed users to a result explaining how the service can determine whether a user’s Roth IRA contribution exceeds IRS limits based on their income.