The news: Perplexity is in talks with smartphone manufacturers to make its new Comet browser a default app on smartphones to drive adoption and user engagement, per Reuters.

Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas said it aims to reach “tens to hundreds of millions” of users in 2026 after a desktop rollout to a “few hundred thousand” testers, a plan that could be aided by expanding Comet access on phones.

Zooming out: Srinivas didn’t specify which mobile phone makers it’s speaking with, but Lenovo-owned Motorola and Samsung are fair guesses.

• In April, Motorola agreed to integrate the startup’s AI into its smartphones.
• Perplexity also spoke with Samsung about the possibility of either a pre-installed app or integrating its AI into Samsung’s Bixby assistant, per Bloomberg.

What’s the point? Pre-installing Comet could increase habitual use since users may be more likely to stick with their default phone apps. Switching to a different app requires effort to search, download, and set up new ones, giving default apps an edge.

Chrome, the default browser on most Android phones, holds 70% of global mobile browser share, per StatCounter.

Desktop power: Most AI search tools, including Perplexity’s, rely heavily on desktop traffic. Comet could change this dynamic if Perplexity owns the default mobile browser on popular phones.

• 97% of referral traffic from Perplexity comes from desktop users, per BrightEdge, and just 3% from mobile. ChatGPT shows a similar split, with 94% coming from desktop.
• If Comet gains traction as a mobile browser, Perplexity could become a more valuable partner for brands looking to drive mobile engagement through AI search tools.

Yes, but: Persuading device makers to replace legacy browsers with its young, experimental AI alternative may be an uphill battle.

• “It’s not easy to convince mobile original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) to change the default browser to Comet from Chrome,” Srinivas told Reuters.
• In some cases, companies—like Apple—own their own browser, meaning the path to a partnership could be entirely closed.

Our take: While Comet itself is a browser, its integrations with Perplexity’s AI could streamline access to mobile AI search tools, changing mobile search behavior and forcing marketers to rethink traditional search marketing practices. Getting Comet onto phones could also supercharge Perplexity’s data on user behavior and boost its ability to improve its AI search tools.

Brands should prepare for AI browser adoption by testing visibility across AI search tools like Perplexity and ChatGPT, optimizing content for queries, and adding clear page summaries that AI systems can interpret.

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