Usman Salis
After already winning over iOS users, this Android breakthrough puts Perplexity at the forefront of India's competitive AI assistant market—one of the most mobile-centric populations on the planet.
Why India's Top Spot Matters
Perplexity CEO Aravind Srinivas recently announced that the company's app has reached the top position on India's Google Play Store across all categories. India's Android dominance makes it a critical testing ground for any app hoping to scale globally. Perplexity's rise isn't just about downloads—it reflects changing user behavior. People are ditching link-heavy search results for direct, cited answers that feel more like conversations than queries. For a mobile-first audience constantly on the go, that shift makes perfect sense.
Three factors drove Perplexity's climb:
- Mobile-first design – India's internet runs on smartphones, and Perplexity's clean, chat-like interface fits naturally into that habit.
- iOS momentum carried over – Early success on Apple's App Store built brand recognition that Android users noticed.
- Smart feature updates – Multi-language support and faster responses made the app useful for India's diverse, impatient user base.
What This Means for Everyone Else
Developers now have a growing platform for AI integrations and knowledge APIs. Brands and publishers face a tougher challenge—if AI gives the answer, users never click through. That means rethinking content strategies to stay visible inside AI responses. For everyday users, it's simple: AI assistants are becoming essential, not experimental.
Reaching #1 is impressive, but staying there is harder. App rankings shift fast, and Perplexity needs users to stick around, not just download once out of curiosity. The real test is whether people replace Google searches with Perplexity queries in their daily routines.
Usman Salis
