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Making Perplexity Grow with Friends: How Network-Driven Growth Transforms AI Search Adoption
Case Study
Arpit Agarwal
Arpit Agarwal
Published on June 23, 2025
Mountain View, California

Making Perplexity Grow with Friends: How Network-Driven Growth Transforms AI Search Adoption

Case StudyUser GrowthViral MechanicsNetwork EffectsPlatform Adoption

Imagine Sarah signing up for Perplexity and immediately seeing "3 of your friends already use Perplexity" during onboarding. Then, while researching "Tesla Robotaxis," she notices "Read by 10+ of your friends"—instant credibility and FOMO. Finally, she's prompted: "Invite 3 friends and unlock Perplexity Pro for 6 months."

This is the power of friend-driven growth—and it's exactly what we'll explore in this case study of how Perplexity could leverage GrowSDK to create viral adoption loops and dramatically reduce user acquisition costs.

The Current State: Expensive User Acquisition Without Network Effects

Today's Perplexity faces the classic growth challenge of AI platforms—high acquisition costs with limited viral mechanics. Users discover the platform through ads, word-of-mouth, or content marketing, but there's no built-in reason for them to bring friends or accelerate adoption through their network.

Consider the typical user journey: Sarah discovers Perplexity through a Twitter recommendation, signs up, and starts using it for research. She loves the product but has no compelling reason to invite friends. When she shares interesting findings, she shares screenshots or copies text—Perplexity gets no attribution or viral boost from her enthusiasm.

Meanwhile, competing platforms are fighting for the same users with expensive ads and content strategies, making customer acquisition increasingly costly.

But imagine the incredible growth opportunities this creates:

The Untapped Growth Potential

  • Invisible network value: Users don't know which friends already use the platform
  • Missing social proof: No signals showing which topics are trending among trusted connections
  • Weak viral loops: No incentive structure encouraging friend invitations
  • Isolated user experience: Great discoveries don't naturally spread through networks
  • High switching costs for competitors: Friends using the same platform creates stickiness

Growth Impact

  • High CAC: User acquisition relies on expensive paid channels
  • Limited viral coefficient: No natural mechanisms for user-driven growth
  • Missed network effects: Platform value doesn't increase with friend adoption
  • Commoditized retention: Users can easily switch to competing AI tools

The Vision: Perplexity as a Friend-Driven Growth Platform

By integrating GrowSDK, Perplexity could transform into a viral growth platform where friend networks drive adoption, social proof accelerates conversion, and invite mechanics create sustainable user acquisition loops.

Three Core Growth Features Implementation

1. Friend Discovery During Onboarding

Friend Discovery Example

The Feature: Show users which friends already use Perplexity during signup to demonstrate immediate network value.

swiftGrowSDK
// Get friends who are already using the app during onboarding
let cm = ContactsService.shared

// Fetch contacts who are currently using the app
let friendsUsingApp = try await cm.people.fetch(
  matching: .contactsInApp,
  limit: 50
)

// Also get users you might know (mutual contacts)
let usersYouMightKnow = try await cm.people.fetch(
  matching: .usersWithMyContact,
  limit: 20
)

// Display onboarding screen with friend count and profiles
let totalFriendsOnPlatform = friendsUsingApp.count
// Show: "3 of your friends already use Perplexity"
// Display friend avatars: friendsUsingApp.prefix(3)
// Enable one-click follow for immediate network connection

User Experience:

  • Onboarding screen: "3 of your friends already use Perplexity" with friend avatars
  • Instant value proposition: "Join Mike, Emma, and Sarah who are already discovering with AI"
  • One-click friend connection to reduce time-to-value
  • Immediate network effect: "Your friends are waiting for you"

Growth Impact: Dramatically increases conversion rates by showing immediate network value and reduces churn by connecting users to existing friend networks from day one.

2. Network Social Proof for Engagement

Social Proof Example

The Feature: Display friend engagement metrics on trending topics to create FOMO and increase platform stickiness.

Implementation:

swiftGrowSDK
// Get friend activity feed to show social proof for topics
let cm = ContactsService.shared

// Fetch recent research events from friends' network
let friendsFeed = try await cm.social.getFeed(
  matching: .following,
  eventType: .research,
  skip: 0,
  limit: 50
)

// Filter events by topic and calculate engagement metrics
let teslaEvents = friendsFeed.events.filter { event in
  event.title?.lowercased().contains("tesla robotaxis") == true ||
  event.description?.lowercased().contains("tesla robotaxis") == true
}

let uniqueFriends = Set(teslaEvents.map { $0.userId }).count
// Display: "Tesla Robotaxis — Read by \(uniqueFriends)+ of your friends"
// Show trending indicators based on event frequency and recency

User Experience:

  • Topic headers: "Tesla Robotaxis — Read by 10+ of your friends"
  • Network trending: "Climate change solutions — 5 friends researching this week"
  • Friend indicators: "Mike, Emma, and 8 others found this interesting"
  • FOMO triggers: "Your network is buzzing about this topic"

Growth Impact: Creates fear of missing out, increases session time, and demonstrates platform value through friend activity signals that keep users engaged and returning.

3. Viral Invite Mechanics with Pro Rewards

The Feature: High-value invite system that drives viral growth through meaningful Pro subscription rewards.

Implementation:

swiftGrowSDK
// Get user's invite code and link for sharing
let cm = ContactsService.shared

// Get or create invite code (e.g., "AAAAAA")
if let inviteCode = await cm.invite.code {
  print("Your invite code: \(inviteCode)") // e.g., "AAAAAA"
}

// Get shareable invite link
if let inviteLink = await cm.invite.link {
  print("Share this link: \(inviteLink)")
  // Display: "Invite 3 friends with code AAAAAA and unlock Pro for 6 months"
}

// Check remaining invites
let remainingInvites = await cm.invite.remaining()
print("Invites remaining: \(remainingInvites)")

// Track invited friends progress
let invitedFriends = await cm.invite.invited()
print("Friends invited: \(invitedFriends.count)/3")

// Show progress: "2/3 friends joined - invite 1 more for Pro access"
if invitedFriends.count >= 3 {
  // Unlock Perplexity Pro for 6 months
  print("🎉 Pro unlocked! You've invited 3+ friends")
}

Friend Invite Validation:

swiftGrowSDK
// Validate friend's invite code during signup
let cm = ContactsService.shared

// Friend enters invite code "AAAAAA" during onboarding
let inviteCode = "AAAAAA"
let validation = await cm.invite.validateCode(code: inviteCode)

if let result = validation {
  if result.valid {
    print("✅ Valid invite from \(result.inviter?.displayName ?? "friend")")
    print("Organization: \(result.organizationName ?? "")")
    print("Remaining invites: \(result.remainingInvites ?? 0)")

    // Show: "You're invited to join Perplexity by Mike!"
    // Auto-connect as friends after signup
    // Grant 3 months Pro to new user
  } else {
    print("❌ Invalid invite code: \(result.message)")
    // Show error: "Invalid invite code. Please check and try again."
  }
}

// Redeem the invite after successful signup
let redeemed = await cm.invite.redeemInvite(
  code: inviteCode,
  for: "new-user-id"
)

if redeemed {
  print("🎉 Invite redeemed! Both users get Pro benefits")
}

User Experience:

  • Value proposition: "Invite 3 friends and unlock Perplexity Pro for 6 months ($120 value)"
  • Friend benefit: "Your friends get 3 months Pro free when they join"
  • Progress gamification: "2/3 friends joined - invite 1 more for Pro access"
  • Validation flow: "Enter invite code AAAAAA to join Mike's network"

Growth Impact: Creates powerful viral loops with high-value rewards, turning users into growth drivers while reducing customer acquisition costs and increasing lifetime value through Pro conversions.

The Growth Advantage: Network Effects vs. AI Feature Competition

While competitors like ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI compete purely on model capabilities and features, Perplexity's friend-driven growth strategy would create sustainable competitive advantages that transcend AI performance.

The Growth Problem Today

Currently, AI platforms fight expensive battles for user attention:

  • ChatGPT: Massive marketing spend and brand recognition
  • Claude: Product-led growth through superior reasoning
  • Perplexity: Content marketing and search integration
  • Google AI: Distribution through existing Google products

The competition becomes purely about model quality and marketing budgets.

The Network Growth Solution

With friend-driven mechanics, the competitive landscape transforms:

Today's Growth (Feature-Driven)

  • Users discover platform through ads or content
  • Adoption decision based purely on AI capabilities
  • Easy to switch when competitors improve their models
  • High customer acquisition costs with limited viral mechanics

Tomorrow's Growth (Network-Driven)

  • Users see "3 friends already use Perplexity" during onboarding
  • Social proof signals like "Tesla Robotaxis — Read by 10+ friends" create FOMO
  • Viral invite system: "Invite 3 friends, unlock 6 months Pro" drives exponential growth
  • Switching becomes costly because friends are invested in the same platform

Compounding Growth Effects

As friend networks adopt Perplexity:

  1. Viral coefficient increases: Each user potentially brings 3+ friends through invite rewards
  2. Retention improves dramatically: Users stay because their network is on the platform
  3. Acquisition costs plummet: Friend recommendations become the primary growth channel
  4. Platform stickiness intensifies: Social proof and friend activity create habitual usage

Conclusion: The Future of AI Growth is Friend-Driven

Sustainable platform growth has always been about leveraging networks, creating viral loops, and building switching costs that transcend product features—the power of seeing friends use a platform, the FOMO of missing trending topics in your network, and the compelling value of invite rewards that drive exponential adoption.

By integrating GrowSDK, Perplexity could transform from an AI search tool competing on model capabilities to a friend-driven growth platform with built-in viral mechanics. Imagine a platform where every user becomes a growth driver, where friend networks create unbreakable retention, and where social proof accelerates conversion better than any paid marketing campaign.

The opportunity is extraordinary: transform Perplexity from a feature-competing utility into a network-driven growth platform, dramatically reduce customer acquisition costs, and establish sustainable competitive advantages that no AI model improvement can overcome. Most importantly, turn every user into a growth catalyst through friend discovery, social proof, and viral invite rewards.

Ready to accelerate your platform's growth with friends? Contact our team to discuss how GrowSDK can transform your user acquisition strategy into a viral growth engine.

This case study represents a hypothetical implementation. Perplexity is a trademark of Perplexity AI Inc. and is not affiliated with GrowSDK.