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The unusual redirect has left many Indian users bewildered, as they find themselves landing on a competing AI service when trying to reach the popular AI-powered search engine. The situation has drawn the attention of netizens, and reactions have been aplenty.

Perplexity AI chatbot users in India are being erronously redirected to the Google Gemini platform, if they incorrectly use the domain Perplexity.in. This domain has not been registered by Perplexity, leaving it open for anyone to claim it, and redirect it to any link they want to.

The unusual redirect has left many Indian users bewildered, as they find themselves landing on a competing AI service when trying to reach the popular AI-powered search engine. The situation has drawn attention of netizens, and reactions have been aplenty.

The Missing Domain

Perplexity never owned the domain Perplexity.in, leaving it available for anyone to purchase. The company operates primarily through its global domain Perplexity.ai and has historically avoided securing country-specific domain extensions. Perplexity does not own domains in the United Kingdom, Germany or even the United States, despite being headquartered in San Francisco.

The domain can be purchased for as little as Rs. 499, making it accessible to virtually anyone. An unidentified third party appears to have registered the Perplexity.in domain and configured it to redirect visitors straight to Google's Gemini AI platform.

No evidence of Google involvement

While initial speculation suggested that Google might have capitalised on Perplexity's oversight, there is no concrete evidence supporting this theory. There is no evidence that Google has acquired the Perplexity.in domain.

Such domain acquisition practices are common across the internet, where individuals purchase brand-related domains in hopes of either reselling them at a premium or redirecting traffic for various purposes.

India's massive youth population, mobile-first habits and high trust in digital services make it a crucial battleground for AI discovery tools. For first-time users attempting to explore Perplexity by typing what seems like the natural Indian domain, the redirect means they discover Google's Gemini instead of the service they intended to access.

A cautionary tale

This situation serves as a reminder to tech companies that owning the right domains matters. A missed domain can easily send traffic, attention and potential users straight to a competitor, even without any malicious intention behind it.

For now, users in India should access Perplexity only through its official address, Perplexity.ai. Typing Perplexity.in will continue to redirect to Google Gemini unless the domain owner changes the settings or Perplexity decides to purchase the domain in the future.