Perplexity
Perplexity’s FedRAMP Moderate Certification brings live web search and source-cited answers inside the FedRAMP boundary for US federal agencies. Government queries stay within that boundary rather than being passed to an outside search provider.
The first LinkedIn announcement identifies the certification as FedRAMP Class C. FedRAMP is the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program, and the certification corresponds to the Moderate level.
Perplexity describes Enterprise as the only FedRAMP Moderate SI service with live web search. Its own search index contains more than 200 billion URLs, giving the service a way to search the web without sending government queries to an external search provider.
FedRAMP Moderate Certification Keeps Search Inside the Boundary
Live search presents a specific issue for systems operating inside a controlled environment. A search product normally needs to retrieve current information, process a query and return the relevant sources. If an outside provider handles part of that request, the query leaves the original service boundary.
Perplexity’s approach uses an index that it builds and operates itself. Government users’ queries remain inside the FedRAMP boundary throughout the search process and are never sent to an outside search provider.
The returned answers retain Perplexity’s source-citation format. Federal users can therefore run current web research and see the sources used in the response without moving the request beyond the certified environment.
A second LinkedIn posting of the announcement repeats the same operating model, certification level, data protections and government offer.
- Search index
- More than 200 billion URLs
- built and operated by Perplexity
- OneGov offer
- $0.25 per agency
- Enterprise Pro for Government
- Offer end date
- March 31, 2027
- through GSA’s OneGov offer
Government Requests Get Automatic Data Protections
Requests identified as originating from US government agencies automatically receive zero data usage protections. Data from those requests is not retained for training, improving or evaluating AI models.
The protection is applied automatically based on the origin of the request. The announcement does not describe a separate setting that agency users need to switch on.
Together, the certification, first-party search index and data rules define how the government version handles a query. The request stays within the FedRAMP boundary. Perplexity searches its own index. The answer includes citations. The request data is not kept for model training, improvement or evaluation.
| Area | Enterprise Pro for Government behaviour |
|---|---|
| Web research | Live web search is available inside the FedRAMP boundary |
| Search infrastructure | Perplexity uses its own index of more than 200 billion URLs |
| Outside search providers | Government queries are not sent to them |
| Answers | Responses include source citations |
| Model data use | Request data is not retained for training, improvement or evaluation |
This update centres on federal use rather than the separate on-device approach covered in Perplexity Hybrid Compute Keeps Sensitive Mac Tasks Off the Cloud. Here, the controlled environment is the FedRAMP boundary and the users are US government agencies.
Enterprise Pro for Government Costs $0.25 Through OneGov
Enterprise Pro for Government is available through the US General Services Administration’s OneGov offer. The listed price is $0.25 per agency through March 31, 2027.
The offer gives agencies a named procurement route alongside the certified service. The announcement applies to US federal agencies and does not present FedRAMP access as a general Enterprise feature for other organisations or regions.
Frequently asked questions
What is Perplexity FedRAMP Moderate Certification?
It is a certification that lets US federal agencies use live web search and source-cited answers within the FedRAMP boundary. Perplexity identifies it as FedRAMP Class C at the Moderate level.
How does FedRAMP Moderate Certification protect government queries?
Government queries stay inside the FedRAMP boundary and are not sent to an outside search provider. Perplexity searches an index of more than 200 billion URLs that it builds and operates itself.
Does Perplexity use federal agency data to train AI models?
Requests identified as coming from US government agencies automatically receive zero data usage protections. Their data is not retained for training, improving or evaluating AI models.
How much is Enterprise Pro for Government?
Enterprise Pro for Government is available through GSA’s OneGov offer for $0.25 per agency through March 31, 2027. The announcement does not state the price after that date.
Sources
4 checkedHow we cover tool news: Create With's tool desk drafts these reports with AI from the sources listed above and checks them against those sources before publishing.
Framer
Supabase
Notion