Perplexity's Airtel deal drove 56M India downloads — then dropped 90% after the offer ended

Perplexity's free Pro subscription bundled with Bharti Airtel generated 56 million app downloads in India over seven months. After new redemptions closed on January 16, 2026, downloads fell to 3.3 million over the next six months — a decline of more than 90%. Perplexity has not disclosed retention, conversion, or churn metrics for the Airtel cohort.