Published on: May 25, 2025 / Updated on: May 25, 2025 – Author: Konrad Wolfenstein
Strategic cooperation between Statista, Perplexity and Microsoft 365 Copilot: A win-win situation for all involved – Image: Xpert.Digital
Fighting AI hallucinations: Statista provides reliable data
Microsoft 365 Copilot and Perplexity benefit from Statista integration.
The collaboration announced on May 21, 2025, between the German statistics and market data company Statista and the AI assistants Perplexity and Microsoft 365 Copilot marks a significant milestone in the integration of reliable data into AI-supported workflows. This strategic partnership, facilitated by the API service "Statista Connect," enables direct access to over one million verified datasets and creates substantial benefits for all parties involved. The collaboration primarily aims to improve the quality of AI-generated responses and reduce the problem of AI hallucinations, which has thus far posed a significant obstacle to the professional use of AI assistants.
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Advantages for Statista as a data provider
Developing new business areas and revenue potential
For Statista, this collaboration opens up entirely new business opportunities beyond its traditional platform business. Marc Berg, CEO of Statista, emphasizes the strategic goal of “becoming the leading data provider for AI ecosystems worldwide.” This positioning enables the company to integrate its high-quality data into the “technologies of the future” and set the gold standard for data quality. While its core business is already growing steadily – Statista increased its revenue by around ten percent to €164 million in 2024 – the greatest growth potential lies in expanding customer access through partnerships.
API monetization via “Statista Connect” creates new revenue streams independent of traditional platform usage. At the same time, Statista can strengthen its market position as a trusted data source and establish itself as an indispensable partner for the AI industry. This diversification of business models reduces dependence on a single sales channel and unlocks scalable revenue streams.
Protection against copyright infringement and licensing
Another significant advantage lies in the area of copyright and licensing. Berg points out that Statista can "demonstrate one-to-one that some answers in the chatbots are based on our statistics." Since some of Statista's content is freely accessible and thus appears in the training data of large language models, copyright infringements occur regularly. Formal licensing agreements allow AI specialists to avoid such infringements, while Statista receives appropriate compensation for the use of its content.
Advantages of Perplexity as an AI search engine
Quality improvement and trust building
For Perplexity, the integration of Statista data means a significant improvement in the quality of the generated answers. Aravind Srinivas, Co-Founder and CEO of Perplexity, explains: “Every decision begins with a question, and Perplexity focuses on delivering trustworthy, verifiable answers.” The partnership with Statista, which “has always valued reliable and accurate information,” is therefore a “natural partner for Perplexity.”
The integration enables Perplexity to deliver fact-based, verified answers while ensuring source transparency – a key feature that distinguishes Perplexity from other AI search engines. Statista data, including premium content, will now appear directly in search results, offering users “trusted, human-verified, and expertly sound information.”
Competitive advantages and market differentiation
The exclusive or early availability of high-quality Statista data gives Perplexity a significant competitive advantage over other AI search engines. Perplexity's transparent approach to data sources is further enhanced by the integration of trusted data. This is particularly relevant as Perplexity aims to become the "new Google"—"Plexing" is intended to be a more direct alternative to traditional search engines, which often only return lists of links.
Advantages for Microsoft 365 Copilot
Seamless integration into workflows
Microsoft 365 Copilot benefits from the direct integration of Statista data into familiar Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Chantrelle Nielsen, Group Product Manager for Microsoft 365 Copilot, emphasizes that the integration unlocks “a powerful new capability for users”: “fact-based, data-driven decision-making directly within Microsoft 365 apps.”
A practical example illustrates the benefits: If a marketing manager is looking for market forecasts, Copilot can automatically access Statista data, load relevant statistics directly into PowerPoint, and automatically create infographics. Ideally, the software could even create entire presentations independently.
Strengthening the enterprise position
For Microsoft, this collaboration strengthens the position of Microsoft 365 Copilot as a professional productivity tool for businesses. The integration of reliable data sources makes Copilot an even more valuable AI companion for hundreds of thousands of people in their daily lives. This is particularly important because Microsoft 365 Copilot, as a paid service, competes for enterprise customers in a highly competitive market.
Benefits for end users
Improved work efficiency and productivity
End users of both platforms benefit from significantly improved workflows. Perplexity users gain access to a “completely new way of using and processing data” with a “more helpful, deeper, and quantifiable layer of information seamlessly embedded in search results and answers.” For Microsoft 365 users, the integration means they can access verified, trusted information in real time “without leaving Microsoft Copilot 365.”
Seamless integration into existing workflows eliminates the need to switch between different applications or perform manual data research. This leads to significant time savings and allows users to focus on value-added activities instead of spending time gathering information.
Increased trustworthiness and quality
A key benefit for users lies in the significantly improved quality and trustworthiness of AI-generated content. The integration of over one million verified datasets considerably reduces the risk of AI-generated hallucinations and misinformation. Users can be confident that the provided statistics and market data have been reviewed by experts and originate from authoritative sources.
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Technical implementation and access conditions
API integration and phased rollout
The technical implementation is handled via the API service “Statista Connect,” which enables a direct connection of the AI services to the Statista database. The integration will be rolled out gradually over the coming months to ensure a smooth implementation. For Microsoft 365 Copilot, the integration is handled via the “Statista Copilot Connectors App,” which must be activated by administrators within the company.
Access levels and licensing models
Perplexity users have tiered access: users with free, Pro, or Enterprise Pro accounts receive access to a limited amount of Statista Premium content per month. Full database access requires linking a Statista Starter or Professional account to the Perplexity account. For Microsoft 365 Copilot, companies need a separate license for the Statista plugin in addition to the Copilot license, and employees need a Statista Professional account.
Market effects and future prospects
Setting new industry standards
This collaboration sets new standards for the quality of generative AI sources and could serve as a model for further partnerships between data providers and AI services. The successful integration of reliable data sources into AI workflows demonstrates how the challenges of misinformation and poor source quality in AI systems can be addressed.
Berg is already hinting at further collaborations and announces that additional deals are expected by the end of the year. This suggests that Statista will extend this successful strategy to other AI platforms, which could make the company a central hub in the developing AI ecosystem.
Strategic AI cooperation: How Statista, Perplexity and Microsoft are setting new standards
The strategic collaboration between Statista, Perplexity, and Microsoft 365 Copilot represents an exemplary win-win situation that strengthens all parties involved. Statista opens up new business areas while simultaneously protecting its intellectual property rights, while Perplexity and Microsoft 365 Copilot significantly improve their service quality and gain a competitive edge. End users benefit from more reliable, efficient, and seamlessly integrated workflows. This partnership could serve as a blueprint for the future development of the AI market, where the integration of trusted data sources becomes the decisive differentiator.
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Konrad Wolfenstein
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