What to know about Seeking Arrangement, the ‘sugar baby’ website that Matt Gaetz allegedly used

• GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz is under investigation for allegedly paying women he met on Seeking Arrangement for sex.
• Seeking Arrangement is one of the most well-known platforms for sugar babies in the world.
• While many sugar babies use Seeking Arrangement for different reasons, sex work is explicitly banned on the platform.

GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida is under investigation by the Department of Justice for allegedly paying women, including a 17-year-old girl, to have sex with him. According to a New York Times report, one of the websites he used to meet women is Seeking Arrangement.

Since the platform was launched in 2006, Seeking Arrangement has become one of the most popular websites used by sugar babies to find wealthy people to date.

Here's everything you need to know about the platform, sugaring, and sugar babies.

What is Seeking Arrangement?

Seeking Arrangement is a platform meant for "millionaire matchmaking." According to its website, the site was created for established men to meet attractive women who are "just starting out."

While there is no mention of it explicitly in its guidelines, many people looking to "sugar" flock to the site.

Sugaring is a dynamic in which a "sugar baby," usually someone who is younger and more attractive, provides companionship, an emotional relationship, and sometimes sexual intimacy, in exchange for gifts, trips, dinners, and cash from someone called a sugar daddy. Sugar daddies are usually older, wealthy men with established careers.

Not all sugar babies have sexual relationships with their daddies - some simply exchange their time for gifts and money.

Many sugar babies and daddies view their dynamic as a relationship, with the exchange of material things coming second to romantic chemistry.

How do people use Seeking Arrangement?

There is no uniform way to sugar, as each dynamic between a sugar baby and sugar daddy is different.

Some users treat it like a business transaction. A sugar baby named Ree previously told Insider she goes on dates - in exchange for a weekly allowance and gifts - to pay for university, rent, and other expenses.

Anna, a 33-year-old sugar baby from Utah, previously told Insider she always saw sugaring as a source of supplemental income to help her pay for her MBA program and move to San Diego.

Megan, a former tank mechanic for the US Army, uses the site to meet veteran mentors who can help her navigate life after serving - with extra help to pay bills when needed.

Some sugar babies take business advice from their sugar daddies and can transform their sugaring relationship into a business relationship.

While there is a stereotype that sugar babies only put money first, some sugar babies end up marrying their daddies. Sugaring is completely customizable.

Who uses the site?

A common misconception about Seeking Arrangement is that it is a site explicitly meant for sex workers or sugar babies.

Seeking Arrangement has made statements since it was founded that it does not facilitate a space for sex work.

The Seeking Arrangement terms of service also prohibits "escorting, prostitution, and human trafficking."

While it is a common sugar baby destination and some babies do consider themselves sex workers, anyone can use the site. Any account that explicitly mentions exchanging money for sex will be suspended or deleted, according to the site.