A new wave of startups is preparing for a world where people don’t search the web the old-fashioned way anymore. Instead of typing into Google and clicking through links, users are turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and others to get answers directly—no browsing required.
To get ahead of this shift, at least a dozen startups are investing millions into tools that help brands figure out how to show up in these AI-driven responses. Think of it as the next evolution of SEO—search engine optimization—but now for the chatbot era.
Companies have spent the last 10 to 20 years tweaking their websites to rank in the ‘10 blue links’ version of Google,” said Andrew Yan, co-founder of Athena, one of the startups leading this charge. “But that version of Google is changing fast—and for good.”
As AI tools become more popular, businesses are scrambling to understand how these systems use their content, and how to make sure their brand stays visible. That’s good news for these startups, which say they’re gaining customers quickly as companies try to keep up.
Yan himself left Google’s search team earlier this year after concluding that traditional search was on its way out. Athena, which just launched last month, has already raised $2.2 million from Y Combinator and other investors.
Athena’s software gives brands a peek into how different AI models find and talk about them. It compares what various bots say and recommends how companies can improve their web content so they’re more likely to show up in AI answers. Yan says they already serve over 100 clients globally—including Paperless Post.
Now, it’s worth noting: Google doesn’t think search is going away entirely. The tech giant, which handles around 90% of all online searches, has been adding more AI features to its search engine. The idea is that people will continue to use Google, but also tools like its own chatbot, Gemini.
Still, Google is feeling the heat from AI upstarts like OpenAI. If more users start skipping traditional search and clicking fewer ads, that’s a big threat to Google’s core business. CEO Sundar Pichai has pointed out that features like AI Overviews—which summarize results at the top of search pages—are seeing strong growth since their launch in 2024. And the company recently introduced AI Mode, which answers questions in a chatbot-style interface, with far fewer links than users are used to seeing.
Compared to typical search, chatbot queries tend to be more complex—and AI models have to pull in information from multiple sources to answer them. One bot might rely heavily on a brand’s own website, while another could prioritize third-party review sites or forums.
That’s where more startups are stepping in. Profound, for example, has raised over $20 million from investors like Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures. Their platform monitors the many signals that affect how AI bots talk about brands. Since launching last year, they’ve signed on major clients like fintech company Chime.
We’re moving toward a zero-click internet,” said Profound co-founder James Cadwallader. “People won’t be visiting websites directly. Bots and agents will be doing most of the interacting.”
Max Altman, co-founder of venture firm Saga Ventures (and brother of OpenAI’s Sam Altman), was an early investor in Profound. He said interest in these platforms has exploded. “Marketers have been flying blind,” he said. “Even just showing how a brand is performing in AI search is more valuable than we expected.”
Altman estimates that competitors in this space have raised a combined $21 million so far—though many haven’t disclosed their funding publicly.
To be clear, this space is still small compared to traditional SEO, a $90 billion industry. But it’s growing fast. SEO consultant Cyrus Shepard said he wasn’t doing any AI-related visibility work at the start of the year. Now it makes up 10–15% of his work—and he thinks that could rise to half by year’s end.
He’s tested some of the new platforms, but remains cautious. “They’re all still in beta, in my opinion,” he said.
One company already seeing results is Clerk, a software firm that’s been working with Scrunch AI to track AI-driven traffic. Between January and June, Clerk saw a 9% bump in sign-ups that came from AI search results, according to head of growth marketing Alex Rapp.
Scrunch has raised $4 million so far, has more than 25 clients, and is working on tools to help companies adapt their websites for AI consumption—things like content formatting and context cues that make it easier for bots to interpret.
You’re not going to stop needing a website,” said Scrunch co-founder Chris Andrew. “But 90% of its human visitors might disappear.”
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