Profound is emerging from stealth to bring SEO to AI searches
Profound, a new startup, has launched a platform to help brands optimize their presence in AI-powered search results, securing $3.5 million in seed funding to develop this technology that tracks and analyzes how companies appear in AI chatbot responses.
Search Engine Optimization has been a priority for brands for some time now, as they strive to rank as high as possible in traditional search results. However, as an increasing number of users turn to AI-powered chatbots and services such as ChatGPT or Perplexity to search the internet, it is only reasonable that the reach of SEO expands into the realm of AI-powered search. Founders James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs caught on to this opportunity and with Profound they have created a dynamic platform that tracks how brands appear in AI-powered searches. Profound's platform is also dynamic, which means it can track how the rankings of an AI service for a particular brand evolve.
Profound's platform lets users better grasp how they appear in AI-powered searches by tracking common queries related to their brands. The platform supports several more advanced tracking functions too, as users can experiment to see how results change when conditioned on demographic data or can delve into how models rank the trustworthiness of the sites mentioning the queried products. Cadwallader cites his experience working with Fortune 500 brands as the founder of a data-driven influencer marketing agency Kyra as the inspiration for Profound. Seeing that brands like Nike spend millions of dollars on marketing meant to be seen by millions of people, it is not futile to figure out how brands appear in AI-powered searches.
Although the startup is just getting started, it has emerged from stealth with a partnership with a large branding agency and $3.5 million from a seed funding round that counted Keith Rabois (Khosla Ventures), Saga, South Park Commons, Scott Belsky, and Balaji S. Srinivasan as investors. The startup plans to use the raised money to grow its team and further develop its platform.
