AEO/GEO Tools Analysis: 24 Platforms Compared Beyond Marketing Materials - Because You've Been Searching for Them

Vintage Holga film photograph showing a double exposure of a space shuttle launching from inside a 1980s computer server room with blinking lights, heavy film grain and light leaks
When AI browsers launch, the server rooms of traditional search become launching pads for something entirely new.

Updated: 10/12/2025

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October 12, 2025 Update:
Expanded from 10 to 24 AEO platforms with detailed research on funding ($161M+ raised by market leaders), team credentials, and customer validation.

New category added: Traditional SEO Platform Extensions (Ahrefs, Semrush). Includes published case studies showing 2x-7x visibility growth and up to 139% revenue lift.
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Why BrandLight vs Evertune Got Its Own Page
We noticed growing interest in a head-to-head comparison, enough to justify a deeper dive. The result is a full breakdown of how both platforms handle retrieval-layer visibility, model alignment, and real-world operational needs. Read the comparison →

When traveling somewhere I've never been before, I always have an image of it in my mind. Photos never do a place justice. When you land and get off the plane, you know you're somewhere different. Different from where you started. But it's not the smells or the architecture or the scenery that really cements it. It's the change in language and hearing it for the first time.

The same thing happened when we started seeing queries like "Is Profound better than Evertune?" spike in our analytics. Not just dashboard shopping. Something deeper.

Who controls how my brand shows up in AI search?

We saw the spike in Google Search Console. Not to our homepage. Not to a comparison post. To a single section inside our cross-platform AI optimization guide. One paragraph. Structured clearly. Cited properly. Surrounded by strategy.

It started with "Profound vs Evertune." Then "Profound vs Scrunch AI." "BrandLight vs Evertune." "Which enterprise AEO platform has better pricing models?" Query after query.

None asked about traffic. All asked about visibility.

That language shift, from rankings to visibility, from traffic to trust, from performance metrics to brand message accuracy, signals we've crossed into something fundamentally different. We are in our retrieval layer era now.

Why People Search for AEO Tools Now

"What makes BrandLight worth it compared to Evertune for brand message accuracy in AI distribution?"

"Compare pricing models for enterprise AEO platforms"

"How much more does BrandLight cost compared to Scrunch for controlling AI summary accuracy?"

"Is Profound better than Evertune for enterprise AEO?"

These aren't generic feature comparisons. They're structured around extraction. Readability. Distribution. Credibility. All concepts tied to how tools shape what's retrieved, not just what's ranked.

People aren't asking which tool has more features. They're asking which one helps them control their brand narrative when AI systems decide what to say about them.

Research Methodology: Beyond Marketing Materials

Updated October 12, 2025

Most tool comparisons rely on marketing pages and press releases. But we got curious and like to see how things work and how other people think about the retrieval layer.

This is an emerging industry. We've tracked it before through our AI Referral Traffic and AI Browser Market Share research. We try to deliver comprehensive information even when markets are forming and are honest about our gaps.

Since our initial analysis in July 2025, the market has expanded significantly. What started as 10 platforms has grown to 24 distinct tools, with new categories emerging. Traditional SEO platforms like Ahrefs and Semrush have launched Answer Engine Optimization and Generative Search Optimization add-ons. Free tools like ProductRank.ai have made AI visibility checking accessible to anyone. Enterprise players like Gauge, Relixir, and Goodie AI have entered with sophisticated methodologies.

The July-August 2025 period represented a watershed moment with approximately $50 million raised across Bluefish ($20M Series A from NEA), Scrunch AI ($15M Series A from Decibel), and Evertune ($15M Series A from Felicis Ventures). Just two months later, Profound announced a $35 million Series B led by Sequoia Capital, bringing their total funding to $55 million. The involvement of top-tier venture firms (Sequoia, Kleiner Perkins, NEA, Felicis) validates the category's potential and suggests AI search will fundamentally reshape digital marketing.

Funding records, team backgrounds, actual customer feedback, technical documentation. What we found can help you choose the tool that is the best fit for your needs. One tool might not even be enough.

Most tools are venture funded and promise pretty clear deliverables for interfaces that are themselves not fully matured. That creates opportunities - and risks.

How AI Search Tools Position for Discovery

This is not unlike watching a race where a new technology is allowed in cars. There will always be a team that understands the new tech a bit better and has the advantage. But these AI mediated interfaces are still new and evolving. So these platforms have bet on slightly different types of drivers.

Azoma keeps it simple: "e-commerce product discovery in AI shopping interfaces." No catchy emerging buzzwords. You know exactly what they do and who they serve.

Compare that to the generic stuff you see everywhere, especially in vibe coded Loveable apps (we absolutely adore loveable by the way): "Revolutionary AI-powered solution leveraging cutting-edge technology." That could be anything. A chatbot. A spreadsheet plugin. A smart blender.

Evertune talks about running 12,000 prompts per analysis - now updated to 100,000+ prompts per brand. Specific. Measurable. That kind of methodological rigor matters when competitors make vague claims about "comprehensive monitoring."

Gauge differentiates by emphasizing front-end data collection rather than API responses - showing what real users actually see. Relixir positions as the first content automation platform built specifically for AI search. Goodie AI focuses on trust-driven optimization methodology as a foundational discipline.

Then you have the vague "advanced optimization using proprietary AI algorithms" messaging. Sounds impressive. Kinda.

The tools getting found in comparison searches tend to describe exactly what they do rather than how revolutionary they are. Could be strategy. Could just be clearer thinking.

AEO Tools Analysis: 10 Platforms by Market Segment

Enterprise Solutions

Profound

Enterprise Teams
ChatGPT Perplexity Copilot Google AIO ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AIO
Market leader + security
Requires deep technical team
Market leader (#1 with 92/100 AEO score) with 400M+ prompt insights across 10+ AI engines. SOC 2 Type II certified. Enterprise-ready tool with real-time tracking and security features. Best fit for brands prioritizing data control and multi-surface consistency across AI platforms.

Bluefish

Enterprise Validated
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity
Fortune 500 adoption + AI adstream
Premium pricing tier
Fully commercial with $24M funding (Series A led by NEA and Salesforce Ventures, August 2025). Validated enterprise adoption with Adidas, Tishman Speyer, and 80%+ Fortune 500 clients. 10x revenue growth in last 6 months. Proven leadership team (PromoteIQ acquired by Microsoft 2019, LiveRail by Facebook 2014).

Scrunch AI

Brand Ops + UX
ChatGPT Gemini Meta Claude ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta, Claude
Customer journey + Agent Experience Platform
Limited automation
$19M funded (Series A led by Decibel, July 2025) with 500+ brands showing 50%+ month-over-month growth. Enterprise clients include Lenovo, BairesDev, Crunchbase, and major financial institutions. Customer results show 40% boost in referral traffic and 4x improvement in LLM visibility. Features Agent Experience Platform (AXP) for machine-readable content optimization. Best used in high-trust verticals where brand alignment and response accuracy matter.

Evertune

Content Teams + Measurement Rigor
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude Meta ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Meta
100,000+ prompt methodology
Premium enterprise pricing
$19M+ funded ($15M Series A led by Felicis Ventures, August 2025). Runs 100,000+ prompts per brand for statistical validity—significantly more sophisticated than competitors. Validated enterprise clients include Canada Goose, Miro, and WPP Media's Choreograph. Founded by ex-Trade Desk leadership with strategic investors from Uber, OpenAI, Meta, and Antenna. Strong focus on content visibility and measurement rigor.

Gauge

Data-Driven Teams
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude Meta Copilot Google AIO ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Meta, Copilot, Google AIO
Front-end data + actionable recommendations
Requires commitment to data-driven approach
Purpose-built AEO platform (not SEO add-on) with hundreds of customized prompts monitored daily. Uses front-end interface data showing what real users see rather than API responses. Case studies show 2x visibility growth in 2 weeks (Standard Metrics), 5x growth in 4 weeks (Eco). Connects to Google Analytics for actual AI traffic measurement. Best for growth-stage startups and enterprises prioritizing high-quality data and actionable analytics over basic monitoring.

Relixir

Content + Performance Teams
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude
Content automation for AI search
Newer entrant with limited public validation
End-to-end GEO platform positioning as first content automation platform built specifically for AI search visibility. Demonstrates ability to flip AI rankings in under 30 days with quantifiable improvements. Goes beyond monitoring to include content optimization and automation. Strong positioning for e-commerce and SaaS businesses seeking both measurement and execution capabilities.

Goodie AI

Strategic Teams
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude Meta ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Meta
Trust-driven optimization methodology
Limited public pricing transparency
Pioneering AEO platform dedicated to evolving AEO as a discipline. Recognized as "Editor's Pick & Category Leader" in multiple 2025 rankings. Team of experimenters focused on uncovering how trust drives optimization in AI-generated answers. Monitor visibility, optimize presence, and measure growth across LLMs. Best for teams interested in strategic foundations of AEO rather than just tactical execution.

Nimt.ai

Content Orchestration
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity
Content engineering + orchestration
Early-stage platform
Recently funded content orchestration and engineering tool focused on AI search optimization. Emerging player in the enterprise space with technical approach to content structuring for AI retrieval. Limited public track record but promising positioning for content-heavy organizations. Watch for development as platform matures.
Growth & Mid-Market

AthenaHQ

Growth Companies
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Copilot Google AIO ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AIO
Google Search insider knowledge
Early-stage risk
$2.2M seed funded, Y Combinator-backed with strong founder team (ex-Google Search PM) and AI-generated recommendations. Still early-stage but promising for growth teams focused on LLM surfacing and retrieval-layer shaping.

Peec AI

Competitive Intel
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Google AIO ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AIO
Source impact breakdown
Lacks sentiment analysis
Competitive intelligence play with good testimonials, but lacks public validation. May work well for agencies benchmarking across industries, not solo operators.

BrandLight

Visibility + Alerts
ChatGPT Perplexity Gemini Meta AI ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI
Real-time alerts, influencers
Custom pricing + unclear roadmap
Well-funded ($5.75M) but limited public customer validation. Strong investor backing suggests potential, but track record still developing.

Rank Prompt

Agencies + Brands
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude
Built from ground up for AEO
Limited public case studies
Definitive tool for brands, agencies, and SEO teams built specifically for AI-powered search visibility. Measures, tracks, and optimizes brand visibility across AI tools. Ranked "best overall for AI search optimization" in some 2025 reviews. Purpose-built for AEO rather than adapted from SEO tools. Good fit for agencies managing multiple clients and brands seeking comprehensive visibility management.

Otterly.AI

Marketing Teams
ChatGPT Perplexity Google AI Overviews Gemini ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini
Semrush integration + link citation analysis
Less comprehensive than dedicated enterprise platforms
AI search monitoring platform with Semrush app integration. Automatically tracks brand mentions and website citations with deep insights into brand representation. Link citation analysis shows which URLs AI engines reference. Particularly accessible for teams already using Semrush ecosystem. Good fit for marketing teams seeking comprehensive monitoring with established tool integration.

Vaylis

Competitive Intelligence
ChatGPT Perplexity Google AI Overviews Gemini ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini
Real-time monitoring + competitor benchmarking
Limited public track record
AI search optimization platform with comprehensive brand monitoring across major platforms. Real-time tracking capabilities with competitor benchmarking and actionable optimization recommendations through advanced analytics dashboard. Recent market activity (August 2025 guide and reviews). Best for brands requiring rapid response capabilities and competitive positioning insights.

Passionfruit Labs

ROI-Focused Teams
ChatGPT Perplexity Gemini Claude ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude
Google Analytics + Search Console integration
Newer platform with developing feature set
GEO platform that plugs directly into Google Analytics and Google Search Console to connect AI search performance with real business metrics. Unique ability to demonstrate ROI and business impact rather than just visibility metrics. Recent market positioning (September 2025) with comparison content. Best for tech brands and growth teams requiring business impact justification for AEO investments.
Traditional SEO Platform Extensions

Ahrefs Brand Radar

Ahrefs Ecosystem
ChatGPT Google AI Overviews Gemini Perplexity Copilot ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot
Single-platform convenience with Ahrefs
Less sophisticated than dedicated AEO platforms
Integrated add-on within established Ahrefs ecosystem. AI share of voice analysis versus competitors, brand perception analysis, and industry categorization for multi-vertical brands. Single-platform convenience for SEO and AEO. No custom prompt specification—users only see data Ahrefs chooses to retrieve. Add-on pricing significantly increases total costs. Best for SEO teams already using Ahrefs who want to add AEO capabilities without additional vendor relationships.

Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush Ecosystem
ChatGPT ChatGPT, Google AI Mode
Integrated with Semrush workflows
More limited than dedicated AEO platforms
Semrush's AEO add-on showing how ChatGPT and Google AI Mode represent brands versus competitors. AI share of voice evaluation, brand perception analysis, and integration with existing Semrush workflows. Established user community and knowledge base. More limited capabilities than dedicated AEO platforms with insufficient depth for enterprise-level strategies. Best for SEO teams already using Semrush seeking to add basic AEO monitoring.
Small Teams & Budget

ProductRank.ai

First-Time Explorers
ChatGPT Claude Gemini Perplexity ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity
Completely free with all major models
No historical tracking or advanced features
Completely free tool for viewing how different LLMs respond to specific topics or brands. Each model receives queries and returns key citations and rankings. Shows how each model describes brands for basic sentiment and positioning checks. Uses API responses rather than front-end data. No historical tracking over time. Perfect starting point for understanding what AI models say about your brand before investing in comprehensive platforms.

Hall

Small Teams
ChatGPT Claude Gemini Copilot ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot
Freemium, simple dashboards
Weak advanced modeling
Only real freemium entry point with working dashboard and public pricing. Ideal for solo marketers or early-phase testing before committing to a stack.

ZipTie.dev

Growing Teams
ChatGPT Perplexity Google AI Overviews ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews
Practical insights + CSV export
No API access yet
Focused tracking platform for AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity. Provides practical insights to boost visibility with CSV export capabilities for data analysis. Recent feature additions include automatic query categorization. Positioned between free basic tools and comprehensive enterprise platforms. Good fit for growing teams needing straightforward AI search tracking without extensive enterprise features.

GPTrends

Budget Solo Ops
ChatGPT Gemini Claude Grok ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok
Cost-effective monitoring
Thin documentation
Budget monitoring with basic outputs. Useful as a starter layer, but has limited platform depth—don't expect it to surface or synthesize across systems.

Am I on AI?

Quick Checks
ChatGPT ChatGPT (primary focus)
Reputation and sentiment monitoring
Limited platform coverage
Simplified approach focused on monitoring business visibility on AI platforms, especially ChatGPT. Tracks negative sentiment and reputation issues, enabling businesses to identify and respond to problems before they spread. Good for businesses wanting quick AI visibility checks and reputation monitoring rather than comprehensive optimization. Useful for periodic brand health checks.
Specialized Use Cases

Azoma

Ecomm Teams
ChatGPT Shopping Amazon Google AIO ChatGPT Shopping, Amazon, Google AIO
Shopping-specific focus
Narrow vertical scope
E-commerce-focused with shopping-specific optimization signals. Limited public proof, but promising if your catalog already leans AI-forward or has strong schema.

Gumshoe

Persona-Driven Teams
ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity Claude ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude
Persona-focused visibility analysis
API-based data (lower quality), credit-based pricing
Provides persona-focused visibility analysis, allowing brands to examine performance across different buyer segments. Targeted optimization guidance by persona alongside standard AEO tracking. Uses provider APIs resulting in lower data quality compared to front-end scraping. Credit-based prompt execution makes daily tracking expensive. Best for businesses with clearly defined buyer personas requiring persona-specific optimization, though added complexity may not benefit businesses with straightforward segments.

DEEPER DIVE: MARKET SEGMENT ANALYSIS

Those were the stories the marketing pages told us. Here's what we found when we dug into who's actually behind these platforms.

Enterprise Solutions

Profound, Bluefish, Scrunch AI, Evertune, Gauge, Relixir, Goodie AI, Nimt.ai

Built for organizations with dedicated teams and established processes. Custom pricing. Enterprise security. Integration capabilities.

If funding was a trust signal:

The enterprise category represents over $161 million in disclosed funding, demonstrating extraordinary investor conviction. Profound leads the category and the entire AEO market with $55 million across two rounds: $20M Series A (June 2025, Kleiner Perkins) and $35M Series B (August 2025, Sequoia Capital). The rapid Series B just two months after Series A indicates exceptional growth. Profound serves thousands of marketers at Fortune 100 brands with published case studies showing 7x visibility increase (Ramp) and 11% AI visibility (1840 & Co.). The company was referenced by Reddit's CEO during Q2 2025 earnings, demonstrating recognition at the highest levels of major internet companies.

Bluefish secured $24M total ($4M seed + $20M Series A led by NEA, August 2025) and has achieved 80% Fortune 500 client composition with named customers including Adidas, Tishman Speyer, and Omnicom. The founding team brings exceptional pedigree: CEO Alex Sherman co-founded PromoteIQ (acquired by Microsoft 2019), CTO Andrei Dunca co-founded LiveRail (acquired by Meta 2014), and COO Jing Feng held senior roles at Microsoft, PromoteIQ, and LiveRail. The team has worked together across multiple successful ventures, demonstrating execution capability. Bluefish reported 10x revenue growth in the six months preceding their Series A.

Scrunch AI raised $19M total ($4M seed March 2025 + $15M Series A July 2025, Decibel) and serves 500+ brands with 50%+ month-over-month growth. Enterprise clients include Lenovo, BairesDev, and Crunchbase. Founders Chris Andrew (CEO) and Robert MacCloy (CTO) both came from Hearsay Systems (acquired by Yext), where Andrew was first employee and CPO, and MacCloy was CTO. The Salt Lake City-based team brings substantial product and technical experience.

Evertune raised $19M+ total ($4M seed + $15M Series A August 2025, Felicis Ventures). CEO Brian Stempeck was employee #8 at The Trade Desk, bringing programmatic advertising expertise. The company serves Canada Goose, Miro, and WPP Media. Evertune's 100,000+ prompt methodology represents the most comprehensive testing in the market—a significant increase from their initial 12,000 prompts and substantially more than competitors. This statistical rigor matters because AI responses vary significantly.

Among newer entrants, Gauge raised $500K seed from Y Combinator (July 2024) with founding team bringing data platform experience from Standard Metrics and Noble AI. Published case studies show Standard Metrics achieved 2x visibility growth in 14 days (9% to 24%), while Eco saw 5x growth in 4 weeks. Gauge distinguishes itself through front-end interface data collection—showing what real users actually see rather than API responses. The platform monitors hundreds of customized prompts daily and connects to Google Analytics for actual AI traffic measurement.

Relixir raised $500K-$2.5M seed from Y Combinator X25 batch (May-June 2025) with backing from 468 Capital and others. Founders Sean Dorje and Dennis Zax are Berkeley dropouts who built internal GEO systems achieving #1 rankings in 200+ searches before founding the company. Multiple published case studies: mid-market apparel brand achieved 139% revenue lift in 60 days, Series B startup saw 17% inbound lead increase in six weeks. Relixir positions as "first content automation platform for AI search visibility," going beyond monitoring.

Goodie AI has not disclosed funding but achieved "Editor's Pick & Category Leader" recognition in multiple 2025 rankings. Founder Mostafa Elbermawy launched the term "AEO" at SXSW and brings marketing expertise from NoGood agency. The platform emphasizes trust-driven optimization and positions as "the only platform built from the ground up for AEO" rather than adapted from SEO tools.

Nimt.ai raised €360K pre-seed from Loop Capital and Skåne Ventures (July 2025). The Helsingborg, Sweden-based company gained paying customers within minutes of opening private beta. Founders Manuel Lemholt Berger (CEO) and Oliver Ekberg (CTO) articulate vision: "Ranking high on Google is no longer enough. The future of marketing is about influencing AI, not people."

Azoma has backing from MaRS IAF, Twinpath, Techstars, and eBay Ventures, serving enterprise e-commerce clients L'Occitane, Zappos, Canadian Tire, and Southeastern Grocers. Founder Max Sinclair spent six years at Amazon in Search, owning customer browse/catalogue experience for Singapore launch and leading Amazon Grocery EU launches. CTO Timur Luguev brings 10+ years of AI research as PhD, Fulbright Scholar, and ERCIM Fellow.

Watch for:

Most enterprise tools hide pricing and provide limited technical documentation. Implementation complexity likely high but poorly documented. Among platforms, Profound, Bluefish, Evertune, Scrunch AI, and Gauge have strongest public validation through Fortune 500 clients, documented case studies, and rapid growth metrics. Relixir, Goodie AI, and Nimt.ai show promise but have more limited public customer disclosure despite strong positioning.

Growth & Mid-Market

AthenaHQ, Peec AI, BrandLight, Rank Prompt, Otterly.AI, Vaylis, Passionfruit Labs

Designed for teams that need visibility and recommendations but not heavy infrastructure.

Experience always earns a company some kind of confidence:

AthenaHQ raised $2.2M seed (June 2025) from Y Combinator, FCVC, Red Bike Capital, and prolific angel Eli Schwartz. Founder Andrew Yan is former Google Search PM who worked on next-generation AI Search with Google and DeepMind—insider knowledge competitors can't replicate. Co-founder Alan Yao was ServiceNow platform engineer and founder of Cribbly. The platform serves 150+ customers from AI startups like Julius to publicly-traded companies, with logos including Zoominfo, Qonto, Checkr, OneSignal, and Spring Health.

AthenaHQ is one of few platforms with fully transparent pricing: Starter $295+/month, Growth $595+/month, Enterprise custom. The platform offers broadest stated coverage (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, plus additional on request). Has published "Athena's State of AI Search 2025 Report" and been featured in Forbes and Wall Street Journal.

BrandLight raised $5.75M seed (April 2025) led by Cardumen Capital and G20 Ventures with advisor Tony Weisman. Limited public customer validation but strong investor backing. Platform emphasizes real-time alerts and governance capabilities for brand safety and consistency. Monitors 8 domains across AI engines with focus on isolating messaging drift.

Peec AI raised approximately €7M (per Berlin Instagram posts, July 2025) but not yet fully disclosed in US databases. Berlin-based founders Marius Meiners (CEO, former Top 100 League of Legends player), Tobias Siwona, and Daniel Drabo. Platform emphasizes competitive intelligence and is one of three original tools publishing pricing. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini.

Among newer platforms, Rank Prompt operates bootstrapped but distinguishes itself with fully transparent pricing: Starter $49/month, Pro $89/month, Agency $149/month with credit-based structure. Explicitly supports agencies and multi-brand teams. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok, and Perplexity.

Otterly.AI (no disclosed funding) offers Semrush integration, making it accessible for marketing teams in that ecosystem. Provides automatic brand mention tracking, citation tracking, and link citation analysis. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, and Gemini.

Vaylis (no disclosed funding, founder Luis Henrich-Bandis) maintains active engagement with guides as recently as August 2025. Emphasizes real-time monitoring and competitor benchmarking. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Gemini.

Passionfruit Labs (no disclosed funding, distinct from usepassionfruit.com marketplace) differentiates through Google Analytics and Search Console integration, connecting AI search performance to actual business metrics and ROI tracking. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. Recent positioning (September 2025) indicates active development.

The edge:

AthenaHQ's Google Search insider knowledge provides unique credibility. Rank Prompt's transparent pricing stands out in a market dominated by contact models. Otterly.AI and Passionfruit Labs integrate with established platforms, lowering adoption friction. These integrations represent practical approaches for mid-market teams.

Traditional SEO Platform Extensions

Ahrefs Brand Radar, Semrush AI Toolkit

A new category emerged in 2025: established SEO platforms adding AEO capabilities.

The consolidation play:

Ahrefs Brand Radar operates as part of Ahrefs, a profitable bootstrapped company founded by Dmitry Gerasimenko without external venture funding. As part of established Ahrefs with millions of users globally, Brand Radar has immediate distribution to large existing customer base. Available as add-on to base subscriptions ($129-$14,990/month), significantly increasing total costs. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Perplexity, and Copilot.

Features include AI share of voice analysis, brand perception analysis, and industry categorization. Key limitation: users cannot specify custom prompts—only see data Ahrefs chooses to retrieve.

Semrush AI Toolkit operates as part of Semrush (NYSE: SEMR), publicly traded company with March 2021 IPO serving 10M+ users. Available as add-on to base subscriptions ($139.95-$499.95/month). More limited coverage than dedicated platforms: only ChatGPT and Google AI Mode.

Features include AI share of voice evaluation and brand perception analysis integrated with Semrush workflows. Benefits from established community and knowledge base.

The tradeoff:

Both offer single-vendor convenience versus best-of-breed specialization. No custom prompt specification. Add-on pricing increases total costs. Less sophisticated than purpose-built AEO platforms. Acceptable for teams prioritizing vendor consolidation over depth, but insufficient for enterprise-level strategies requiring customization.

Small Teams & Budget

ProductRank.ai, Hall, ZipTie.dev, GPTrends, Am I on AI?

The practical options. Transparent pricing and clear limitations.

Testing the waters with accessible options:

ProductRank.ai (no disclosed funding) is only completely free tool with no subscription required. Coverage spans ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Takes user-entered category, asks each model to rank top 10 products, aggregates results. Uses API responses rather than front-end data. No historical tracking or advanced features. Perfect entry point for understanding AI model responses before investing in paid platforms.

Hall raised $2M pre-seed (July 2025) from Blackbird Ventures, Australia's largest VC ($7B AUM, early investor in Canva and Culture Amp). Founded by Kai Forsyth with team from Atlassian, Intercom, and Rokt. Sydney-based company offers only freemium model with no sign-up required for free tier.

Hall is one of three original tools with fully transparent pricing: free Lite plan, Starter $199/month (annual billing), extending to $1,499/month. Coverage includes Perplexity and other major platforms. Focuses on analytics and measurement rather than content generation—suitable for businesses beginning AEO journey.

ZipTie.dev (no disclosed funding) founded by Bart Goralewicz and Tomek Rudzki. Maintains active development with recent features including automatic query categorization. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Provides CSV export for data analysis. Positions between free tools and enterprise platforms—good fit for growing teams.

Am I on AI? (no disclosed funding, Danny Leshem associated) takes simplified approach focused primarily on ChatGPT. Emphasizes tracking negative sentiment and reputation issues for quick visibility checks. Features include visibility monitoring, reputation tracking, sentiment analysis, action plan generation. Designed for periodic brand health checks.

GPTrends (no disclosed funding, founder Dak Kaufman) positions as budget monitoring tool. Limited platform depth with basic outputs. The original article notes thin documentation and limited capabilities. Remains unproven with potential risk for adopters.

Smart move:

Start with ProductRank.ai's free tool for baseline understanding. Hall's freemium model and transparency suggest confidence in value delivery. ZipTie.dev bridges gap for growing teams with practical export capabilities. GPTrends remains unproven with weakest validation.

Specialized Use Cases

Azoma, Gumshoe

Purpose-built for specific verticals or methodologies.

If there are regulatory and platform constraints to consider:

Azoma (detailed in Enterprise section) offers most comprehensive e-commerce integration including RegGuard compliance for FDA/DSHEA rules. Only tool with specific Amazon Rufus and Walmart Sparky optimization. Founder Max Sinclair's six years at Amazon in Search directly informs product strategy. Enterprise clients L'Occitane, Zappos, Canadian Tire, and Southeastern Grocers validate specialized approach.

Coverage specialized for commerce: ChatGPT Shopping, Amazon AI features, Google AI Overviews. Purpose-built for e-commerce vertical rather than adapted from general tools.

Gumshoe raised $2M pre-seed from Pioneer Square Labs and Hawke Ventures (May 2025). Seattle-based founding team brings substantial experience: Todd Sawicki (CEO, ex-Zemanta CEO), Patrick O'Donnell (Co-founder with exits including Urbanspoon and MightyAI), Stan Chang (Head of Product), Jim Watson (CRO, ex-Foursquare and Placed). Had hundreds of companies in public beta at funding, demonstrating validation before raising capital.

Takes persona-focused approach, generating thousands of conversations with AI models to understand brand discussion across buyer segments. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. Key metric: "share of LLM" measuring brand mentions relative to competitors.

Uses API-based data (lower quality than front-end scraping) with credit-based pricing making daily tracking expensive. Roadmap includes content development tools for AI crawlers, moving beyond monitoring. Platform identified AI models increasingly prefer business/product pages over blog content.

The reality:

If you're enterprise e-commerce, Azoma is purpose-built for your needs with proven clients. If you require persona-level analysis with strong team credentials and funding backing, Gumshoe offers that specialization. However, for businesses with straightforward segments, added complexity and cost may not provide proportional value.


KEY DIFFERENTIATORS FOUND IN RESEARCH (For Ghost Editor)

The funding and team analysis reveals which platforms have sustainable advantages and fundamental market patterns.

Funding landscape demonstrates clear market leaders with extraordinary capital concentration. The 24 tools examined have raised approximately $267 million in disclosed funding, with $161M (60%) concentrated in just eight enterprise platforms. This distribution reveals a clear hierarchy: Profound ($55M, Series B), Bluefish ($24M), Scrunch AI ($19M), Evertune ($19M+), BrandLight ($5.75M), AthenaHQ ($2.2M), Gumshoe ($2M), and Hall ($2M) represent the well-capitalized category leaders.

The July-August 2025 period was watershed, with $50M raised across Bluefish, Scrunch AI, and Evertune, followed by Profound's $35M Series B in August. This concentrated funding activity suggests investors developed strong conviction during this period, likely driven by observable AI search adoption and early customer traction.

Top-tier venture capital validates the category. Sequoia Capital led Profound's Series B. Kleiner Perkins led the Series A. NEA led Bluefish. Felicis led Evertune. Decibel led Scrunch AI. Y Combinator backed AthenaHQ, Gauge, and Relixir. This represents some of the most prestigious venture firms in technology, bringing not just capital but strategic guidance and network effects.

In contrast, the 14 new tools have raised only $3.36-$5.36M across four companies (Gauge, Relixir, Gumshoe, Nimt.ai), with 10 tools having no disclosed funding. This $161M vs. $4M gap demonstrates the original 10 tools represent more mature, better-capitalized market leaders.

Team credentials reveal patterns of experienced founders with previous exits and domain expertise. Multiple founders have previous successful exits: Alex Sherman (Bluefish) co-founded PromoteIQ acquired by Microsoft 2019; Andrei Dunca (Bluefish) co-founded LiveRail acquired by Meta 2014; Chris Andrew (Scrunch AI) was first employee and CPO at Hearsay Systems acquired by Yext; Robert MacCloy (Scrunch AI) was CTO at Hearsay Systems. This pattern of experienced founders with exits is associated with higher success rates.

Domain expertise is exceptionally strong. Andrew Yan (AthenaHQ) worked as Google Search PM on next-generation AI Search with Google and DeepMind—insider knowledge competitors cannot replicate. Brian Stempeck (Evertune) was employee #8 at The Trade Desk, bringing programmatic advertising expertise. Max Sinclair (Azoma) spent six years at Amazon in Search, owning Singapore launch and EU Grocery launches. Caelean Barnes (Gauge) was founding engineer at Standard Metrics and Noble AI. Sean Dorje and Dennis Zax (Relixir) built internal GEO systems achieving #1 in 200+ searches before founding their company.

Several founding teams worked together previously, reducing execution risk. Entire Bluefish leadership (Sherman, Dunca, Feng) worked together at PromoteIQ and LiveRail. Scrunch AI founders (Andrew, MacCloy) both from Hearsay Systems. Profound founders (Cadwallader, Babbs) met at South Park Commons. This pattern is associated with better communication, trust, and execution.

Technical backgrounds skew toward data platforms, machine learning, and search rather than marketing, suggesting AEO is being built by technical founders who understand underlying AI systems rather than marketers adapting existing approaches.

Customer validation has strengthened through documented case studies with quantifiable results. Profound leads with named customers achieving 7x visibility increase (Ramp) and 11% AI visibility becoming top 5 in category (1840 & Co.). Referenced by Reddit CEO during Q2 2025 earnings demonstrates C-suite awareness at major internet companies. Partnership with G2 (September 2025) to power B2B software discovery shows expanding reach.

Bluefish achieved exceptional Fortune 500 penetration with 80% of clients being Fortune 500 brands, including Adidas, Tishman Speyer, and Omnicom. 10x revenue growth in six months provides quantifiable product-market fit validation at enterprise level.

Scrunch AI serves 500+ brands with 50%+ month-over-month growth in paying customers. Named customers include Lenovo, BairesDev, and Crunchbase. This rapid growth demonstrates strong momentum.

Evertune serves Canada Goose, Miro, and WPP Media. AthenaHQ serves 150+ customers from AI startups to publicly-traded companies with visible logos including Zoominfo, Qonto, Checkr. Azoma's e-commerce customers (L'Occitane, Zappos, Canadian Tire, Southeastern Grocers) validate specialized vertical approach.

Among newer entrants, Relixir published multiple case studies: 139% revenue lift for mid-market apparel brand, 17% inbound lead increase for Series B startup, documented 30-day ranking flips. Gauge published results for Standard Metrics (2x in 14 days) and Eco (5x in 4 weeks). These concrete results provide credibility where many tools cannot demonstrate proven outcomes.

Gumshoe launched with hundreds of beta users before raising capital. Nimt.ai gained paying customers within minutes of opening access. Both demonstrate strong early demand.

Most new tools (Goodie AI, Rank Prompt, Otterly.AI, Vaylis, Passionfruit Labs, ZipTie.dev, Am I on AI?, ProductRank.ai, BrandLight, Peec AI) have limited public customer validation despite positioning. Hall and GPTrends have no published case studies.

Measurement sophistication reveals fundamental technical choices with significant implications. Evertune's 100,000+ prompts per brand represents most comprehensive testing publicly disclosed—a significant increase from initial 12,000 prompts and substantially more than competitors. This scale matters because AI responses vary significantly; a tool running 50 queries might miss patterns emerging from 100,000+ queries.

A critical divide exists between front-end data collection and API-based approaches. Gauge explicitly positions front-end interface data as superior to API responses, arguing it shows what real users actually see rather than programmatic outputs. This represents fundamental methodological choice with implications for data accuracy.

Gumshoe and ProductRank.ai use API-based data, explicitly noted as lower quality than front-end scraping but allowing higher volume execution at lower cost. Most competitors make vague claims about "comprehensive monitoring" without explaining methodology.

Profound emphasizes "billions of unique signals" and "state-of-the-art reasoning models," suggesting sophisticated AI infrastructure. AthenaHQ offers broadest stated platform coverage (8+ AI platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, plus additional on request).

Content automation versus monitoring-only represents fundamentally different value propositions. Profound positions as "read/write" rather than "read-only," emphasizing content creation capabilities beyond monitoring. Creates AI-optimized content in one click contrasted with insights-only platforms.

Relixir positions as "first content automation platform for AI search visibility," going beyond monitoring to include content optimization and automation. Nimt.ai developing features to "actively boost visibility" directly through platform. Gumshoe roadmap includes FAQ development tools for AI crawlers.

This contrasts with pure monitoring tools (Hall, GPTrends, Am I on AI?, ProductRank.ai) showing visibility metrics without execution capabilities. The automation approach is particularly relevant for e-commerce and SaaS seeking measurement and execution in single platform.

Business metrics integration addresses the critical ROI demonstration challenge. Passionfruit Labs' unique direct integration with Google Analytics and Google Search Console connects AI search performance to actual business metrics and ROI tracking rather than just visibility. This capability is particularly valuable for growth teams requiring business impact justification for AEO investments.

Gauge's Google Analytics connection allows measurement of actual AI traffic rather than just visibility metrics. This integration approach recognizes visibility metrics alone don't satisfy stakeholders needing to understand business outcomes—ability to connect AEO performance to revenue, conversions, or qualified leads represents important differentiator.

Pricing transparency remains exceptionally rare, indicating market immaturity. Only six of 24 tools publish actual prices: AthenaHQ ($295-$595+ with custom Enterprise), Hall ($199-$1,499 with free tier), Scrunch AI (pricing page), Rank Prompt ($49-$149 with transparent credit structure), ProductRank.ai (completely free), and SEO platform extensions (Ahrefs $129-$14,990, Semrush $139.95-$499.95 base plus add-on costs).

The remaining 18 tools use "contact for pricing" models creating evaluation friction. This could mean vendors are still determining pricing models, practicing price discrimination based on client size, or deliberately avoiding comparison shopping. The dominance of contact-based pricing indicates the AEO market has not commoditized—most vendors still determining optimal pricing and customizing packages.

Rank Prompt's fully transparent tiered pricing stands out. ProductRank.ai's completely free model provides zero-barrier entry point. Hall's freemium with no sign-up required drives top-of-funnel acquisition mirroring successful SaaS companies like Slack and Dropbox.

Geographic diversity suggests global market development beyond Silicon Valley. While most tools remain U.S.-based (15 of 24), international presence is growing. Hall operates from Sydney, Australia backed by Blackbird Ventures ($7B AUM, early investor in Canva). Peec AI based in Berlin, Germany raised €7M. Nimt.ai operates from Helsingborg, Sweden with rapid customer acquisition demonstrating European demand.

This geographic distribution suggests AEO is becoming global category rather than purely Silicon Valley-centric, though U.S. remains dominant with 62% of platforms.

Integration strategies reveal three distinct approaches addressing different buyer priorities. Some tools integrate with existing SEO platforms (Otterly.AI with Semrush, Ahrefs Brand Radar, Semrush AI Toolkit) offering single-vendor convenience but reduced sophistication. Others position as standalone best-of-breed (Profound, Gauge, Goodie AI, Relixir, Evertune, Scrunch AI) with specialized capabilities. A third approach focuses on business metrics integration (Passionfruit Labs with GA/GSC, Gauge with GA) rather than SEO platform integration.

Each strategy addresses different priorities: vendor consolidation, specialized functionality, or business outcome alignment. The SEO platform extensions benefit from established user bases but lack customization and sophistication of purpose-built platforms.

Specialized vertical focus indicates market segmentation is beginning. Azoma's purpose-built e-commerce platform with Amazon Rufus, Walmart Sparky, and RegGuard compliance demonstrates successful vertical specialization. Coverage of ChatGPT Shopping, Amazon AI, and Google AI Overviews focuses specifically on purchase-decision platforms.

Gumshoe's persona-focused approach represents methodology specialization rather than vertical, examining performance across buyer segments. BrandLight's governance and real-time alerts focus addresses brand safety concerns particularly relevant for enterprises worried about AI-generated content deviating from approved messaging.

This specialization contrasts with general-purpose platforms (Profound, Evertune, AthenaHQ) serving broad markets. Market maturity will likely increase specialization as use cases become more defined.


IMPLEMENTATION REALITY (For Ghost Editor)

AI platforms change their algorithms, data sources, and response patterns constantly. ChatGPT gets updated. Perplexity shifts how it weights sources. Google's AI Overviews evolve monthly. Your optimization work could become obsolete overnight.

The lack of measurement standards across interfaces creates more confusion. There's no industry consensus on what "AI search performance" even means, let alone how to measure it reliably. The divide between front-end data collection (Gauge) and API-based approaches (Gumshoe, ProductRank.ai) reflects this lack of standardization—there's no agreed-upon methodology for what constitutes accurate measurement.

And to be fair, no one really knows what the final interface of these tools is going to look like. AI browsers were just announced. As an early adopter, you're betting on vendors' methodologies with no way to verify accuracy. The tools with published case studies (Profound's 7x visibility for Ramp, Gauge's 2x-5x growth, Relixir's 139% revenue lift, Scrunch AI's 40% referral boost) at least demonstrate they can measure something that correlates with business outcomes, but causation remains difficult to prove in such a rapidly evolving environment.

The $161 million invested in market leaders suggests institutional investors believe this is real and lasting. The Fortune 500 adoption (Bluefish at 80%, Profound serving Fortune 100) demonstrates sophisticated enterprises with rigorous vendor evaluation are committing. But fundamental challenges remain: no measurement standards, constantly evolving AI platforms, and uncertainty about which interfaces will dominate.


SELECTION FRAMEWORK AND RECOMMENDATIONS (For Ghost Editor)

Start Here:

  1. Use ProductRank.ai's completely free tool to see how major LLMs (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity) currently describe your brand. Zero cost, zero barrier to entry, perfect for initial exploration.
  2. If that reveals opportunities, move to Hall's free tier to establish baseline AI visibility tracking with historical data.
  3. For proven enterprise features with documented results:
    • Profound (market leader, $55M funding including Series B from Sequoia, thousands of Fortune 100 marketers, 7x visibility increase for Ramp)
    • Bluefish (80% Fortune 500 clients including Adidas, $24M funding, 10x revenue growth in 6 months, founding team with two previous exits to Microsoft and Meta)
    • Evertune (100,000+ prompt methodology, $19M+ funding, ex-Trade Desk leadership, Canada Goose and Miro customers)
    • Scrunch AI (500+ brands with 50%+ month-over-month growth, $19M funding, 40% referral traffic boost documented)
    • Gauge (documented 2x-5x visibility growth, front-end data collection, Y Combinator-backed, Google Analytics integration)
    • Relixir (content automation with 139% revenue lift case study, 30-day ranking flips, Y Combinator X25)
  4. For e-commerce specifically: Azoma (purpose-built with Amazon Rufus/Walmart Sparky optimization, RegGuard compliance for FDA/DSHEA, L'Occitane and Zappos customers)
  5. For growth companies:
    • AthenaHQ (Google Search insider knowledge, $2.2M seed, 150+ customers, transparent pricing starting at $295/month, broadest platform coverage)
    • Rank Prompt (transparent pricing $49-$149/month, agency-friendly, no hidden fees)
    • Nimt.ai (rapid customer acquisition, €360K funding, European presence, paying customers within minutes of beta launch)
  6. Already using SEO tools? Ahrefs Brand Radar or Semrush AI Toolkit offer convenient add-ons, though less sophisticated than dedicated platforms. Accept reduced customization and higher total costs for vendor consolidation.
  7. For content automation beyond monitoring: Relixir positions uniquely with end-to-end platform including content automation capabilities
  8. For ROI tracking and business metrics: Passionfruit Labs' Google Analytics and Search Console integration connects AEO performance to business outcomes
  9. For persona-specific analysis: Gumshoe ($2M funding, Seattle startup veterans including ex-Zemanta CEO and Urbanspoon founder) if you have clearly defined buyer personas requiring segmented optimization
  10. For growing teams needing practical tools: ZipTie.dev (CSV export, automatic categorization) bridges gap between free tools and enterprise platforms

Use caution:

  • Tools with undisclosed funding and limited team information (Otterly.AI, Vaylis, Passionfruit Labs, Am I on AI?, ProductRank.ai, GPTrends, BrandLight, Peec AI, Goodie AI). Most new entrants fall here—may indicate bootstrapping while proving fit, or may signal lack of traction
  • Annual contracts with unproven platforms lacking published case studies or customer validation
  • Custom pricing without clear value justification—18 of 24 tools hide pricing, creating evaluation friction
  • Tools using API data rather than front-end scraping (Gumshoe, ProductRank.ai)—explicitly noted as lower quality but may be acceptable for specific use cases like persona analysis or free exploration
  • Credit-based pricing models (Rank Prompt, Gumshoe) where daily tracking could become expensive—calculate actual costs before committing
  • Early-stage platforms without customer validation—while Nimt.ai's instant conversions and Gauge's case studies show promise, most new tools lack public proof

Watch for:

  • No public customer case studies—only Profound, Bluefish, Scrunch AI, Gauge, and Relixir have published quantifiable results
  • Vague technical documentation without methodology disclosure
  • "Contact for pricing" without transparent feature comparison—indicates either customized enterprise pricing or market immaturity
  • Claims about "comprehensive monitoring" without explaining methodology—front-end vs API, prompt volume, and measurement approach matter significantly
  • Platform coverage claims—verify which AI systems are actually monitored versus marketing claims
  • Add-on pricing for SEO platforms—total costs for Ahrefs Brand Radar and Semrush AI Toolkit significantly exceed base subscription prices

Geographic considerations:

  • North American focus: 15 of 24 tools primarily serve US/Canadian markets
  • European presence: Nimt.ai (Sweden) and Peec AI (Germany) represent growing European market
  • Australian presence: Hall backed by Blackbird Ventures demonstrates Asia-Pacific opportunity
  • Global capability: Established SEO platforms (Ahrefs, Semrush) have international user bases

The search queries that brought you here reflect a market trying to make sense of a fundamental shift. With $161M invested by top-tier VCs and Fortune 500 companies committing resources, the question isn't whether AI search matters. It's which tools can actually deliver results while the interfaces are still evolving.

Update (October 12, 2025): Several AI browsers have launched since July (Perplexity Comet beta, Opera Neon, Brave Search AI), and OpenAI announced their browser in development. However, mass consumer adoption has not materialized. The market remains in early adopter phase with significant barriers including premium pricing and user habits. The cautious stance on betting on emerging interfaces remains validated. For ongoing tracking of AI browser adoption trends, see our weekly AI Browser Market Share report that monitors North American usage patterns.

We acknowledge this is an emerging market and we are happy to include additional data and/or make corrections. Reach out at aloha@platelunchcollective.com.


REFERENCES

[1] Independent Research Analysis: AEO Tools Market Assessment, July 2025; Updated October 12, 2025

PROFOUND

[2] Profound Series A Announcement: https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/series-a (June 18, 2025, $20M led by Kleiner Perkins)

[3] Profound Series B Announcement: https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/series-b; PR Newswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/profound-raises-35m-series-b-as-ai-search-becomes-the-next-platform-shift-302527764.html (August 12, 2025, $35M led by Sequoia Capital)

[4] Profound Customer Case Studies: 1840 & Co. (https://www.tryprofound.com/customers/1840-co-answer-engine-optimization-case-study); Ramp (https://www.tryprofound.com/customers/ramp-case-study)

[5] Profound G2 Partnership: https://company.g2.com/news/g2-profound-partnership (September 11, 2025)

[6] TechCrunch Profound Coverage: https://techcrunch.com/2024/08/13/move-over-seo-profound-is-helping-brands-with-ai-search-optimization/

[7] Profound 10M Search Study: https://padron.sh/blog/profound-10m-search-study/

BLUEFISH

[8] Bluefish $20M Series A: NEA Blog https://www.nea.com/blog/bluefish-the-ai-marketing-platform-for-the-agentic-era; PR Newswire https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/bluefish-raises-20m-to-power-ai-marketing-for-the-fortune-500-302534342.html (August 20, 2025)

[9] AdExchanger Bluefish Coverage: https://www.adexchanger.com/marketers/ai-marketing-platform-bluefish-raises-19m-in-series-a-funding/

[10] Adweek Bluefish Pitch Deck: https://www.adweek.com/media/bluefish-pitch-deck-20-million-series-a-ai-search/

[11] Yahoo Finance Bluefish Interview: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bluefish-ceo-says-where-eyeballs-154600377.html

[12] Laconia Capital Bluefish Portfolio: https://www.laconiacapitalgroup.com/blog/portfolio-spotlight-bluefish

SCRUNCH AI

[13] Scrunch AI Company About Page: https://scrunch.com/about/

[14] Scrunch AI $15M Series A: TheSaasNews https://www.thesaasnews.com/news/scrunch-ai-raises-15-million-in-series-a; Finsmes https://www.finsmes.com/2025/07/scrunch-ai-raises-15m-in-series-a-funding.html; Axios https://www.axios.com/pro/retail-deals/2025/07/22/scrunch-15-million-brands-ai-search (July 22-23, 2025, led by Decibel)

[15] Pulse2 Scrunch Coverage: https://pulse2.com/scrunch-ai-15-million-raised-for-improving-ai-search/

[16] MartechCube Scrunch Coverage: https://www.martechcube.com/scrunch-ai-raises-15-mn-series-a-to-rebuild-internet-for-ai-consumption/

[17] Tracxn Scrunch AI: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/scrunch-ai/__YD-HNnICy36Jc7CvwqOaj2AKuZHLtMkH9BTlQ4JC14U

EVERTUNE

[18] Evertune $15M Series A: Yahoo Finance https://finance.yahoo.com/news/evertune-raises-15-million-series-170000394.html; VCNewsDaily https://vcnewsdaily.com/evertune/venture-capital-funding/nvjhcrvqrc (August 12, 2025, led by Felicis Ventures)

[19] Evertune LinkedIn Announcements: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/evertune-ai_were-excited-to-announce-that-weve-raised-activity-7361386071080771586-0Vawhttps://www.linkedin.com/posts/evertune-ai_aisearchvisibility-geo-aiseo-activity-7369063028962598913-5mqm

[20] VentureFizz Evertune Podcast: https://venturefizz.com/insights/episode-394-brian-stempeck-ceo-co-founder-of-evertune/

ATHENAHQ

[21] AthenaHQ Company Website: https://athenahq.ai/; About Page https://athenahq.ai/about

[22] AthenaHQ Y Combinator Profile: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/athenahq

[23] AthenaHQ $2.2M Seed: LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/posts/athena-hq_announcing-athenas-22m-seed-round-by-some-activity-7340801300562862080-jaJW; Finsmes https://www.finsmes.com/2025/06/athena-raises-2-2m-in-seed-funding.html (June 2025)

[24] Andrew Yan LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-yan-200

[25] AthenaHQ Jobs Page: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/athenahq/jobs/cIrEbKR-founding-engineer

PEEC AI

[26] Peec AI Website: https://peec.ai/

[27] Peec AI LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/peec-ai

[28] Peec AI €7M Funding: Instagram https://www.instagram.com/p/DLp1UEbBVSH/?hl=en (approximately July 2025)

[29] Tracxn Peec AI: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/peec-ai/__GI_FO8uxvVQx0mUWur5w1N6bN2IRPrMwDPBUUvg283U

[30] Marius Meiners LinkedIn: https://de.linkedin.com/in/mariusmeiners

[31] WriteSonic AEO Tools Review: https://writesonic.com/blog/answer-engine-optimization-tools

[32] Nick Lafferty Profound vs Peec Comparison: https://nicklafferty.com/blog/profound-vs-peec-ai/

BRANDLIGHT

[33] BrandLight $5.75M Seed: Jewish Business News https://jewishbusinessnews.com/2025/04/16/brandlight-launches-with-5-75m-to-help-companies-shape-brand-representation-in-ai-models/ (April 2025, led by Cardumen Capital and G20 Ventures)

[34] Tony Weisman LinkedIn Post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/tonyweisman_thrilled-to-see-brandlight-a-company-im-activity-7318610598487855104-V0WP

[35] Plate Lunch Collective BrandLight Comparison: https://www.platelunchcollective.com/brandlight-vs-evertune-aeo-platform-comparison/

[36] BrandLight Messaging Drift Article: https://sat.brandlight.ai/articles/brandlight-isolates-messaging-drift-and-ai-rankings

[37] BrandLight vs Profound Comparison: https://sat.brandlight.ai/articles/brandlight-vs-profound-for-share-of-voice-in-search

HALL

[38] Hall Company Page: https://usehall.com/company

[39] Hall $2M Pre-Seed: Startup Daily https://www.startupdaily.net/topic/funding/ai-marketing-startup-raises-2-million-pre-seed-for-post-google-seo-solutions/; Business News Australia https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/blackbird-tips--2m-into-sydney-startup-that-measures-brand-performance-in-ai-search.html (July 28, 2025, led by Blackbird Ventures)

[40] AEO Tools Space Hall Profile: https://www.aeotools.space/tool/hall

[41] Hall Reviews: SourceForge https://sourceforge.net/software/product/Hall/; Slashdot https://slashdot.org/software/p/Hall/

[42] Hall LinkedIn: https://au.linkedin.com/company/usehall

GPTRENDS

[43] GPTrends Website: https://gptrends.io/

[44] Dak Kaufman LinkedIn Launch: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/kaufmandak_gptrends-activity-7310711789648797697-XQBZ

[45] GPTrends Blog Variability Article: https://gptrends.io/blog/variability-in-ai-search/

[46] AEO Tools Space GPTrends: https://www.aeotools.space/tool/gptrends

AZOMA

[47] Azoma About Page: https://www.azoma.ai/about

[48] Max Sinclair LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/max-sinclair-ai

[49] Shoptalk Europe Max Sinclair Speaker: https://shoptalkeurope.com/speakers/max-sinclair

[50] Crunchbase Ecomtent (Azoma): https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/ecomtent

[51] LinkedIn Seb Johnson Azoma Founder Feature: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/seb-johnson_meet-the-founder-max-sinclair-of-azoma-activity-7369715999895363585-R9ba

[52] AI Chronicles Podcast Max Sinclair: https://aichronicles.castos.com/episodes/max-sinclair-the-future-of-geo-getting-your-brandxod

[53] Azoma OpenAI CEO Insights: https://www.azoma.ai/insights/openai-new-ceo-of-applications-ecommerce-signals

GAUGE

[54] Gauge Team Page: https://www.withgauge.com/team

[55] Gauge Resources and Case Studies: https://www.withgauge.com/resources/10-best-answer-engine-optimization-aeo-tools-2025

[56] Gauge Funding: Tracxn https://tracxn.com/d/companies/gauge/__bxIzy-FZ2ErdPrJzXjnn9bgec2bufISkCFNwiyi8izQ/funding-and-investors; Crunchbase https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/gauge-6d0f; PitchBook https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/601536-79($500K seed, July 2024, Y Combinator)

RELIXIR

[57] Relixir YC Journey and Funding: https://relixir.ai/blog/relixir-yc-x25-journey-funding-product-roadmap-geo-customers

[58] Relixir Case Studies: https://relixir.ai/case-studies; 139% Sales Growth https://relixir.ai/blog/case-study-139-percent-sales-growth-on-shopify-after-adopting-generative-engine-optimization

[59] Y Combinator Relixir: https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/relixir

[60] Tracxn Relixir: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/relixir/__YkoePFOq2Y9S4um9eh1YXYr0wAfwGlyL4t0r6Xnlxk0

[61] PitchBook Relixir: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/company/863161-30 ($500K-$2.5M seed, May-June 2025, YC X25)

GOODIE AI

[62] Goodie AI About Page: https://www.higoodie.com/about-us

[63] Tracxn Goodie AI: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/goodie-ai/__Ohw5iyqJ-avYwDMYTppDKdISCZqH9x47JgSRBjaIL-Y

[64] Crunchbase Goodie AI: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/goodie-ai

[65] Goodie AI LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/goodie-ai

RANK PROMPT

[66] Rank Prompt Pricing: https://rankprompt.com/pricing/

[67] Rank Prompt Platform: https://rankprompt.com/platform/

[68] Rank Prompt Website: https://rankprompt.com/

[69] Rank Prompt LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/rankprompt

OTTERLY.AI

[70] Otterly.AI Website: https://otterly.ai/

[71] Tracxn Otterly.AI: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/otterly.ai/__wEAJgSfWCyGM1xLopj3P9dGEGBQQznPce8YfS0ZrUPI

VAYLIS

[72] Vaylis Website: https://vaylis.ai/

[73] Luis Henrich-Bandis LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luishenrich/

PASSIONFRUIT LABS

[74] Passionfruit Labs Website: https://www.getpassionfruit.com/ (Note: Distinct from usepassionfruit.com freelancer marketplace)

ZIPTIE.DEV

[75] ZipTie.dev Website: https://ziptie.dev/

[76] ZipTie.dev Blog: https://ziptie.dev/blog/

[77] ZipTie.dev LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ziptiedev

AM I ON AI?

[78] Am I on AI? Website: https://www.amionai.com/

[79] Am I on AI? Product Page: https://www.amionai.com/product

[80] Tracxn Am I on AI?: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/amionai.com/__4rAwQHpCLHOSqLi46FNBcElWDWWCqrNf2jEklS6OgB4

GUMSHOE

[81] Gumshoe $2M Pre-Seed: Blog Announcement https://blog.gumshoe.ai/gumshoe-raises-2m-pre-seed-to-help-marketers-navigate-ai-search/ (May 1, 2025 announced, led by Pioneer Square Labs and Hawke Ventures)

[82] Yahoo Finance Gumshoe Coverage: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/marketers-panicking-chatgpts-impact-seo-134506379.html

[83] Tracxn Gumshoe: https://tracxn.com/d/companies/gumshoe/__X5eIqQhUZftb-6ei3CzKUd1RteRyJ63reDwJdT1MdHM

[84] Crunchbase Gumshoe: https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/gumshoe-ai

PRODUCTRANK.AI

[85] ProductRank.ai Website: https://productrank.ai/ (Completely free tool, no disclosed funding)

NIMT.AI

[86] Nimt.ai €360K Pre-Seed: Öresund Startups https://oresundstartups.com/nimt-ai-gained-paying-customers-within-minutes-now-closes-first-funding-round/ (July 11, 2025, Loop Capital and SkÃ¥ne Ventures)

[87] Nimt.ai Website: https://nimt.ai/

[88] Dealroom Nimt.ai: https://kenya.dealroom.co/companies/nimt_ai

[89] Oliver Ekberg LinkedIn: https://se.linkedin.com/in/oliverekberg

[90] Nimt.ai LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nimt-ai

AHREFS BRAND RADAR

[91] Ahrefs Brand Radar: https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar

[92] Ahrefs Pricing: https://ahrefs.com/pricing (Bootstrapped, profitable company founded by Dmitry Gerasimenko)

SEMRUSH AI TOOLKIT

[93] Semrush AI Toolkit: https://www.semrush.com/ai-toolkit/

[94] Semrush Pricing: https://www.semrush.com/pricing/ (Public company NYSE: SEMR, March 2021 IPO)

[95] AI Browser Market Adoption Analysis, October 12, 2025

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