Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has been a top priority for brands for over a decade, helping them rank high on search result pages and get as much attention as possible for their websites and products. But search is changing, and with consumers increasingly turning to AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Claude for search, brands need a new strategy.
Profound was launched to help brands get a better understanding of how they appear in AI search by tracking common search queries. For example, if a user is in the automotive industry, the dashboard will automatically include search data like “what is the best SUV.” Users can also use the platform to perform more specific searches to see how search results change depending on demographic data, or to dig deeper into how the AI system ranks the trustworthiness of websites that talk about specific products.
The New York-based company was founded earlier this year by James Cadwalader and Dylan Babs, who met at startup incubator South Park Commons. Cadwalader told TechCrunch that he and Babs became fascinated with how AI was changing online search. Cadwalader said his experience working with major Fortune 500 brands as the former founder of data-driven influencer marketing agency Kyra helped him come up with the specific idea behind Profound.
“In this new world of AI answers, how will Nike understand and control how their answers are displayed? If you ask ChatGPT a question about running sneakers, it will give you four or five suggestions,” Cadwalader says. “Nike spends $4 billion a year on marketing, and hundreds of millions of people use these AI answers to research products and brands every day. How will we be displayed in the new world?”
Babs said the platform is dynamic, rather than a static snapshot, so as AI search continues to evolve and priorities may change (as is often the case with SEO rankings), brands using Profound can track and adjust for changes.
The startup is still in its early stages, but has already started working with major branding firms, according to Cadwalader. Profound has two other deals in the works. The company is now coming out of stealth with $3.5 million in seed funding from Keith Rabois, Khosla Ventures, Saga, SouthPark Commons, and angel investors Scott Belsky and Balaji S. Srinivasan. Cadwalader said Profound plans to use the funding to continue hiring and building out its technology.
Ben Braverman, co-founder and managing partner at Saga, told TechCrunch that he got to know Cadwalader through a talk he gave at South Park Commons. “As soon as we started talking to him, [Cadwallader] “There's just so much energy about what he's building,” Braverman said. “The more time I spent with him, he's such a fun guy, and we were talking about where the puck was moving with the AI, and that was a lightbulb moment. I need to spend more time with this guy.”
Braverman added that he was able to eavesdrop on sales calls and that potential customers seemed to quickly understand the need for this type of technology. He also became interested in the company because he believes Profound is building a wall for itself, and that the services it offers to brands it works with will discourage those companies from wanting to build the technology themselves.
But the jury's probably still out on that one. Profound may be one of the companies trying to get into this space, but it won't be the last. As AI search becomes a hot topic, we'll likely see other startups, as well as established SEO companies and marketing agencies, trying to up their game in the space.
“In this new world, every company, every business in every industry will want to know how they show up in AI answers,” Cadwalader says. “Profound will be the solution that every business around the world uses every day to understand what AI systems are saying about them.”