As consumers ditch Google for ChatGPT, Peec AI raises $21M to help brands adapt

With consumers progressively asking questions of ChatGPT — not Google — merchandise find is changing. And the committedness to springiness brands visibility and power implicit this fast-growing hunt transmission has made Peec AI 1 of Europe’s hottest startups.

Just 4 months aft its Seed round led by 20VC, the Berlin-based startup has raised a $21 cardinal Series A led by European VC steadfast Singular. CEO Marius Meiners declined to disclose the valuation, but said it had tripled and was present supra $100 million. 

This comes aft Peec AI grew its yearly recurring gross to much than $4 cardinal successful lone 10 months since its launch, attracting 1,300 companies and agencies to its platform. 

These customers usage Peec AI to show however their brands look successful AI-powered searches. But beyond analytics connected visibility and ranking, Peec AI besides tracks sentiment — and which sources signifier these answers. 

These insights are what marque Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) imaginable — a mode for selling teams to optimize their brand’s beingness successful AI hunt results, akin to however SEO works for accepted hunt engines. With this promise, the startup says it is present adding immoderate 300 customers a month, and its caller backing volition accelerate this maturation portion besides supporting enlargement plans.

Thanks to its caller round, which was besides backed by Antler, Combination VC, identity.vc, and S20, the startup plans to prosecute immoderate 40 radical successful the adjacent six months. These roles are mostly based successful Berlin, wherever Meiners met his 2 cofounders successful Antler’s Winter 2024 cohort: Tobias Siwonia is present Peec AI’s CTO, and Daniel Drabo is its CRO.

Expanding accelerated and being disposable whitethorn beryllium cardinal to winning successful an emerging class that could soon go crowded, with competitors already including New York-based Profound and Austrian startup OtterlyAI. 

To assistance pull much talent, the 20-person startup is presently advertizing itself connected ample outdoor ads passim Germany’s superior city. But beyond its Berlin plans, Meiners told TechCrunch that Peec AI besides plans to unfastened a sales-focused bureau successful New York City successful the 2nd 4th of adjacent year. 

As much GEO-focused tools go available, and SEO dashboards adhd AI tracking capabilities, Peec AI hopes to differentiate itself by offering selling teams a dashboard that expands successful scope portion remaining elemental to use, contempt the fast-changing quality of AI searches.

Instead of revolving astir keywords similar SEO tools, Peec AI’s dashboard centers connected prompts for which brands would similar to amusement up good successful hunt results. Customers tin way up to 25 prompts for €75 per period ($87), expanding to 100 prompts for €169 per period ($196). Both plans connection escaped trials, dissimilar its endeavor offering, which starts from €424 per period ($493).

To marque these insights actionable, the dashboard besides suggests actions that tin amended visibility and affirmative sentiment. For instance, its location leafage suggests that a institution that wants to beryllium the reply to a query connected “the champion CRMs for fast-growing companies” whitethorn privation to “join r/CRM subreddit discussions” connected Reddit.

This proposal besides relates to the “source insights” that are astatine the halfway of Peec AI and could usher the contented strategy of its users. The startup observed that mentions successful tier 1 media outlets don’t springiness much visibility than articles by lesser-known publications whose headlines are person to the archetypal question — for instance, connected “the champion healthcare investors successful Berlin.” 

Companies that already usage its tools see Axel Springer, Chanel, n8n, ElevenLabs, TUI, and more, arsenic AI searches summation crushed crossed sectors, some for B2C and for B2B searches. However, users besides crook to ChatGPT and the similar for galore different tasks and requests, which means that the startup has to chopped done sound down the scenes.

To execute this, Peec AI bought earthy datasets of these requests, but that’s conscionable the beginning. “We person to filter each these retired to truly get the questions that radical inquire astir brands oregon purchases and products and services,” Meiners said. 

For each the simplicity connected the outside, that proprietary information pipeline whitethorn beryllium the cardinal to Peec AI’s success. This besides serves arsenic a reminder that the AI worth concatenation is not lone astir models and that the AI exertion furniture and underlying information person go a prime territory for European startups, present including Peec AI.