Ex-Google Engineer Unveils Athena to Boost AI Search Rankings
▼ Summary
– Andrew Yan, a former Google Search engineer, co-founded Athena to help brands optimize visibility in AI-generated responses from tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity.
– Athena launched with $2.2 million in funding and aims to address the shift from traditional search results to direct AI chatbot answers.
– The company tracks how AI models describe brands and provides recommendations to optimize content for AI visibility, already serving over 100 customers.
– Profound, another startup, raised $20 million to monitor how chatbots relay brand information, anticipating a “zero-click internet” where bots dominate web traffic.
– SEO consultants like Cyrus Shepard report increasing focus on AI visibility, with new tools like Athena and Profound addressing the challenges of AI-driven search.
The digital marketing landscape is undergoing a seismic shift as AI-powered search tools redefine how users find information online. A former Google engineer is at the forefront of this transformation, launching innovative solutions to help brands adapt to the rise of AI-generated responses.
Andrew Yan, who recently left Google’s search team, co-founded Athena, a startup focused on optimizing brand visibility in AI-driven platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. Backed by $2.2 million in funding from Y Combinator and other investors, Athena aims to bridge the gap between traditional SEO and the emerging AI-dominated search ecosystem. Yan emphasizes that the era of optimizing for Google’s “10 blue links” is fading fast, replaced by direct answers from chatbots, a change he believes is permanent.
Athena’s platform analyzes how different AI models interpret and present brand information, offering actionable insights to refine content for better AI visibility. Already serving over 100 clients, including Paperless Post, the company addresses growing marketer concerns about the “zero-click internet,” where users rely on AI responses rather than visiting websites.
This shift isn’t isolated. Another player, Profound, has secured $20 million in funding to help brands monitor how AI tools gather and relay their information. Profound’s co-founder, James Cadwallader, predicts a future where bots, not humans, dominate website traffic as AI interfaces become the primary search medium.
SEO professionals are already adjusting. Cyrus Shepard of Zyppy SEO notes that AI visibility now accounts for 10–15% of his workload, a figure he expects to rise sharply. While tools like Athena and Profound are still evolving, their rapid adoption signals a pressing need for solutions in this uncharted territory.
The broader implications are clear: AI is reshaping search, and brands must rethink their strategies to stay relevant. Whether through structured data, authoritative sourcing, or other yet-to-be-defined tactics, the race to master AI search optimization is well underway.
Featured Image: Roman Samborskyi/Shutterstock
(Source: Search Engine Journal)
