Organic traffic across big and small business websites ranked on platforms like Google and Bing saw a major decline in 2024, in part due to the rise of AI-generated search results. Many queries no longer lead to click-throughs, and even when users click, it is hard for companies to get more context on searches made within apps like ChatGPT or Perplexity.
According to Otterly.AI CEO Thomas Peham, the answer to this problem is sometimes called generative engine optimization, or GEO, in a nod to SEO. “Some call it AI search visibility optimization, which is a bit longer, but I believe is a bit more accurate.”
After passing 1,000 users, the Austrian startup builds dashboards to help ad agencies and companies monitor and optimize their presence in AI results. “To be honest, the reality was we rebuilt the product from scratch after Google introduced AI Overviews in May,” Peham said.
AI Overviews are Google’s implementation of AI-powered results, often resulting in so-called zero-click searches where users never go beyond the search engine. As these roll out globally, companies relying on organic search traffic suffer.
When it comes to taking action steps based on this knowledge, particularly when large language models (LLMs) are described as a black box, there’s a reason why Otterly is planning to include a recommendation engine, and in the meantime, is planning to change its tracking from monthly to weekly so marketers can conduct experiments to optimize their content.
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While this tinkering is partially akin to SEO, clicks are less of a focus. “I think calling it AI search visibility optimization really highlights the aspect that we as marketing teams also need to think about our brand position, our brand visibility,” Peham said.
In essence, Otterly plans to offer a product comparable to Semrush or Ahrefs for SEO, but in the AI search space.
There’s always a risk that these companies may want to expand their scope and become direct competitors, but Otterly is hoping they can work together and plans to announce details of a partnership with Semrush next month, Peham said.