The search wars just got a new player. The Prompting Company raised $6.5 million to help brands show up in ChatGPT recommendations as Americans ditch Google for AI-powered product discovery this holiday season. With retailers facing a potential 520% surge in AI-driven traffic, the four-month-old startup is betting big on generative engine optimization.
The Prompting Company just cracked the code on something every brand is scrambling to figure out: how to get mentioned when people ask ChatGPT for recommendations instead of googling. The Y Combinator-backed startup closed a $6.5 million seed round as the shift to AI-powered discovery accelerates faster than anyone expected.
"Over the past year, most of the growth on websites has come from AI bots, not people," CEO Kevin Chandra told TechCrunch in an interview. That's not hyperbole - it's the new reality hitting retailers just as holiday shopping ramps up.
A recent shopping report shows Americans are about to make this shift permanent, turning to large language models instead of traditional search for gifts, deals, and sales. The numbers are staggering: retailers could see up to 520% more traffic from chatbots and AI prompts in 2025 compared to 2024.
What The Prompting Company figured out is that brands need completely different websites for AI agents. "Most businesses still design websites only for humans," Chandra explained. "But the fastest-growing segment of users on the internet today is AI agents and they need a completely different interface." No navigation bars, no pop-ups, no marketing fluff - just structured content that answers specific purchase-intent queries.
This is where generative engine optimization (GEO) comes in, and it's already flipping the script on how discovery works. Unlike SEO where you fight for rankings, GEO surfaces products organically based on conversation relevance. The platform identifies questions AI agents are asking, creates structured answers, and automatically routes agents to AI-optimized pages. They're currently hosting about half a million pages for clients and driving double-digit millions in monthly traffic.
The client roster tells the story of where this is headed: Rippling, Rho, Motion, Vapi, Fondo, Kernel, and Traceloop are already onboard, plus a Fortune 10 company that Chandra won't name. Most customers span fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS - sectors where AI-powered recommendations are becoming the norm in developer workflows.
