The Prompting Company snags $6.5M to help products get mentioned in ChatGPT and other AI apps

As shoppers increasingly turn to AI for product recommendations rather than traditional search engines, a new report highlights a significant shift in consumer behavior. This holiday season, it is projected that many Americans will rely on advanced language models to help them find gifts, discounts, and sales, signaling a major change in the retail landscape. According to analysts, retailers could experience a staggering 520% surge in traffic from chatbots and AI-driven prompts by 2025 compared to the previous year. Recognizing this trend, The Prompting Company—a startup backed by Y Combinator—is stepping in to help brands get their products featured in AI applications through a novel approach known as Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). Founded just four months ago by Kevin Chandra, Michelle Marcelline, and Albert Punama, the company has already secured $6.5 million in seed funding and boasts an impressive client roster, including Rippling, Rho, and Motion. Co-founder and CEO Kevin Chandra emphasized the evolving landscape, stating, "In the past year, most of the growth on websites has come from AI bots, not human traffic. Developers are increasingly seeking product recommendations through AI tools, and we anticipate that consumer involvement in the purchasing process will gradually diminish." As AI becomes the primary touchpoint for discovering products, The Prompting Company believes it is essential for brands to adapt their marketing strategies to target AI agents as well as human users. This adaptation involves creating AI-friendly websites that eliminate traditional navigation elements and marketing distractions. "Currently, most businesses design their websites solely for human users. However, the fastest-growing segment on the internet is AI agents, which require a distinct interface," Chandra noted. The company's platform first identifies the specific questions AI agents are asking, delving into models to extract purchase-intent queries. It then generates structured content that addresses these inquiries, guiding AI agents to optimized web pages. By focusing on GEO, The Prompting Company enables brands to publish thousands of AI-friendly pages, allowing language models to reference their content even if they do not rank high in conventional SEO. Chandra asserts that while traditional SEO remains important, GEO is rapidly becoming a priority for brands. With GEO, product results arise organically based on their relevance to ongoing conversations rather than relying on paid keywords or ranking systems. This paradigm shift could also transform consumer purchasing behaviors. Emerging technologies such as Google’s Agent-to-Agent framework and OpenAI’s collaboration with Stripe could further enhance the capability of AI agents to browse and complete purchases on behalf of users. Chandra explained, "Imagine a major e-commerce platform where users can buy items, return products, compare options, or find promotions. We assist our clients in making these actions accessible to AI agents. While these agents currently do not directly click options or access APIs, we foresee this changing soon." Currently, The Prompting Company primarily serves clients in fintech, developer tools, and enterprise SaaS, and includes a Fortune 10 company among its users, hosting roughly half a million pages. The traffic driven to client websites is already reaching double-digit millions monthly. Operating under a subscription model, the company charges based on the number of tracked prompts and hosted pages. The founders—who met as freshmen and are themselves Indonesian immigrants—previously created Typedream, a Y Combinator-backed platform that allowed users to quickly build websites using AI. With The Prompting Company, they aim to transform the product discovery and purchasing process in the age of artificial intelligence. The recent funding round, backed by investors such as Peak XV Partners and Base10, will support the company in scaling its platform and establishing partnerships as AI-driven discovery becomes the dominant distribution channel. Additionally, The Prompting Company is collaborating with NVIDIA to develop next-generation AI search capabilities. Arnav Sahu, a partner at Peak XV Partners, commented on the significance of the startup's mission, stating, "If your product isn’t recognized or referenced in ChatGPT, you're at a significant disadvantage. We’re excited to support The Prompting Company as they establish the foundational infrastructure for product discovery, already serving major corporations and rapidly growing startups."