Developing a Free AI Visibility and GEO Tool: My Journey and Insights
In recent months, I had a unique opportunity to develop a new product within an internal startup incubator at Amplitude, a leading platform in product analytics comparable to Google Analytics. This experience provided invaluable insights into the evolving landscape of AI-powered visibility tools and how they can benefit brands seeking to enhance their online presence.
A Strategic Opportunity in AI-Driven Visibility
The leadership at Amplitude encouraged me to explore innovative ideas related to artificial intelligence, with the promise of dedicated funding and a talented team. Drawing from my extensive experience in SEO, I initially considered focusing on traditional search engine optimization strategies. However, I became increasingly aware of shifting dynamics: many experts suggest that SEO is declining in significance as users turn to AI assistants like ChatGPT for information retrieval.
During this period, I observed that several emerging startups — notably two companies from Y Combinator’s latest batch — were collecting data from AI models such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity. Their goal: help brands improve their discoverability and improve their ranking or visibility within AI-generated responses, a concept often referred to as “AI Visibility” or “GEO” (Google Entity Optimization). Moreover, the AI visibility space had already attracted substantial investment; for instance, Profound, one of the earlier players, successfully raised $20 million.
Identifying Market Gaps and Building a Better Solution
After experimenting with existing tools, I found many to be either ineffective or prohibitively expensive. This motivated me to create a more accessible, cost-effective alternative, integrated with Amplitude’s existing data infrastructure. Since Amplitude already tracks traffic data, including AI-driven traffic such as ChatGPT interactions, and supports A/B testing for content optimization, it provided an ideal foundation for building a comprehensive visibility tool.
Within a week, during an internal hackathon, my small team and I developed an initial prototype. Our efforts paid off: we won the hackathon and gained recognition for our innovative approach. Encouraged by this, I proceeded to demo the product to our existing customers—about five clients weekly—many of whom I knew personally and had strong relationships with. By preprocessing each customer’s data beforehand, these demos showcased real-time insights tailored to their brands.
The response was overwhelmingly positive; most customers were enthusiastic, with one even describing the experience as “the highlight of my week.” Over the following months, I engaged with over 100 clients—including software engineers, marketing directors
