What are the best LLM-powered SEO tools?

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The LLM-powered SEO market represents one of the most transformative shifts in digital marketing since the advent of traditional search engine optimization.

With Gartner predicting a 25% decline in traditional search traffic by 2026 and the emergence of AI-powered answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, businesses must adapt their optimization strategies to remain visible in this evolving landscape.

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What are the most promising LLM-powered SEO tools currently in the market and which companies are behind them?

Profound stands as the clear market leader, having raised $23.5 million in total funding and processing over 100 million AI search queries monthly across 18 countries and six languages.

The New York-based company provides comprehensive AI search analytics platforms that monitor brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, serving enterprise clients including Indeed, MongoDB, and Ramp. Their platform offers real-time monitoring capabilities and enterprise-grade dashboards that have attracted backing from top-tier investors including Kleiner Perkins, NVIDIA NVentures, and Khosla Ventures.

Peec AI emerges as the leading European player with €7 million in seed funding, achieving €650,000 in annual recurring revenue within just four months of operation. Based in Berlin, the company focuses specifically on brand visibility monitoring solutions for generative search engines and has demonstrated strong traction in the European market with backing from 20VC, Foreword VC, and Identity.VC.

Chosenly positions itself uniquely as the only LLM SEO platform designed specifically for B2B companies, focusing on fixing misinformation, winning high-intent prompts, and securing placements on sources that ChatGPT actually references. The platform maps purchase-intent keywords to AI prompts and helps identify high-impact URLs for optimization, targeting the specific needs of business-to-business marketing teams.

Among established players adapting to LLM optimization, Semrush has integrated AI capabilities across its platform with ContentShake AI for generating blog outlines and SEO-optimized content, while MarketMuse leverages AI to assess topical authority and recommend strategic content updates with personalized difficulty scoring for ranking on specific topics.

Which startups working on LLM-powered SEO have raised significant funding in 2024 and 2025 so far, and how much have they raised?

The LLM SEO sector has attracted approximately $64 million in disclosed funding across five major startups between 2024 and mid-2025, demonstrating strong investor confidence in this emerging market.

Profound leads the funding landscape with $23.5 million raised across seed and Series A rounds, including a $20 million Series A led by Kleiner Perkins in June 2025. The company's initial $3.5 million seed round in August 2024 included notable investors such as Keith Rabois through Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, South Park Commons, and angels Scott Belsky and Balaji Srinivasan.

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Peec AI secured €7 million in total funding within five months of its founding, including a €1.8 million pre-seed round, demonstrating rapid capital acquisition in the European market. Bluefish AI raised $3.5 million in pre-seed funding to develop AI search optimization technologies, while LangWatch secured €1 million in pre-seed funding from Antler to build its AI optimization platform for reliable LLM interactions.

Ecomtent represents the e-commerce-focused segment with $850,000 in pre-seed funding from MaRS IAF, targeting AI-driven product listing optimization as systems like Amazon's RUFUS become mainstream in retail search.

The funding distribution shows accelerating growth with approximately $35 million raised in 2024 primarily concentrated in North American companies, while 2025 year-to-date has seen $28.7 million in disclosed funding with increased European participation and larger round sizes reflecting market maturation.

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Who are the major investors backing these startups and under what terms or conditions are they investing?

Kleiner Perkins leads the Series A round for Profound, representing the largest institutional investment in the LLM SEO space, with participation from NVIDIA NVentures providing strategic value through access to advanced AI infrastructure and potential integration opportunities.

NVIDIA NVentures' participation in Profound's funding round stands out as the only confirmed direct investment from a major technology company in the pure-play LLM SEO sector. This strategic investment provides not only capital but also access to cutting-edge AI hardware and potential collaboration opportunities in developing more sophisticated optimization algorithms.

Antler emerges as the most active repeat investor in the European market, backing both LangWatch and Peec AI, demonstrating the global startup accelerator's developing expertise in AI infrastructure companies. The firm has established a specific focus on early-stage AI companies addressing the intersection of search and language models.

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Investment terms typically range from $1-7 million for seed funding and $15-25 million for Series A rounds, with standard dilution rates of 15-25%. Investors generally require €500K+ ARR and €50K+ MRR for significant funding rounds, along with 10+ enterprise customer logos and 10%+ weekly growth rates, reflecting the high standards for B2B SaaS companies in this specialized market.

Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, and South Park Commons have participated across multiple rounds, indicating strong conviction in the market opportunity. Angel investors including Scott Belsky (former Adobe executive) and Balaji Srinivasan (former Coinbase CTO) provide both capital and strategic expertise in scaling technology platforms.

Are any major tech giants supporting, partnering with, or acquiring companies in the LLM-powered SEO space?

Major tech giants have shown limited direct investment in pure-play LLM SEO startups, with NVIDIA NVentures representing the only confirmed direct investment from a technology giant through its participation in Profound's Series A round.

Google, Microsoft, and Amazon appear to view LLM SEO tools as potential competitors to their own AI search products rather than complementary investments. Google competes through AI Overviews, Microsoft through Copilot search integration, and Amazon through Alexa Answers functionality, creating a strategic tension that limits direct partnership opportunities.

The Federal Trade Commission has launched investigations into partnerships between major tech companies and AI startups, examining Microsoft's relationships with OpenAI and Anthropic, and Amazon and Google's investments in AI companies. This regulatory scrutiny may influence future investment strategies and partnership structures in the LLM SEO space.

Rather than direct acquisitions, tech giants are developing internal capabilities that compete with LLM SEO startups. Google's integration of AI Overviews into search results, Microsoft's Copilot integration across its product suite, and Amazon's development of AI-powered shopping experiences represent internal efforts to capture the value that independent LLM SEO tools might otherwise provide.

The absence of major tech giant partnerships reflects the strategic importance these companies place on controlling the AI search experience rather than enabling third-party optimization tools that could potentially game their systems or redirect traffic away from their platforms.

Which startups or products have received industry awards or notable recognition for their LLM-powered SEO innovations?

The LLM SEO sector, being relatively nascent, has received limited formal industry awards, though several companies have gained notable recognition through academic validation and product launch platforms.

The Princeton study on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) provided crucial academic credibility to the field, demonstrating that optimization methods can boost visibility by up to 40% in generative engine responses. This research has been published in the ACM Digital Library, lending scholarly legitimacy to LLM SEO as a distinct discipline separate from traditional search engine optimization.

LLM SEO Report received recognition on Product Hunt in June 2025 for its brand visibility checking capabilities across ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Claude, representing one of the few consumer-facing tools to gain mainstream attention in the space.

Stella Rising, an AI SEO agency, was named a 2023 Search Engine Land Awards finalist, indicating early industry recognition of innovative strategies in the space. The agency reported a 126% boost in return on ad spend for a skincare brand through combined SEO and AI optimization efforts.

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Rather than traditional awards, recognition in the LLM SEO space has come through demonstrated results and thought leadership. Companies like Growth Marshal have gained attention for pioneering bold, data-driven frameworks specifically engineered to maximize visibility across LLMs, helping clients like Lake achieve 15x increases in AI visibility within three weeks.

What geographies or markets are most active and attractive for LLM-powered SEO companies and investments?

North America dominates the LLM SEO funding landscape with 60% of funded companies, benefiting from access to large enterprise customers and established venture capital networks focused on B2B SaaS innovations.

The United States hosts both Profound and Bluefish AI, with Silicon Valley's proximity to major AI companies providing strategic partnership opportunities and access to technical talent. The North American market's advanced digital infrastructure and substantial enterprise technology spending create favorable conditions for LLM SEO tool adoption among Fortune 500 companies.

Europe represents 40% of funded companies, with concentrated activity in Germany and the Netherlands demonstrating the region's growing importance in the AI optimization space. Peec AI in Berlin and LangWatch in Amsterdam showcase European innovation in compliance-friendly approaches to LLM optimization, particularly important for navigating GDPR requirements and data protection regulations.

European startups have shown impressive early metrics, with Peec AI achieving €650,000 in annual recurring revenue within four months and LangWatch securing rapid pre-seed funding from Antler. The region's focus on privacy-first AI solutions creates unique positioning opportunities for European LLM SEO companies targeting multinational enterprises with strict data governance requirements.

While Asia-Pacific is currently underrepresented in disclosed funding, the region is projected to experience the fastest growth at 13.9% CAGR through 2030. The region's high smartphone adoption rates and mobile-first search behavior create significant opportunities for LLM SEO solutions, particularly as local language models in Chinese, Japanese, and Korean markets mature.

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What specific technological breakthroughs or R&D achievements have been made in this sector in 2025?

Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) has become the dominant technology architecture for LLM SEO platforms in 2025, enabling real-time information retrieval and synthesis that allows AI systems to access current web data while maintaining coherent, contextually relevant responses.

The integration of multimodal search capabilities represents a major advancement, allowing optimization for text, images, and voice queries simultaneously. Companies are developing strategies that enhance content for visual searches through AI-generated image descriptions and voice-activated queries through structured audio optimization techniques.

Natural language processing improvements have enhanced AI systems' ability to understand context, intent, and semantic relationships beyond simple keyword matching. Advanced semantic understanding enables more sophisticated content optimization strategies that focus on topical authority and entity relationships rather than traditional keyword density metrics.

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Real-time monitoring systems have evolved to provide comprehensive visibility tracking across multiple AI search engines simultaneously, enabling immediate optimization responses to algorithm changes. These systems can process thousands of queries simultaneously to track brand mentions, competitive positioning, and content performance across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and emerging platforms.

Entity-based optimization has matured as a core technology, focusing on making brands recognizable as authoritative entities across the web rather than relying solely on traditional SEO signals. This approach aligns with how AI systems understand and categorize information through knowledge graphs and semantic relationships.

What innovations or breakthroughs are expected to emerge in 2026 in the LLM-powered SEO landscape?

AI-powered predictive analytics will enable proactive content creation based on anticipated search trends and user behavior patterns, allowing businesses to optimize content before search volume peaks occur through advanced forecasting models.

Individual user optimization will become possible through AI systems that understand personal search patterns and preferences, enabling highly targeted content strategies that adapt to specific audience segments and behavioral profiles in real-time.

Unified optimization platforms will emerge that can simultaneously optimize content for traditional search engines, AI chatbots, and social media platforms, addressing the fragmentation of search behavior across multiple channels through integrated content management systems.

Comprehensive multimodal optimization will become standard, with platforms optimizing for voice commands, visual searches, and traditional text queries through integrated AI systems that understand cross-modal content relationships and user intent patterns.

Advanced personalization engines will leverage machine learning to create dynamic content that adapts to individual user contexts, search histories, and preference patterns, moving beyond demographic targeting to behavioral and intent-based optimization strategies.

Which companies or tools have received the largest single rounds of funding and what makes them stand out?

Profound holds the distinction of raising the largest single funding round with $20 million in Series A financing led by Kleiner Perkins in June 2025, bringing the company's total funding to $23.5 million across two rounds.

The company stands out through its comprehensive enterprise-grade platform that processes over 100 million AI search queries monthly and serves customers across 18 countries and six languages. Profound's real-time monitoring capabilities across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, combined with its Answer Engine Insights and Agent Analytics features, create a comprehensive solution that enterprise clients like Indeed, MongoDB, and Ramp rely on for AI visibility management.

NVIDIA NVentures' participation in Profound's Series A provides strategic advantages beyond capital, including access to advanced AI infrastructure, potential hardware optimization opportunities, and credibility in the AI ecosystem. This strategic backing differentiates Profound from competitors who lack similar technology partnerships.

Peec AI's €7 million seed round represents the largest European funding round, achieved within just five months of founding and demonstrating exceptional early traction with €650,000 in annual recurring revenue within four months. The company's rapid revenue growth and European market focus create a unique positioning advantage in a region with strict data privacy requirements.

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The combination of enterprise client logos, rapid revenue growth, and strategic investor backing distinguishes these funding leaders from earlier-stage competitors still proving product-market fit and revenue scalability in the emerging LLM SEO market.

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How much total capital was invested in the LLM-powered SEO market globally in 2024 and how much has been invested so far in 2025?

Approximately $35 million in disclosed funding was invested in the LLM-powered SEO market globally in 2024, primarily concentrated in North American companies during the market's early development phase.

The 2024 funding was dominated by seed-stage investments as the market was still emerging, with Profound's initial $3.5 million seed round in August representing a significant portion of the year's total investment. Other notable 2024 investments included early funding for Peec AI's pre-seed round and initial investments in Bluefish AI and other emerging platforms.

2025 year-to-date has seen $28.7 million in disclosed funding, showing sustained investor interest despite the shorter time period, with increased participation from European investors and larger round sizes reflecting market maturation.

Profound's $20 million Series A in June 2025 represents the largest single investment in the space and demonstrates the transition from seed-stage experimentation to growth-stage scaling. The round size indicates institutional investor confidence in the market opportunity and validates the business models emerging in the sector.

The total disclosed funding of approximately $64 million across 2024-2025 likely represents only a portion of actual market investment, as many companies may have raised undisclosed rounds or received strategic investments from larger technology companies that are not publicly reported.

These investment levels reflect the early-stage nature of the market while demonstrating sufficient capital availability to support rapid scaling of successful platforms as market demand increases.

What trends or expectations are shaping investment and growth opportunities in this industry for 2026?

Semrush projects a dramatic acceleration in LLM search adoption, with AI search traffic expected to surpass traditional organic search by 2028, following a progression from 4% LLM traffic in 2025 to 75% by 2028.

The AI SEO tools market is projected to grow from $1.2 billion in 2024 to $4.5 billion by 2033, representing a 15.2% compound annual growth rate driven by increasing demand for data-driven marketing strategies and real-time SEO analysis capabilities.

North America will maintain market dominance with 34.2% of global revenue, while Asia-Pacific is forecast to record the fastest 13.9% CAGR between 2025-2030, creating geographic diversification opportunities for investors seeking exposure to high-growth markets.

Enterprise adoption will accelerate as Fortune 500 companies recognize the strategic importance of AI search visibility, driving demand for enterprise-grade platforms with advanced analytics, real-time monitoring, and integration capabilities with existing marketing technology stacks.

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Consolidation opportunities may emerge as successful platforms seek to acquire specialized capabilities or geographic market access, while established SEO and marketing technology companies may acquire LLM SEO startups to enhance their product offerings and competitive positioning in the evolving search landscape.

What other notable characteristics, differentiators, or unique features define the most successful or innovative LLM-powered SEO tools today?

Real-time multi-platform monitoring distinguishes leading platforms from basic analytics tools, with the ability to track performance across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and emerging AI search engines simultaneously providing comprehensive competitive intelligence.

Enterprise-grade integration capabilities separate professional solutions from consumer-level tools, with successful platforms offering API access, custom implementations, and seamless integration with existing business intelligence systems and marketing technology stacks.

Misinformation detection and correction capabilities address a critical business need as AI systems can amplify incorrect information about brands, products, or services. Platforms that can identify and help correct AI hallucinations provide significant value to brand management and corporate communications teams.

Prompt engineering and optimization represent key differentiators, with platforms developing specialized algorithms for crafting content that AI systems prefer to cite. This includes understanding how different AI models process and prioritize information, and optimizing content structure, language, and formatting accordingly.

Entity-based optimization focuses on making brands recognizable as authoritative entities across the web through advanced schema markup, knowledge graph optimization, and strategic content placement, rather than relying solely on traditional keyword optimization approaches.

Advanced structured data enhancement through sophisticated schema markup and machine-readable formatting helps AI systems better understand and categorize content, providing a technical foundation that is crucial for consistent AI visibility across multiple platforms and search contexts.

Conclusion

Sources

1. TechCrunch - Profound AI SEO Funding
2. Feed The AI - Profound Series A Funding
3. StartupHub.ai - Peec AI Funding
4. Tech.eu - Ecomtent Funding
5. SEO.AI - LLM SEO Strategies
6. Backlinko - LLM Visibility Analysis
7. Search Engine Land - AI Content Strategy
8. Flow Agency - LLM Optimization Guide
9. Straits Research - LLM Market Report
10. Hostinger - LLM Statistics 2025
11. Keywords Everywhere - LLM Usage Stats
12. Doc Digital SEM - LLM SEO Tools
13. Vercel - SEO Adaptation for LLMs
14. Growth Marshal - Top AI SEO Agencies
15. StartUs Insights - LLM Startups