Kassan backs GEO startup OptimizeGEO at $80M valuation
What's the deal? Media dealmaker Michael KassanDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has personally invested in OptimizeGEODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a startup that tracks and shapes how brands appear in answers from AI tools like ChatGPTDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, ClaudeDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Google AI OverviewsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Gemini, Perplexity, and CopilotDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The MediaLinkDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → founder joined a pre-Series A round led by Young Capital that values the company at $80 million. Kassan declined to share the size of his investment.
What's the endgame? OptimizeGEO works in generative engine optimization (GEO) — the practice of making brands more visible inside AI-generated answers rather than traditional search results. It monitors how companies surface across the major chatbots and assistants.
Why now? Kassan tied the timing to a shift in how people find brands. "GEO is bigger than the evolution of search, changing how consumers are discovering brands," he said.
The signal: Kassan argues the search page itself may be disappearing. "As we see more and more of that, there may not actually be a search page," he said. "That's the reasoning in terms of the timing and the opportunity." The bet reflects growing investor interest in tools that help brands stay visible as AI search reshapes discovery.
Read more: adweek.com
Image credit: Generated with Gemini
