Google Search is collapsing, and numerous startups want to transform themselves into the next generation of Google.

Startup bets on the collapse of traditional Google Search.

A group of emerging startups are betting on the rapid demise of traditional Google search. At least a dozen companies are pouring millions of dollars into software aimed at helping brands prepare for a world where customers no longer browse the web but instead rely on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and other AI chatbots.

These startups are developing tools to help businesses understand how AI chatbots gather information and learn how to direct them to brands to appear in AI search results. This is precisely the search engine optimization (SEO) skill in the next chapter of the internet.

Andrew Yan, co-founder of Athena, said that companies have spent the last 10 or 20 years SEOing websites for Google's '10 blue links' version. That version of Google is changing very quickly and will change forever.

Companies large and small are trying to figure out how AI tools will process their online content. Many companies report rapidly gaining new customers. This interest is an early sign that AI is transforming search, and companies are trying to stay ahead of the changes.

Andrew Yan left Google's search team earlier this year after deciding that Google Search wasn't the future. Athena launched last month with $2.2 million in funding from Y Combinator and other venture capital firms.

Athena's software meticulously examines different AI models to determine how each model finds brand-related information. The software can track differences in how models talk about a given brand and suggest ways to optimize web content for AI. The company currently has over 100 clients worldwide.

Google's response

Google's leaders don't expect traditional Google Search to disappear. Google handles up to 90% of the world's online searches, has worked to integrate Google AI Overview features into its search engine, and predicts people will continue to use it alongside other tools like Gemini.

However, Google has faced competitive pressure from OpenAI's ChatGPT and other emerging AI companies that threaten its core business. The company risks losing traffic and advertising revenue if users switch to AI-driven alternatives.

Compared to traditional search, chatbot queries are typically longer and more complex, requiring the chatbot to gather information from multiple sources simultaneously and synthesize it for the user. AI search models operate in various ways; one platform might retrieve information from the company's website, while another relies more heavily on third-party content.

Leading startups are aiming to become the next generation of Google Search.

Among the startups helping businesses navigate that complexity, Profound has raised over $20 million from venture capital firms including Kleiner Perkins and Khosla Ventures.

The company is building a platform to track and analyze various inputs that influence how AI chatbots communicate brand-related information.

James Cadwallader, co-founder of Profound, said they see a future of a clickless internet, where consumers only interact with interfaces like ChatGPT and agents or bots become the primary visitors to websites.

The value of these companies is still very small compared to the traditional SEO industry, which was estimated at around $90 billion last year. However, SEO consultant Cyrus Shepard says AI visibility currently takes up 10% to 15% of his time and hopes to reach half by the end of the year.

Clerk, a company that sells technology to software developers, partnered with the startup Scrunch AI to analyze AI search traffic. From January to June, the company saw a 9% increase in platform registrations from AI searches.

Chris Andrew, co-founder of Scrunch, argues that company websites don't need to disappear, but 90% of human traffic will vanish as AI becomes the primary intermediary between users and online information.