In 2024, with the rise of AI-generated search results, many websites experienced a sharp decline in organic traffic. In response to this trend, the Austrian startup Otterly has developed a tool focused on AI Search Visibility Optimization, helping businesses and advertising agencies optimize their presence in generative search results.
With Google's launch of AI Overviews in May, search engine users can receive answers directly on the page, significantly reducing clicks to external websites. This change poses a serious challenge for companies that rely on organic search traffic. For instance, a SaaS company discovered through Otterly that Google covered half of its SEO keywords in AI Overviews, directly leading to a drop in organic traffic.
Otterly's CEO Thomas Peham stated that "AI Search Visibility Optimization" not only focuses on traffic but also on a brand's standing and visibility in generative search. Through its dashboard tool, Otterly helps businesses monitor and optimize their performance on platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, offering weekly tracking and recommendation engine features that enable marketing teams to quickly experiment and adjust content strategies.
Otterly initially launched on Product Hunt earlier in 2024 and gained attention, but after Google introduced AI Overviews, the company chose to completely rebuild its product. Recently, Otterly surpassed the milestone of 1,000 users and officially emerged from stealth mode.
The founding team includes Peham along with co-founders Josef Trauner and Klaus M. Schremser, both of whom were executives at the user feedback platform Usersnap, which they sold in 2023. Otterly is currently supported by the incubator GroWTF, founded by Schremser, and has not yet sought external funding.
Peham stated that Otterly aims to become the Semrush or Ahrefs of the AI search space. Despite the direct competition risks, Otterly plans to collaborate with these industry giants and revealed that details of a partnership with Semrush will be announced next month.
As the importance of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) becomes increasingly evident, Otterly's innovative solution is helping businesses find opportunities in the new search environment.