Search Party

High-Level Overview

Search Party is a startup building a platform for generative engine optimization (GEO), helping brands control and enhance their visibility in AI-driven search tools like ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.[1][2] It serves marketers and brands shifting from traditional SEO to AI search dominance, solving the problem of unpredictable AI representations by offering tools for prompt analytics, content creation, exposure across high-authority sources, and competitor benchmarking.[1][2] The company emerged from stealth in late 2025 with $3.5 million in seed funding led by Fuse, capitalizing on the trend where nearly half of consumers now use AI for discovery over Google.[1][3]

Origin Story

Search Party was co-founded by Brandon Brown and Ryan Brown, brothers with deep experience in creator marketing from their previous venture, GRIN.[1] Brandon served as CEO of GRIN, scaling it from two employees to 480, raising $145 million across seven rounds, and reaching a $1 billion valuation before exiting in 2024; Ryan led engineering and technical strategy, cementing GRIN's leadership in influencer software.[1] The idea emerged from recognizing AI's disruption of search, prompting the duo to launch Search Party from stealth with $3.5 million seed funding led by early-stage VC Fuse, which backs category-defining SaaS and AI firms.[1][3]

Core Differentiators

Search Party stands out in the GEO space through advanced, actionable tools beyond basic tracking:

• Source Revelation and Autonomous Workflows: Uncovers AI answer sources and automates content strategies to influence them, unlike tracking-only competitors.[1]
• Prompt-Level Analytics: Stores unlimited brand/product queries for benchmarking visibility, sentiment, citations, and competitors against peers.[1][2]
• AI-Optimized Content and Distribution: Generates "atomic, scannable" content structured for LLMs and distributes it across high-authority sources to amplify narrative control.[2]
• Proven Playbook with Expert Support: Combines self-serve systems (Prompts, Analytics, Content, Exposure) with strategist guidance, positioning it as the top AEO tool in 2026 comparisons.[2]
• Innovative Features like Sonar: Provides insights into AI's brand perception and origins.[2]

These elements leverage the founders' scaling expertise from GRIN.[1]

Role in the Broader Tech Landscape

Search Party rides the AI search revolution, where traditional Google queries yield to conversational AI, with nearly half of consumers preferring LLMs for discovery.[1] Timing is ideal amid 2025-2026 growth in answer engine optimization (AEO), outpacing SEO as brands face "hallucination" risks and citation biases in models like ChatGPT.[1][2] Market forces favoring it include exploding GEO demand, real-time monitoring needs, and tools topping 2026 lists for marketers.[2] It influences the ecosystem by empowering brands to shape AI narratives, fostering a more controlled, brand-friendly AI web while challenging incumbents in visibility tech.[1][2]

Quick Take & Future Outlook

Search Party is poised for rapid scaling, building on its $3.5M seed and GRIN-honed playbook to capture the AEO market as AI search volumes surge.[1][2] Trends like advanced LLM integration and real-time analytics will propel it, with expansions in features like Sonar potentially disrupting monitoring tools.[2] Its influence could evolve from GEO pioneer to full AI marketing stack, redefining brand control in a post-Google era—much like how GRIN dominated influencers, Search Party may own AI visibility.[1]