When someone asks ChatGPT which software to use, or asks Perplexity which brand to trust — is your company in the answer? Do you even know? That is the problem Profound was founded to solve. On September 15 2026 the New York AI marketing startup raised $180 million in a Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, with Lightspeed, Khosla Ventures, Saga Ventures, Evantic, and South Park Commons joining. Follow every US AI startup story at BestStartup US.
What Profound Builds — AEO GEO and the New Search Stack
Profound is an analytics platform that tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Answer Engine Optimisation — AEO — is the discipline of structuring content so AI models cite it in answers. Generative Engine Optimisation — GEO — covers the same territory from a content authority perspective. Profound measures both and provides AI agents that autonomously improve visibility when it drops. The round nearly doubled Profound’s February 2026 valuation. Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins have now co-led three of Profound’s four rounds — a level of institutional commitment that signals category conviction. Read AI startup news at BestStartup US.
The G2 Partnership — Enterprise Distribution at Scale
G2 announced a partnership with Profound to equip B2B software companies with AEO and AI search marketing strategies. G2 is the most cited B2B software source across LLMs, ranking 4th among top cited sources on ChatGPT and 9th on Perplexity. The partnership gives Profound access to thousands of B2B companies that already trust G2 for their review and visibility strategy — and who now need AI search visibility alongside their traditional presence.
What This Means for Every US Marketing Team
The Profound round signals to every US marketing team that AI search visibility is no longer emerging — it is a venture-backed category attracting Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins capital at $1.8 billion valuations. Marketing teams that begin measuring AEO and GEO performance in 2026 will have a compounding advantage. Also read: Harvey $550M legal AI and the biggest US startup week of September 2026. Follow every US startup story at BestStartup US.
Key Takeaways
Profound raised $180 million Series D at $1.8 billion valuation on September 15 2026. Sequoia and Kleiner Perkins co-led — their third co-lead together in Profound. Founded in 2024 by James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs. Platform tracks and autonomously improves brand visibility across ChatGPT Gemini Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. G2 partnership provides B2B software distribution. Total raised exceeds $335 million. US startups raised $400 billion in H1 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Profound and what does it do?
Profound is a New York AI marketing platform founded in 2024 that helps brands measure and improve visibility in AI-generated search answers across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. It raised $180M Series D at $1.8B on September 15 2026.
What is AEO — Answer Engine Optimisation?
AEO stands for Answer Engine Optimisation — structuring brand content so AI models cite it accurately when generating answers. It is the AI search equivalent of SEO and is now a venture-backed category following Profound’s $180M Series D.
What is GEO — Generative Engine Optimisation?
GEO stands for Generative Engine Optimisation — optimising brand presence in outputs from ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. It covers training data sources, real-time web retrieval signals, and authority indicators that determine whether a brand is cited in AI answers.
Where can I follow US startup funding news?
Follow every US startup funding round and AI company news at BestStartup US — updated every week.
