As consumers increasingly rely on AI chatbots like ChatGPT for product comparisons and purchasing decisions, one startup is breaking new ground to help brands understand, monitor, and shape how they’re portrayed by large language models (LLMs). Evertune, a newly unveiled analytics company dedicated to LLM brand insights, has emerged from stealth today with $4 million in seed funding to advance this mission. Leading the round is New York-based Eniac Ventures, joined by seed-stage firm NextView Ventures and prominent angel investor Roger Ehrenberg, highlighting early investor confidence in Evertune’s unique approach to AI-powered marketing.
Founded in April, Evertune sets itself apart in the rapidly expanding AI marketing landscape by focusing on analytics rather than content creation. Where many AI startups focus on generating materials like copy, images, or videos for marketing teams, Evertune’s platform specializes in analyzing what major AI models say about specific brands and products. Evertune gives companies insights into how often and in what context their brand might be recommended by LLMs, such as ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, Meta’s Llama, Anthropic’s Claude, and Perplexity.
The platform’s functionality goes beyond simple brand perception metrics: it evaluates competitors’ strengths, highlights potential weaknesses, and allows companies to refine their LLM profiles to improve brand narratives in the AI space. This setup enables brands to see how they’re perceived within the AI-driven consumer journey, making it possible for them to optimize and influence the AI-generated brand recommendations that consumers increasingly rely on.
Evertune’s CEO and co-founder, Brian Stempeck, traces the inspiration for the startup to his own experiences as a consumer. About a year ago, while searching for the best car for his family, Stempeck found himself consulting ChatGPT for vehicle specs and features instead of relying on traditional search engines. Seeing that he was not alone in this shift, he recognized the opportunity for a solution that would allow brands to gain insight and influence over what AI models say about them, much like search engine optimization (SEO) does for traditional search engines. “This is one of the biggest changes we’ve seen in the search space. LLMs get straight to the answer without needing users to sift through multiple links,” Stempeck explained.
Unlike conventional SEO, which focuses on optimizing search engine results, Evertune’s approach resembles “AI optimization.” Companies can train LLMs to ensure their brand image is accurately represented, even using internal resources like employee handbooks and brand guidelines. One luxury retail brand recently used Evertune’s platform to optimize its brand profile within an LLM, training the model using company materials to ensure that the LLM would reflect the brand’s values and messaging.
Evertune is not alone in pushing the boundaries of AI in marketing, but its focus on analytics differentiates it from other adtech startups. Chalice, for example, builds algorithms to improve ad targeting, embedding these tools directly into software that advertisers use to buy digital ads, while OpenAds, which has raised $1 million, focuses on embedding ads within AI chatbots on brand websites. These companies cater to the AI-adoption wave in marketing, but Evertune is honing in on what’s arguably the first stage of this ecosystem: analyzing and managing brand presence and perception across major LLMs, including ChatGPT and other notable models.
Alongside co-founders Ed Chater and Poul Costinsky, Stempeck brings a wealth of experience to Evertune, having been an early employee at The Trade Desk, where he helped pioneer digital programmatic advertising, eventually leading to the company’s 2016 IPO. “We think that AI and LLMs are an incredibly important marketing channel,” he said. “Our first focus is on understanding and refining what AI is already saying about brands, so they’re better prepared to connect with consumers in this evolving digital landscape.”
With its fresh funding, Evertune plans to expand its platform capabilities and continue developing its analytics suite to support brands as they navigate and shape the growing influence of AI in consumer decision-making.