What Is Ranketta and How Does It Optimize Brands for AI Search?
Ranketta is a platform that tracks and boosts how brands show up in AI-powered searches. Founded in 2025 by 21-year-old Czech AI researcher Vojtěch Oravec, it’s designed for e-commerce, direct-to-consumer, and B2B companies. The tool measures visibility in large language models like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, then offers ways to improve rankings. It’s the connection between SEO and AI-driven discovery.
Ranketta’s Background and Funding
Oravec started Ranketta after researching AI at the Czech Technical University under Tomáš Mikolov, a top AI scientist. He built the initial prototype solo while working as a product manager at Henry Schein. The company, based in Brno, just raised €1 million in pre-seed funding led by Lighthouse Ventures, with Gi21 Capital joining in, as reported by EU-Startups.
This cash will help expand in Europe, enter the U.S., and build teams for engineering, product, and sales. It also funds integrations with platforms like Shopify. Oravec told TechNews180 that he noticed a big gap: companies can’t see how AI affects what people buy, and traditional tools don’t cover it. As Tech Funding News notes, Oravec aims to lead in Generative Engine Optimization for e-commerce by making sure brands stay discoverable in AI search.
How Ranketta Optimizes for AI Search
AI search optimization, or Generative Engine Optimization, means getting brands and products to appear more often and better in AI responses. Ranketta does this by scanning tools like ChatGPT Shopping, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity. It checks how often products show up, why they do (or don’t), and ranks them against competitors.
- Tracks brand mentions for sentiment, frequency, and position in answers.
- Identifies sources AI pulls from when recommending products.
- Uses an AI Copilot to suggest content changes or links that could lift visibility.
According to Tech.eu, it’s the only European software that examines individual product performance in these AI outputs, giving brands real steps to compete. Finsmes reports that the funding will assist brands in understanding and improving presence in AI search and shopping results through specialized tools.
Why AI Search Optimization Matters Now
Half of consumers already use AI search for buying decisions, and 44% trust it more than Google, per data cited across the reports. By 2028, AI-influenced spending could hit $750 billion. But only 16% of brands track their AI performance, and fewer than 40% of marketers make it a priority. That leaves many visible on Google but hidden in AI chats—especially with new features like OpenAI’s shopping tool rolling out.
Ranketta fixes that by turning AI into a trackable channel, much like SEO did for traditional search.
Early Wins for Ranketta
In two months, Ranketta hit €86,000 ($100,000) in annual recurring revenue and signed over 20 European brands, including Brainmarket, Boost.space, Purple Technology, and Sloneek. Investors like Michal Zálešák from Lighthouse Ventures see it as a standout for its detailed product insights in a market set to shape billions in sales. Startbase highlights how the funding supports AI co-pilot recommendations for content optimization in AI search.
Damir Špoljarič from Gi21 Capital put it simply: traditional SEO is fading, and AI visibility is the future.
