BrandAxis enters a rapidly developing market around AI visibility, Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) and Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). These emerging disciplines focus on how brands are represented and recommended by generative AI systems rather than simply where their websites rank in conventional search results.

Norton, founder of South African digital agency Woww, said his interest in the field grew after prospective customers told the agency that ChatGPT had recommended the company. That prompted research into why an AI system selected one business over another and what information sources influenced those recommendations.

According to the company, that work evolved into experiments examining websites, brand positioning, content, external mentions, citations and authority signals. BrandAxis was subsequently developed with co-founder Freddie O'Donnell as a dedicated analytics and optimization platform for AI-driven discovery.

The distinction from traditional SEO is important. Search engine optimization generally seeks to improve the visibility of a website within search results. AEO and GEO are more concerned with whether the brand itself becomes part of the generated answer.

For example, a conventional search campaign might measure whether a company ranks for "best B2B marketing agency." An AI visibility platform can instead examine what happens when users ask ChatGPT, Gemini or another AI system which agencies they should consider. The output may contain several companies—or none—and the reasoning can be difficult for marketers to observe through conventional web analytics.

BrandAxis is designed to repeatedly submit commercially relevant questions to AI engines and analyze the resulting responses. The platform measures factors including whether a brand is mentioned, its prominence relative to competitors, sentiment and the sources that appear to influence the generated answer, according to the company.

The platform currently tracks major AI discovery environments including ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity, with support also cited for Gemini, Microsoft Copilot and Google AI Mode.

That puts BrandAxis into an increasingly competitive AI-search measurement category. Established SEO platforms such as Semrush and Ahrefs have also expanded into AI visibility and generative search capabilities, while specialist vendors are developing tools specifically for tracking brand mentions and citations in AI-generated results.

BrandAxis is attempting to differentiate itself through pricing. The company says paid plans begin at $19 per month and that a free tier is available. Norton argues that this makes the platform accessible to small and midsize businesses, startups and agencies that may find enterprise-oriented AI visibility products expensive.

The company also says it has attracted enterprise customers and agencies, including organizations moving away from established SEO platforms because of pricing concerns. Those competitive claims have not been independently verified.

The broader market opportunity is clear even as the technology remains unsettled. AI platforms do not generate answers using one standardized ranking system, and their outputs can vary by model, query, context and information sources. That makes AI visibility harder to measure than traditional keyword rankings.

For enterprise marketing teams, the emerging discipline therefore represents a shift in the definition of search performance. Website traffic remains important, but marketers increasingly need to understand whether AI systems recognize their brand, describe it accurately and include it when consumers ask commercially meaningful questions.

BrandAxis is betting that measuring that layer of discovery will become a standard part of digital marketing analytics as AI-generated answers take a larger role in product and company research.

Traditional SEO remains centered on search rankings, organic traffic, technical optimization and content authority. AI search introduces a different measurement layer because users may receive a synthesized answer without visiting multiple websites.

Companies including Google, Microsoft, Semrush and Ahrefs are adapting their search and marketing technologies to this environment, while specialist AI visibility platforms are developing tools for monitoring brand mentions, citations, competitors and AI-generated recommendations.

BrandAxis is positioning itself at the more accessible end of this market, with the company citing a $19 monthly entry point. The key competitive variables will extend beyond price to include engine coverage, query monitoring, citation analysis, historical tracking, accuracy and actionable optimization recommendations.

AI visibility is likely to become increasingly relevant as search interfaces incorporate generative answers directly into discovery journeys. The challenge for marketers is that there is no single equivalent of a Google ranking position across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other AI systems.

This creates demand for measurement tools that can identify changes in brand representation and the information sources shaping those responses.

For enterprise marketing teams, AEO and GEO should be viewed as complementary to strong SEO and authoritative content rather than replacements for them. Building credible first-party information, earning authoritative external references and maintaining consistent brand data remain important foundations for being accurately represented by AI systems.

Top Insights

• BrandAxis targets AI visibility measurement, helping businesses monitor how ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and other AI systems represent their brands.
• AEO and GEO shift search optimization from website rankings toward whether brands are mentioned, recommended and accurately described within AI-generated answers.
• BrandAxis says its platform analyzes competitors, sentiment and information sources, giving marketers visibility into factors influencing AI-generated brand recommendations.
• The platform’s $19 starting price targets SMEs and agencies, potentially widening access to AI search analytics previously associated with enterprise marketing budgets.
• AI visibility remains difficult to standardize because different models can produce varying answers, making repeated query monitoring increasingly important for marketers.

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