London-based startup Obsero has secured €1 million in seed funding, led by SFC Capital. The company tracks how AI assistants like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews describe brands and the sources they cite. This is particularly important in markets where customers rely heavily on comparisons, such as lending, trading, and online casinos.
The funding round, announced on October 13, included investments from several of Obsero’s own customers. Ed Stevenson, fund principal at SFC Capital, described AI assistants as “quickly becoming the new front door to the internet.” The investment reflects a belief that brands will pay to understand how they are portrayed in these AI-driven interactions.
Tracking AI Answers and Their Sources
Founded in 2025 by Mike Logue and Andy Francos, Obsero has analyzed over 10 million AI answers in its first year. The company pairs its platform with a senior consultancy team to provide insights into how brands are discussed by AI assistants.
Obsero’s clients include Zopa Bank and Pepperstone, with agencies like IDHL and Silverbean partnering with the company. While its current focus is on finance, the platform’s tracking capabilities apply to any market where third-party reviews shape AI responses, such as online casinos.
The Importance of Source Material
Obsero’s platform goes beyond tracking brand mentions; it records the specific pages AI assistants draw from. This is key because an AI’s response is only as favorable as the third-party material it uses, much of which brands do not control.
In traditional search, brands could monitor their own page rankings and work to improve them. However, AI assistants generate summaries from multiple sources, meaning a brand can be described without its own site being cited. This shift makes it harder for brands to manage their online presence.
For instance, in the online gambling sector, AI assistants comparing operators like BetMGM or Caesars Palace often rely on independent reviews and player forums. While a casino can control its own website, it has little influence over external reviews of its services.
Real-World Impact: Trustpilot’s Example
The value of being cited by AI assistants is evident in Trustpilot’s performance. The review platform reported a 1,490% year-on-year increase in click-throughs from AI search and was the fifth-most-cited domain on ChatGPT globally in January.
Despite strong financial results—with half-year revenue up 23% to £151.4 million and adjusted EBITDA rising 46% to £26.3 million—Trustpilot’s shares fell 20% on the day of the announcement. Investors had expected even stronger guidance, highlighting the pressure on companies to manage their AI-driven visibility.
Trustpilot’s success in attracting AI citations shows the opportunity for smaller brands to leverage similar tools. Obsero aims to fill this gap by providing actionable insights into the sources AI assistants rely on.
Obsero’s Focus on Uncontrolled Sources
Obsero argues that manually measuring this gap is impossible. The company aims to provide a solution by tracking the specific sources AI assistants rely on, enabling marketing teams to understand and potentially act upon this citation data.
Obsero’s Plans and Competitive market
With the new funding, Obsero will develop its first specialist AI agents, expand its engineering team, and accelerate its go-to-market strategy. The company joins a growing field of startups addressing AI-driven brand visibility, including Searchable and geoSurge.
Searchable raised €11.9 million for its AI-led search performance platform, while geoSurge secured €10 million to focus on how brands are represented within generative AI systems. Obsero’s unique selling point is its focus on the sources behind AI answers, rather than the answers themselves.
“I’ve never seen the ground move this quickly,” said Francos. Logue added, “AI is changing how people discover brands faster than any shift I’ve seen in marketing.”
