Michael Kassan Backs OptimizeGEO as AI Search Rewrites Brand Discovery

OptimizeGEO, a startup building software for brands that want to know how AI assistants describe them, has added MediaLink founder Michael Kassan as a personal investor and strategic advisor. The company announced the move on October 1, 2026, and it was reported by Adweek and covered by DevCuration on October 12.

The size of Kassan's check was not disclosed, and the company's announcement does not set out total round proceeds. What is known comes with attribution: Adweek reports the investment is part of a pre-Series A led by Young Capital at an $80M valuation. That valuation figure describes the price attached to the round, not money raised — a distinction the company's own release does not collapse, and one that matters, since the release supplies no round ledger, cumulative funding total, ownership terms or allocation of proceeds.

OptimizeGEO's product addresses an increasingly common problem. A brand's product facts can travel farther than the team that wrote them: reviews, retailer listings and published coverage become ingredients in an AI-generated recommendation, leaving marketers responsible for an introduction they never approved. The company says its platform measures brand visibility, share of voice, sentiment and citations across major AI services, and its feature documentation includes source mapping, prompt analysis and recommendations, so a team can inspect where a description came from and whether it still represents the business accurately. It also describes agents that implement approved recommendations — spanning content, technical changes, media and commerce — with human review built into the workflow, and SKU-level commerce tracking that shows which products an AI engine recommends and which retailers it points buyers toward.

Kassan's remit is disclosed and commercial: global go-to-market strategy, enterprise relationships and partnerships. The announcement identifies him as a personal investor and advisor rather than an institutional investment by 3C Ventures, the firm where he is founder and CEO. He previously founded MediaLink.

The founders bring platform scale to the problem. Cofounders Kirthiga Reddy, CEO, and Saurabh Doshi are expanding a business that says it serves more than 100 brand clients across 20 countries — company-reported adoption figures, with no audited revenue, retention or contract-value data attached. OptimizeGEO's founder history identifies Reddy as Facebook India's first employee and former MD, and a former SoftBank partner; Doshi previously held leadership roles at Meta APAC and Viacom18. Both built careers around the platforms through which brands found customers; they now run a company helping marketers understand another set of intermediaries.

The company's published pricing starts at $499 per month for brand plans, with a 12-month minimum commitment on its Standard and Pro tiers, making this a recurring purchasing decision rather than a one-off tool. Its careers page describes a distributed team across the United States, United Kingdom, UAE and India, with open roles in customer success, technical SEO and AI search, agency sales support, key accounts, growth marketing and design. The announcement does not tie those listings to a specified hiring budget.