The advertising and marketing landscape is being reshaped by AI-first companies that are redefining how brands connect with audiences. From AI-driven search visibility to agentic marketing platforms, these innovators are setting the pace for the future. Here are five companies you should keep an eye on in 2026:
- Peec AI
Peec AI helps brands track and optimize their visibility across AI-powered platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. With a €7M seed round in July 2025 and headquarters in Berlin, Peec AI is building tools for GTM, analytics, and product teams to understand how their brand appears in conversational AI results.
Marius Meiners, CEO & Co-Founder:
“Selling something people don’t need is just too hard. We focused on a real pain point – AI visibility. As consumers turn to AI for answers instead of Google, brands need to know: Can customers still find you when they ask AI instead of a search engine?”
- Profound
Profound’s platform measures and optimizes brand presence in LLM answer engines, ensuring companies stay relevant in AI-driven search. Backed by a $20M Series A in June 2025, this New York-based firm is a leader in enterprise AI analytics and visibility strategy.
James Cadwallader, CEO & Co-Founder:
“In a zero-click world, the conversation between consumers and an AI agent is the new first impression. AI visibility will become a boardroom-level priority for all brands by 2026.”
- Jasper
Jasper offers an agentic workspace for marketers, integrating multiple AI models with a context layer to streamline campaigns. With $125M raised in Series A (2022), Jasper remains a dominant player in AI-powered content creation and marketing automation.
Dave Rogenmoser, CEO & Co-Founder:
“We’re only scratching the surface of AI’s potential. Soon, marketers will tell Jasper: ‘Build a campaign,’ and it’ll create hundreds of assets, load them into your CRM, and send them to the right audience, automatically.”
- You.com
You.com combines AI assistant capabilities with a search engine, delivering agentic, conversational results through its YouChat feature. Currently raising a Series B, this Palo Alto-based company is shaping the future of AI-driven search experiences.
Richard Socher, CEO & Co-Founder:
“Google gives you ten blue links. You.com gives you answers, context, and even integrates your internal data. For professionals who need accuracy, this is the future of search.”
- Typeface
Typeface provides an enterprise-grade marketing AI platform with a brand hub and agentic workflows. With $100M raised in Series B (2024), Typeface is helping businesses scale personalized marketing through generative AI.
Abhay Parasnis, CEO & Founder:
“Our mission is simple: empower every enterprise to create high-quality, personalized content that aligns with its unique voice. Generative AI isn’t just about speed – it’s about authenticity at scale.”
Why These Companies Matter
As AI becomes the backbone of marketing and advertising, these companies are pioneering solutions that help brands stay visible, relevant, and efficient in an AI-first world. Expect them to lead the charge in redefining search, content, and customer engagement strategies.