The $200 billion market: Cincinnati startup managing reputations in era of AI search
Photo: Brandrank.AI
A Cincinnati startup says artificial intelligence is changing the way brands need to manage their reputations online.
BrandRank.AI is helping businesses protect and grow their brands as generative AI upends the $200 billion search engine market, influencing brand perception in key areas like trust, sustainability, product performance, supply chain integrity, and service.
The company was founded this year amid a shift from traditional “search” toward “prompt,” impacting brand discovery. BrandRank.AI contends brands need to understand, think, and act like algorithms to win in the new AI-focused search environment. It’s about understanding how a brand is perceived across generative AI search engines like Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Anthropic, ChatGPT, and others.
"The big 'aha' came when I noticed the divergence between the desired narratives of major brands and the narratives that emerge from AI search results, particularly in sensitive areas such as sustainability, supply chain integrity, customer service, and responsible use of AI and data,” says Pete Blackshaw, BrandRank.AI’s CEO, came from the founders’ use of ChatGPT. “This gap undermines trust, underscoring our mission to assist brands in establishing credibility and reliability."
BrandRank.AI has also established an early partnership with the national and local Better Business Bureaus which they believe will establish a strong "trust halo" provide the startup with a massive platform of small businesses for feedback and product testing and more.
BrandRank.AI Roots
Blackshaw, the former head of the startup accelerator and fund Cintrifuse, co-founded the firm with COO/Chief Product Officer Hank Hudepohl, a former VP at Tripadvisor and Paycor.
Companies that do well in search know about SEO and the science of keywords, backlinks, and page rank. But the BrandRank.AI co-founders recognize a shifting paradigm.
“The science of winning in generative search will go far beyond keywords and backlinks,” says Hudepohl. “You need to understand algorithms.”
Blackshaw and Hudepohl believe that BrandRank.AI’s headquarters location can serve as an advantage, with the Midwest operating as a sort of neutral party away from Silicon Valley and the previous generation of online search.
“Biases, influences don’t apply,” Hudepohl said. “For right now, we like that we’re operating very independently.”
They hope the Midwest can eventually gain a reputation in the emerging area.
“The Midwest could be an epicenter for responsible AI,” Blackshaw says. “We are hoping this can catalyze a bit of a sector here in greater Cincinnati, or Ohio, because it’s very early.”
New Scientific Advisor
The co-founders want to build a compelling business model that draws from all the regional strengths, especially Ohio’s universities.
BrandRank.AI recently named Dr. Kelly Cohen, the Brian H. Rowe Endowed Chair in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Cincinnati, as Chief Scientific Advisor.
Dr. Cohen, a nationally recognized expert in the AI field, will leverage expertise in “fuzzy logic AI” systems and "Responsible AI." He's a founding member of AI for Humans and the Cincinnati AI Catalyst initiatives. He's also playing a critical role at UC Digital Futures facility.
"It's an exhilarating opportunity to bring my AI expertise to BrandRank.AI. I'm eager to dive into the intersection of AI innovation and brand trust and contribute to pioneering metrics that will shape the future of brand management,” Dr. Cohen said in a LinkedIn post announcing his role. “Working with Pete and Hank brings the very best out of me as I creatively and boldly apply my AI methodologies to the new and exciting domain of brand ranking analysis.”
“We aim to explore bold AI innovations at the branding and trust nexus,” says Blackshaw. “Dr. Cohen's expertise in diagnostic, predictive, and 'black box' metrics is critical to our success.”
Adds Hudepohl: “Dr. Cohen’s addition marks a significant milestone for us. His innovative mindset and curiosity are precisely what we need to establish rigor in our methodology and explore new frontiers in AI brand analysis.”
To learn more, please visit www.brandrank.ai
