AEO Startup Petra Labs Raises $5.2M to Connect AI Visibility with Enterprise Revenue

The landscape of search engine optimization is undergoing a major shift as consumer habits transition from traditional search engines to AI-powered assistants like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini. In response, a new category of marketing technology known as Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is emerging. Petra Labs, a startup founded in 2025, has secured $5.2 million in seed funding to expand its platform designed to help enterprise brands navigate this shifting environment.

The seed funding round was led by Work-Bench, with participation from Afore, Pathlight, and several strategic angel investors. Petra Labs intends to use the capital to scale its measurement platform, grow its embedded services, and further develop its ability to tie AI search activity directly to measurable business outcomes.

Solving the Attribution Challenge in AI Search

While traditional SEO relies on established metrics like click-through rates and keyword rankings, measuring the impact of AI search engines presents unique hurdles. Many existing marketing tools only show whether a brand is mentioned in AI-generated answers. Petra Labs aims to move beyond simple visibility metrics by developing custom attribution models.

These models are designed to link a brand's appearances in AI assistant outputs directly to tangible business results, such as AI-referred website traffic, new customer acquisition, and overall revenue. For enterprise brands investing heavily in digital marketing, this level of detail is necessary to justify their investments in AEO and determine how to allocate budgets across different content initiatives, prompts, and external publications.

Combining Software and Specialized Teams

Managing AI search visibility involves sorting through millions of citations, determining which prompts are most critical, and identifying which underlying sources influence what AI engines output. To address these operational challenges, Petra Labs uses a hybrid approach that pairs proprietary software with an embedded team of specialists who work directly alongside customers. This team helps design and execute AI search strategies, managing content and visibility initiatives end-to-end.

Petra Labs primarily targets large enterprise brands that have complex marketing operations and are looking to make significant investments in AEO.

Leadership and Origins

Petra Labs was established in 2025 by a founding team with backgrounds across enterprise sales, data systems, and strategic consulting:

• Sami Akkawi (CEO): Akkawi previously spent five years at Strategy&, where he advised private equity firms on over 50 acquisitions involving marketing services, technology, and data.
• Rishi Penmetcha (CTO): Penmetcha has a background in building large-scale data systems and most recently focused on developing AI agents at Traba.
• Ramie Khoury (COO): Khoury previously built and led the growth team at Traba, specializing in enterprise sales and operations.

Industry Perspectives on the Shift to AEO

As marketing budgets face increased scrutiny, investors and founders alike emphasize the importance of proving financial returns on new channels.

Sami Akkawi, Co-Founder and CEO of Petra Labs, emphasized that the company was designed to function as an extension of its customers' teams to take full ownership of AI search business outcomes. He noted that from the beginning, the company recognized that delivering on this promise required a deep understanding of how AI search investments translate directly to corporate revenue.

Jessica Lin, Co-Founder and General Partner at Work-Bench, pointed out that every marketing channel must eventually prove its return on investment, and AI search is no exception. Lin noted that for enterprise brands spending millions of dollars across various channels, detailed attribution is crucial. She highlighted Petra Labs as the first AI search team their firm has seen that successfully connects software-derived visibility insights with revenue while managing the end-to-end execution process for customers.