New platform addresses the growing visibility gap as AI-powered search replaces traditional discovery, giving startups a way to build presence inside AI engines.

Melbourne, Australia--(Newsfile Corp. - February 24, 2026) - FogTrail today announced the launch of its AEO platform designed to help startups become discoverable and cited inside AI search engines, marking a new approach to visibility in an era where artificial intelligence is rapidly replacing traditional.

The Melbourne-based company said its platform is designed to help startups actively build their presence across AI systems. The launch comes as Gartner's prediction that traditional search engine volume would decline 25% by 2026 due to AI chatbots appears to be playing out, with AI search engines now holding an estimated 12-15% of global search market share and growing. Individuals and businesses are increasingly relying on AI-generated answers instead of traditional search engine results to evaluate software tools, services, and technology providers.

FogTrail's platform introduces a structured execution pipeline that analyzes how AI engines currently reference a product, identifies gaps in visibility, generates supporting content, distributes it across relevant online sources, and verifies whether those efforts lead to improved citations. The system operates on a continuous cycle, allowing companies to measure and strengthen their AI presence over time.

According to FogTrail, the platform was developed in response to a lack of execution-focused solutions available to startups. While monitoring tools can track whether a product is mentioned in AI responses, they typically do not provide mechanisms to improve visibility. At the same time, traditional agency services focused on Answer Engine Optimization often remain financially inaccessible to early-stage companies.

"Startups are increasingly aware that AI search engines influence how customers discover products, but most lack the infrastructure to participate effectively," said Ming Xu, spokesperson for FogTrail. "We built FogTrail to provide startups with an AEO platform that not only identifies visibility gaps but actively works to close them, enabling AI engines to recognize and cite their products."

FogTrail said its platform evaluates visibility across five major AI engines, analyzing how each system interprets and retrieves information related to a company's product category, competitors, and use cases. Based on this analysis, the platform generates and distributes content designed to improve contextual relevance and strengthen the signals AI systems rely on when generating recommendations.

The company noted that visibility within AI search engines is influenced by the breadth and consistency of information available across the internet. Companies with extensive documentation, third-party mentions, and long-standing web presence are more likely to be cited. Startups, by contrast, often have limited content footprints, making it more difficult for AI engines to retrieve and reference them in generated answers.

FogTrail's platform is designed to address this imbalance by helping startups systematically expand their online content footprint. The company said its verification system re-analyzes AI engine responses after each execution cycle, allowing startups to track whether their citation frequency and discoverability are improving.

The launch reflects growing interest in what industry observers have begun to describe as Answer Engine Optimization, a field focused on improving how companies are represented within AI-generated answers rather than traditional search rankings.

FogTrail stated that its platform is available to startups globally and can be deployed without requiring in-house AI or search optimization expertise. The company plans to continue expanding its analysis coverage and execution capabilities as AI search platforms evolve.

With AI-generated responses increasingly shaping purchasing and software evaluation decisions, FogTrail's leadership believes execution infrastructure will play an important role in helping startups compete on equal footing with more established companies.

About FogTrail
FogTrail is an AEO platform that helps startups become discoverable inside AI search engines. The platform analyzes AI visibility, identifies gaps, generates optimized content, distributes content across the sources AI engines rely on when generating answers, and continuously verifies citation improvements across major AI engines. FogTrail was built to help startups establish and grow their presence in AI-driven discovery environments.

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