Why GEO Startups Are F**ked

Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

Eric Siu and Neil Patel

Careers, Business, Marketing

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 26 November 2025

⏱️ 23 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Need marketing help? Visit: https://www.singlegrain.com/ and https://npdigital.com/ Want to recruit great marketers? Find them here: https://marketingschool.io/hire Neil and Eric break down the surge of AI GEO startups, why funding far outpaces ARR, and how services still outperform SaaS. They compare Profound, AirOps, Peak AI, BrightEdge, Moz, and SEMrush while revealing why compounding, ownership, and real relationships matter more than hype. They also discuss bootstrapped billionaires, declining businesses, and the difference between real friends and transactional ones. Key takeaways: • AI GEO funding is outpacing proven revenue • Services outperform pure SaaS long term • Real relationships drive business success Chapters: (00:00) AI GEO startups funding (02:30) Services vs SaaS scaling (05:40) Bootstrapped billionaire examples (14:20) Compounding wealth mindset (17:30) Real vs transactional friends 𝗔𝗕𝗢𝗨𝗧 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗡𝗘𝗟 Welcome to Marketing School, one of the top business podcasts with over 61 million downloads. Each episode delivers actionable marketing tips and strategies from two entrepreneurs who truly practice what they preach. The show is hosted by Eric Siu, founder of Leveling Up and Single Grain, and Neil Patel, co-founder of Neil Patel Digital and recognized by Forbes as a Top 10 Marketer. 🎙️ Learn More About the Hosts Eric Siu – Leveling Up: https://www.youtube.com/@LevelingUpOfficial Neil Patel: https://www.youtube.com/@neilpatel 📩 Free Resources Growth Newsletter: https://levelingup.beehiiv.com/subscribe Ubersuggest: https://www.ubersuggest.com/ Answer The Public: https://www.answerthepublic.com/ ✅ Subscribe for Daily Marketing Insights!

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I do want to talk about all these GEO startups, right?
0:02.4	Because you had another one that just raised money this week about, let's just call it, like, tens of millions of dollars.
0:06.9	It was like the P or something.
0:08.3	I saw an ad in Europe for it. TechCrows. Oh, you're talking about Peak. Peak AI. I wasn't even talking about that one. Not peak. It was sort of like peror or something. Profound? No. Check out.
0:17.9	I have a table over here.
0:18.7	You like tables.
0:19.4	Yes, I love tables.
0:20.1	So, okay, Bright Edge.
0:21.5	They raise $61.9 million.
0:23.4	Current AR is $120 million. Check out. I have a table over here. You like tables. Yes, I love tables. So, okay, Bright Edge.
0:21.4	They raised $61.9 million.
0:35.9	Current AR is $120 million. Okay. Maws, 2004 founded. They raised $30 million, $50 million. They sold the constant contract, right? The current AR is only $50 million? Well, that's 2015. This is old data. Um, Sem Rush.
0:38.6	So, um, current AR is higher than this.
0:40.6	This says 171, but it's higher than 20.
0:38.6	It's 400 million. Well, that's 2015. This is old data. Sem Rush, so current AR is higher than this.
0:55.8	This says 171, but it's higher than 20. It's 400 million. Yeah, yeah. So, but they raise $40 million, right? And then you have AirOps. They just raised $60 million, $8 million ARR. And then profound 2024, they raised $60 million, $3 million estimated, right? Peak AI just raised $8 million and $750K ARR.
0:57.4	My point is how... $750K?
0:59.0	Yeah, $750K ARR.
1:00.6	It's probably higher than that.
1:01.3	And they raise $15 million.
1:02.9	$8 million on peak, $60 million for profound,
1:06.3	and then basically $60 million for Air Ops.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 6 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Eric Siu and Neil Patel, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Eric Siu and Neil Patel and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.