Searchable secures $14M from Headline at $85M valuation as AI reshapes how customers are searching and buying.

NEW YORK, May 18, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Searchable, the AI performance marketing platform helping businesses compete in AI-driven search, has raised $14 million in funding led by global venture capital firm Headline. The latest round of funding values the company at $85 million, reflecting investor confidence that AI-led search will be one of the most important customer acquisition channels of the next decade. 

The funding follows a period of rapid growth, including reaching $2 million in revenue in 4.5 months and onboarding nearly 1000 customers.

Headline, whose portfolio includes Bumble, Farfetch, Goop and Sonos, has a track record of backing global category leaders, including Semrush, the SEO software group acquired by Adobe in a $1.9bn deal. Its investment comes as CMOs confront what many see as the biggest change in online visibility since the early days of Google.

With fresh capital from Headline, Searchable plans to accelerate product development across its execution engine and expand its presence in both the US and UK markets.

Dominic R. Wilhelm, Partner at Headline, said:

"AI–driven discovery is rewriting how customers find products. As more searches are answered directly by AI, brands that are invisible in this layer of search will see less demand. The companies that adapt first will grow market share; those that don't will lose it quietly."

Wilhelm adds: "We see Searchable becoming part of the core infrastructure for this shift, not just reporting on what AI engines say about a brand, but directly improving the visibility and revenue outcomes that matter to management teams and boards."

AI-enabled search is projected to reach roughly 70 percent penetration by 2027, while 65 percent of searches already end without a click. AI-generated overviews now appear in nearly half of Google searches, reshaping how consumers discover products and services.

Chris Donnelly, founder of Searchable, said: "Search is going through a once–in–a–generation reset. When an AI assistant recommends your brand, customers arrive with more trust and a shorter path to purchase. Based on our own data customers are converting at 3x higher when they arrive from ChatGPT and other LLMs. If you aren't visible in those answers, you're giving ground to competitors every day."

Over the next 12 to 24 months, the company expects three structural shifts: the automation of repetitive manual SEO labour through agentic systems; the rise of AI commerce as a standalone optimisation layer; and the convergence of paid and organic AI visibility into unified attribution models.

British serial entrepreneur Donnelly, who sold SEO agency Verb for $25 million and scaled Lottie Org to a nine-figure valuation, explains: "For more than a decade, SEO has been labour–intensive and expensive. Over the next two years, a large share of that work becomes automatable. Our goal is to give companies an execution layer for AI search that cuts SEO costs by up to 40 percent while growing high–intent traffic."

Searchable works with brands including American Express, KPMG and Siemens. On average, enterprise-scale customers report a 22 percent increase in AI-driven traffic within their first 60 days of using the platform. The US-based company is incorporated in Delaware and operates between New York and London.

About Searchable
Founded in 2025 by British serial entrepreneur Chris Donnelly, Searchable is a new AI performance platform that helps brands understand, track and improve how they appear across AI-led search. Acting as a growth command centre, it tracks visibility on 10 AI engines, surfaces insights through interactive agents, connects analytics from Google Analytics & Search Console, and turns data into actions that drive traffic growth. The US-based company is incorporated in Delaware and operates between New York and London, and is redefining performance marketing for the age of AI.

For further information see: https://www.searchable.com/

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SOURCE Searchable