Digital marketing veterans launch Pathfinder AI to help brands win in the age of AI search

Digital marketing veterans David Toby (a 40 Under 40 award winner) and Mitch Kelly have launched Pathfinder AI, a dedicated AI SEO agency with a mission to help brands secure prime visibility and citations across AI-powered search platforms including Google Gemini, ChatGPT and Perplexity AI.

Pathfinder AI is the specialist AI search division of Pathfinder Marketing, a performance marketing agency known for driving growth for some of Australia’s largest e-commerce and lead generation brands.

The launch comes amid a seismic shift in search behaviour. Google’s global market share has dipped below 90% for the first time since 2015, and 60% of searches now end without a click as AI-generated results keep users on-platform. Meanwhile, AI search platforms are growing at breakneck speed: ChatGPT now attracts over 5.4 billion visits a month, Gemini has surged to 350 million monthly users, and Perplexity AI has grown traffic 192% year-on-year.

“Most brands are still fighting yesterday’s SEO war,” says Toby. “While they chase blue links, AI platforms are already answering millions of queries without sending users to websites. The brands that adapt first will own the next decade of visibility.”

Pathfinder AI’s services include Structured Data Optimisation, AI Bot Server Analysis, Competitor Visibility Benchmarking, AI Citation Optimisation and Content Gap Mapping – all aimed at making brands the preferred source inside AI-generated answers.

“AI search optimisation isn’t something you can hand off to junior staff,” adds Kelly. “It’s highly technical, it’s moving fast, and if you’re not in these AI knowledge bases, you’re invisible to a growing share of your market.”

Pathfinder AI is now taking on new clients looking for an early-mover advantage in AI search.