Is AI recommending your competitor instead of you?
If AI doesn't like your product, it won't recommend it.
PEO audits by Eric Cohen, founder of OtisVP and inventor of the Reebok Pump.
The old world: Build a great product, tell a great story, win at shelf/search/social.
The new world: AI agents are becoming the recommendation layer. They have their own logic for who they recommend. That logic is discoverable. The companies that figure this out will design products that are both loved by humans AND recommended by AI. The ones that don't will build great products that nobody ever hears about.
I developed Product Engagement Optimization, or PEO. GEO tools tell you whether AI can find you. PEO tells you whether AI would recommend you even if it could.
A study of 150,000 AI citations found that the top 20 most-cited domains are all platforms where consumers talk about products: Reddit, YouTube, Amazon, Yelp. Not a single brand website made the list. GEO tools optimize your website for AI. PEO measures what people say about you on the platforms AI actually reads.
How PEO works
Discovery Audit
Where you rank across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Rufus. And who wins instead.
Reputation Audit
What AI actually thinks of your product, scored against the category leaders.
BackCast
An action plan of product, content, and distribution moves that close the gap.
PEO shows where the value is, and the money left on the table.
The blue line shows where Nivea sits, and why CeraVe is winning.
Who I Work With
A product's value isn't just what it sells today. It's whether people find it tomorrow. Consumers are increasingly turning to AI to decide what to buy, and the brands AI recommends are the ones that capture future value. I measure that. Across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Amazon's Rufus, I track how AI platforms recommend products in your category, who wins, who's invisible, and why. The data connects product design, content, and distribution decisions to the place where purchase decisions are moving.
Product Leaders
Your product is either being recommended by AI or it's invisible. PEO audits measure how ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Amazon's Rufus recommend products in your category, across hundreds of real consumer queries. The data shows where you win, where you're absent, and what to change in product, content, and distribution to close the gap.
Let's talk about your brand.
ecohen@otisvp.comPE and Acquirers
A brand's operating P&L tells you what it earned last quarter. Its AI-discovery footprint tells you what a licensee can earn from the name for the next five years. PEO audits deliver a buy-side diligence layer that doesn't exist in any current deal process: how often AI recommends the target brand, in which categories, and whether that position is defensible or fragile. Delivered in 2-3 weeks, built for deal timelines.
Bring me into your next diligence.
ecohen@otisvp.comVC Portfolio Teams
Your portfolio company's brand or product are either being recommended by AI or they're not. Most don't know which. An annual PEO subscription gives your platform team a new value-add: AI-discovery audits allocated across the portfolio, showing each company where they stand and what to fix. Differentiates your fund, strengthens your portfolio, and gives founders data they'd never buy on their own.
Let's scope a portfolio subscription.
ecohen@otisvp.comSee For Yourself
Nivea Skin Moisturizers
Beiersdorf | Skin Care | 240 AI conversations across 4 platforms
Nivea appeared in 4 of 160 AI conversations. Never #1. Not once. CeraVe appeared in 96 with 76 first-place rankings. Nivea's packaging says "dermatologically tested." Zero AI results. CeraVe says "developed with dermatologists." #1 everywhere. AI knows Nivea exists. It chooses not to recommend it.
Preview report →Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard
Glanbia | Protein Powder
AI recommends Optimum Nutrition in 25% of queries. For health-conscious consumers, AI steers toward plant-based brands. The audit exposes where ON's positioning disconnects from consumer search language and where the product's own attributes are feeding the gap.
Preview report →Allbirds Comfort Footwear
Allbirds | Comfort Footwear
$4 billion to $39 million. AI still recommends Allbirds in 40% of comfort footwear conversations. But every platform independently names the same failures: durability, no arch support, weather. The brand is alive in AI. The product isn't.
Preview report →Read the full articles for these and others on Substack.
Full reports available on request.
When to Run PEO
AI changes over time and new events can reshuffle the deck.
How It Works
Each engagement is based on your needs, current market conditions, and what's most critical to learn. You get a detailed report with expert analysis that makes the results actionable. I bring 40 years of product design and innovation to every engagement.
The right conversation is your design spec. Know what that is, and build to it.