China's Zhitui raises tens of millions in angel round to get brands into AI answers
What's the deal? Zhitui Times TechnologyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → (GenOptima), a Shanghai AI marketing startup, has raised a tens-of-millions-of-yuan angel round. Investors include the Shanghai Intellectual Property FundDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Tiantu CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and prominent individual investor Wei Wei, with existing shareholder 37 Interactive EntertainmentDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → following on.
What's the endgame? Founded in May 2025, Zhitui works on generative engine optimisation (GEO) — helping brands appear in the answers AI tools such as DeepSeek, Doubao, and ChatGPT give users. Its self-built GENO system monitors AI search, models question-and-answer scenarios, and adapts strategy within 48 hours when platforms change their algorithms.
Why now? The company has grown fast. It closed a seed round led by 37 Interactive Entertainment in October 2025, less than half a year after launching.
The numbers: Zhitui says its annual recurring revenue passed 25m yuan in the fourth quarter of 2025 and crossed 100m yuan by the first half of 2026. It now serves close to 400 key accounts across more than 22 industries, from cars and education to finance and healthcare.
Going global: The startup has built 13 local service nodes across four continents, covering platforms including ChatGPT, Gemini, DeepSeek, Doubao, Qwen, and Tencent Yuanbao, with localisation support for 65 languages. The push follows Chinese companies expanding abroad, where whether a brand appears in overseas AI answers has become a fresh growth question.
Who's backing it? The cap table mixes industry, consumer, state-backed, and individual capital — unusual for such an early-stage deal. The Shanghai Intellectual Property Fund's entry ties Zhitui to Shanghai's AI ecosystem; the startup was among the first AI firms the Jing'an district earmarked for 2026.
What's the investor read? Tiantu Capital said consumer brands now compete on whether they can be “seen, understood, and trusted” within the context AI builds. Wei Wei, who sits among the top ten circulating shareholders of 27 listed companies, argued the real opportunity in each technology shift is “the commercial infrastructure that comes with” a new entry point.
What could go wrong? GEO's boundaries are unsettled. As brands try to enter AI answers, the industry must work out how to separate real information, commercial messaging, and manual manipulation — and AI platforms keep changing how answers are generated.
The signal: The round shows capital is not only chasing large models and embodied AI, but also funding application-layer products built around search and data. A 2026 iResearch report cited by the company projects China's GEO market to top 50bn yuan by 2030, framing early bets like this as a race for position in the emerging “answer economy.”
Read more: 36Kr
Image credit: Serpstat
