Tracksuit Bets on AI Brand Monitoring With Hall Acquisition
Synopsis
The Auckland-based company has acquired Hall and its team to help marketers understand how generative AI platforms mention and interpret brands.
Tracksuit gets Hall AI brand monitoring tools as the brand tracking company based in Auckland expands into one of the fastest-growing parts of digital marketing, tracking the visibility of businesses in AI-generated responses.
The business has purchased New Zealand-based startup Hall and its expertise, which covers reference of brands to AI assistants and answer engines. The transaction's financial terms were not revealed.
The integration of Tracksuit's consumer brand measurement platform with Hall's AI visibility technology coincides with businesses being more mindful of the role of brand recommendations, from ChatGPT to Google AI Overviews and generative AI platforms.
Instead of just paying attention to traditional search placement, businesses are also paying attention to whether AI systems refer to their brands and how they do so.
Expanding beyond traditional brand tracking
Tracksuit was established in Auckland in 2021 by Connor Archbold and Matt Herbert and focuses on assisting companies to track brand awareness with regular consumer research. Hall, who was established by Kai Forsyth, created software that tracked brand visibility within AI-generated search results, commonly known as answer engine optimization (AEO).
Prior to the acquisition, Hall had raised NZ$2 million in pre-seed capital, raising support from Blackbird. The company's founders and employees will now be part of Tracksuit as a result of the deal.
The agreement also supports Tracksuit's presence throughout Australia, where it has been expanding its customer base since New Zealand, the U.S. and the United Kingdom.
AI search creates new opportunities for marketers
The purchase is made in the context of online discovery moving into the mainstream with the help of AI-powered search. Globally, businesses are still investing in generative AI in their marketing, customer engagement and enterprise software, with spending projected to hit US$644 billion by 2026, according to Gartner.
According to the Adobe AI & Digital Trends studies, consumers are also using generative AI tools to conduct research before buying products, which is driving brands to monitor visibility beyond the mainstream search engines.
Tracksuit added that integration of Hall's tech will enable the company's clients to see brand awareness data alongside AI-generated brand mentions in one dashboard. As consumer search habits shift, both are becoming essential for marketers to have, the company said.
In total, Tracksuit has secured about US$43.5 million in investment, with the most recent investment being a US$25.4 million Series B round in 2025.
Source: Smart Company
Pooja Malik is a business journalist with over six years of experience covering startups, entrepreneurship, and emerging trends. She has previously worked with leading media platforms such as YourStory Media and BW BusinessWorld, where she reported on business, policy, and market developments. Currently, she serves as Editor at The Inspirepreneur Magazine, where she writes and edits stories across business, lifestyle, and travel, with a focus on clarity, accuracy, and reader relevance.
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