TL;DR
- Schmitdy is now a listed partner in the Entrepreneurs First (EF) partner programme, live since late July 2026.
- The listing reaches EF's community of 5,000+ alumni founders, alongside 250+ other partners, via the EF partner database and a community Slack announcement.
- Schmitdy already works with a handful of EF portfolio companies, and founder Marco Lobo is an EF alumnus.
- Eligible EF companies in the UK, France and the US can claim a free AI Search Growth Read plus preferred terms on Schmitdy's Managed AI Search programme.
- Schmitdy customers have seen a 3 to 6x lift in AI search visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Grok.
Overview
London, 30 July 2026. Schmitdy, the AI search growth engineering product built by AI Heroes, is now a listed partner in the Entrepreneurs First (EF) partner programme. The listing went live in late July 2026 and puts Schmitdy in front of EF's community of more than 5,000 alumni founders, alongside more than 250 other partners on the EF partner portal.
The partnership
EF shared the news through its partner database and a Slack announcement to the wider community. Schmitdy already works with a handful of companies from the EF portfolio, so the partnership formalises a relationship that predates it. Founder Marco Lobo is himself an EF alumnus, which shaped how the offer was built.
"This is our first formal partnership with Entrepreneurs First, and it means a lot to me personally. I did EF a few years ago, and it was the most accelerated learning experience of my career. We already work with a handful of EF portfolio companies, and this partnership makes that relationship official for the wider EF community. Eligible companies get the same AI search visibility gains we have been delivering for our customers: a 3 to 6x lift, on average."
Marco Lobo, Founder, Schmitdy and AI Heroes.
What EF companies get
Eligible EF companies can claim a free AI Search Growth Read: an assessment of how the company currently shows up across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. It maps the buyer prompts that matter, flags competitor and citation source gaps, and hands over a 30 day action plan the company keeps whether or not it goes on to work with Schmitdy.
Companies that want to go further get preferred partner terms on Schmitdy's Managed AI Search programme, plus Schmitdy's standard outcome guarantee. The offer is open to eligible EF companies in the UK, France and the US, and can be claimed through the Schmitdy contact page.
Why AI search matters
Buyers increasingly ask AI assistants for recommendations instead of typing a search query and scrolling a list of links. When a chatbot answers "who should I use for X", it draws on a narrower set of sources than a traditional results page, and it names very few brands. A company not built for this shift can lose the buyer's attention before its website ever gets a visit. That is the problem GEO, short for generative engine optimisation, and AEO, short for answer engine optimisation, exist to solve.
How Schmitdy works
Schmitdy optimises visibility across seven answer engines: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Grok. The method runs as a loop. First, map the prompts buyers actually type into AI assistants. Second, map the source graph those engines cite when they answer those prompts. Third, ship the assets that move the needle: site optimisation, new pages, community presence, editorial and PR outreach, and YouTube. Fourth, read the results back against revenue, not just visibility scores.
The product runs as an agent teammate inside WhatsApp, Slack and Teams, backed by an expert managed service that keeps a human checking the work. Schmitdy's product lines cover Managed AI Search, AI Search Website, Growth Brain, Schmitdy on WhatsApp and AI Ads Monitoring. Customers have seen a 3 to 6x lift in AI search visibility, and Schmitdy tracks AI agent activity on customer websites as a separate signal.
Marco's EF story
"Watching my old EF cohort build serious companies and step into big roles over the years says everything about the talent EF attracts and selects. I made lifelong friends there, and I learned faster than at any other point in my career, professionally and personally. Thank you to Felicity Davies, Valentina Buzzo and the whole EF community team for the work they put into building that network, and for welcoming Schmitdy in as a partner."
Marco Lobo, Founder, Schmitdy and AI Heroes.
Key facts
- Announced: Late July 2026, London
- Partner: Entrepreneurs First (EF) partner programme
- Programme reach: 5,000+ EF alumni founders, listed alongside 250+ other partners
- Offer: Free AI Search Growth Read, plus preferred terms on Managed AI Search and Schmitdy's standard outcome guarantee
- Availability: Eligible EF companies in the UK, France and the US
- Founder: Marco Lobo, Schmitdy and AI Heroes, EF alumnus
About Schmitdy
Schmitdy is growth engineering for AI search, built by AI Heroes. It makes brands visible and cited when buyers ask ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot and Grok for recommendations. Schmitdy maps buyer prompts and source graphs, ships the assets that move visibility, and reads results back against revenue. It runs as an agent teammate inside WhatsApp, Slack and Teams, backed by a managed service with human quality control. Learn more at schmitdy.com.
About Entrepreneurs First
Entrepreneurs First (EF) is a global talent investor and company builder, founded in London in 2011 by Matt Clifford and Alice Bentinck. EF backs exceptional individuals before they have a co-founder or an idea, helps them form a team, and funds the company they build together, a model it calls "found, don't follow." Alice Bentinck is CEO, having taken over from Matt Clifford after around 15 years at the helm. EF has raised around 200 million dollars, has been valued at about 1.3 billion dollars, and operates from offices in London, Paris, Bangalore and San Francisco. Its portfolio, which includes Cleo, Tractable, Aztec and PolyAI, has been valued in the billions, with figures widely reported at over 10 billion dollars. EF's community now includes more than 5,000 alumni founders.
About Marco Lobo
Marco Lobo is the founder of Schmitdy and AI Heroes, based in London and Cologne. He built his own company through the EF programme a few years ago. Before founding AI Heroes, he worked in strategy consulting at Monitor Deloitte, and in operating roles at construction AI scale up Disperse and the AI product SlideSpeak.
