We do the work most agencies outsource.
Lore is an AI search and Google search practice for startups. We build the brand truth that AI answer engines internalize as fact, and we do it with in-house people rather than a network of subcontractors. Lore is a Rye Valley company.
Why Lore exists
The market that grew up around AI search splits into two camps, and neither one does the job. On one side are content shops turning models loose on a keyword list and shipping the output raw. On the other are dashboards that tell you how often a chatbot mentions your brand and then leave the work to you.
Founders end up paying for volume they would be embarrassed to put their name on, or for a chart that measures a problem it cannot fix. Both outcomes are why the default reaction to an AI visibility pitch is skepticism, and honestly, that skepticism is earned.
We started Lore to run the opposite playbook: fewer pages, higher standards, real implementation, and a human accountable for every sentence that ships.
How we are different
The work is done in-house
No white-label subcontractors. The strategists, writers, editors, and engineers on your account work for Lore. When something goes wrong you talk to the person who did the work.
A human editor gates everything
Every piece of content passes a human editor before it ships. That is the anti-slop layer. AI helps us research and draft faster, and a person decides whether anything is good enough to publish under your name.
Links are earned, never bought
We earn links through real outreach, original research, and content worth citing. We do not buy placements, and we do not rent authority from link farms that get discounted the moment a model updates.
Technical fixes are applied and verified
Most agencies hand you a PDF of recommendations and call it a deliverable. We implement the technical fixes, then verify they took effect in the wild.
We run this on ourselves
Lore is part of Rye Valley, a portfolio of businesses, and we point the same engine at our own companies before we point it at yours. When a tactic stops working, we find out on our own properties first.
That is the whole reason we can be specific about what we will and will not do. We are not repackaging a vendor deck. We are shipping the system we depend on.
Who is behind it
Lore is run by Michael Houck out of Charleston, South Carolina. Before Rye Valley, Michael was a product manager at Uber Eats and Airbnb. He has been building Rye Valley since 2023.
Founders buy from founders, so you will talk to him. If you want to know how we would approach your category, ask directly and you will get a direct answer, including when we think we are the wrong fit.
Talk to us directly
Bring your category and your competitors. We will tell you what AI currently says about you and whether we can move it.