Authors

Sam Hogan: Co-Founder & Product Architect

3 min read
Nov 22, 2025
Meet Sam Hogan, Co-Founder of Searchable. Specializing in Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) and building tools for the next generation of search.
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Sam Hogan: Co-Founder & Product Architect

Sam Hogan is a co-founder of Searchable, where he leads product strategy and technical architecture. He has spent the last year focused on understanding how Large Language Models (LLMs) retrieve and synthesize information, a field now known as Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO).

Sam’s work is driven by a simple observation: as more people use AI to find answers, businesses need new tools to understand how they are being represented. Searchable was built to provide that visibility.

Developing the AEO Framework

Sam's interest in AEO began while working as a Founding Engineer at Origami Agents (Y Combinator F24). Faced with the challenge of making a new product visible to AI tools like ChatGPT and Perplexity, he began experimenting with different technical approaches.

He documented his findings in a case study:

"On April 14th, I built a custom setup for origamiagents.com. At that point: 0 visitors from ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google's AI Overviews. By April 24th: we had traffic from all three."

This practical experience—learning what actually works to get cited by AI—formed the basis of the product methodology behind Searchable.

Previous Experience: Hirebird

Before Searchable and Origami, Sam founded Hirebird, a hiring platform for Gen Z. While the company was acquired, the experience taught him valuable lessons about product development and user acquisition.

During his time with Hirebird, the startup secured early users and won first place at the NY Business Plan Competition. This background in building products from scratch informs his approach to Searchable: focusing on solving real user problems with tangible utility.

Background & Education

Sam holds an MBA in Marketing from the University at Albany, where he also played for the football team. His academic path also included studies at Cornell University and Utah State University.

At Searchable, Sam combines this diverse background with a specific focus: building the definitive toolset for the era of AI search.

Career at a Glance

  • Co-Founder | Searchable (Aug 2025 - Present)
  • Founding Engineer | Origami Agents (YC F24) (Mar 2025 - Aug 2025)
  • Founder | Hirebird (Jan 2024 - Feb 2025)
  • MBA Student & Athlete | University at Albany (Aug 2023 - Jul 2024)