Last Updated: 12 August 2026
An exceptional creative or artist can spend years building a career, while cultural businesses, brands, and institutions can invest heavily in their websites. Yet both can still be difficult for today’s search engines and AI agents - used daily by more than 200M people - to find and understand.
As a result, many websites, even those that look great, remain invisible, lose traffic, and cannot improve what they do not know. As tools such as ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI become another way people discover information, being online is no longer the same as being discoverable.
With more than 10 years of experience in the creative industry, Viola Tavrovsky recognised the challenge created by rapidly changing AI-driven rules of online visibility. Together with her female-founded team, she began working on a new chapter: WeDirectory, created to provide fairer and more equal opportunities across the creator economy.
WeDirectory - a dedicated library of cultural websites with integrated AI visibility tools - was officially launched as the second project under US-based Parrot Art Inc. in November 2025. The platform spans 15 cultural categories, from art, design, and music to fashion, architecture, and beyond.
It functions as both a cultural library and a data infrastructure, with an integrated search engine and marketing tools designed to improve discoverability across the web through a unique AI technology stack.
Since launch, WeDirectory has attracted thousands of members and built an Instagram community of more than 128,000 followers. The platform has engaged with a growing network of cultural organisations, brands, galleries, and creatives, including Giorgio Armani, Longchamp, Ferragamo, Graduate Fashion Foundation, Aesthetica Magazine, Independent Collectors, Peggy, Flowers Gallery, Ferrara Showman Gallery, and others.
For Viola, the point is simple: AI will not replace culture, but it can greatly help cultural work to be seen and discovered. She was recently accepted onto a Stanford University programme in AI and machine learning. Beyond WeDirectory, she mentors young founders and has served as a jury board member for the MassChallenge Switzerland Startup Accelerator, as well as a speaker at the Grishin Robotics UK Startup Accelerator.
We spoke with Viola about how WeDirectory is changing the online presence of the cultural industry and about her ambitions to collaborate with AI platforms such as OpenAI.
1. Before building a business in the cultural sector, you worked in industries including petrochemicals, energy and private banking. Art, at that point, was mainly a personal interest. What led you from that corporate career to starting a business focused on the cultural sector?
It began during my fourth degree, a Master of Arts. Looking around, I saw that people who had already worked in the industry for years still struggled with career and business development.
Drawing on my corporate background, I clearly recognised a problem I could help solve: changing how the cultural industry works so that talented creatives receive what they deserve - recognition and a stable income.
2. During the pandemic, you organised your first European exhibition in London. You have described how difficult it was to find curators and other people needed to organise the exhibition without relying on personal contacts. What did that experience tell you about the way the art sector works?
It was about nepotism and a lack of technological and business knowledge. Almost all art universities teach students how to create, but unfortunately, they rarely teach them how to turn their work into a stable career or business.
There was a huge gap between all the participants, and no platform existed to unite creatives in this way. It felt like a completely different planet.
3. The initial idea was to create a place where people in the art world could connect with each other. That eventually developed into Parrot Art, Behind Art and later WeDirectory. What did you learn along the way about what creative professionals actually need?
Initially, I personally organised many exhibitions in the UK and Italy. I consulted creatives and agencies, and immersed myself in the problem day by day. It was always about how to build a system that provides visibility and collaborative infrastructure.
Our first prototype was similar to Facebook for creators, with integrated tools for managing workflows. Later, we pivoted to Behind - a freelance marketplace specifically for the cultural industry, where anyone could offer online and offline services. It included integrated payments, chat, Zoom calls, and secure transactions directly within the platform. We simplified the process significantly.
Our members range in age from 18 to 74, and they can use the platform with ease. I see that as a real success.
We then realised that the demand was much greater, so we scaled the idea into WeDirectory, with 15 different categories and AI-powered technology designed to make everyone more discoverable. It is all about traffic and online visibility: more traffic means more opportunities for sales and recognition.
4. In a previous founder interview, you explained that Netflix was one of the inspirations behind WeDirectory. You described Netflix as a library where people can quickly understand their options, rather than having to search through many different links. What did you want to bring from that approach to how people discover creative work?
It’s true. We do not search for films on Google to receive a list of boring blue links. Google is brilliant, but people rarely click through to the second page of search results.
Every website is different, and it can be complicated and time-consuming to decide what information you need. The biggest names tend to stay at the top, which is unfair. There are millions of interesting people, projects, and companies that could be exactly what we are looking for, but we may never discover them because they do not know that their websites are not readable by AI.
Today, almost all platforms and systems use AI algorithms, and they work differently. If you do not understand the rules or have technical knowledge, you can be left behind.
That is why WeDirectory - something like a Cultural Wikipedia - was officially launched on 24 November 2025. It provides individual W Cards and searchable pages with a professional overview, social media links, cover image, category, media mentions, and email address. It helps people find essential information in seconds, then choose whether to explore further.
5. Your work today goes beyond WeDirectory. You mentor emerging founders and young startups, sit on the jury board of the MassChallenge Switzerland Accelerator and have recently been accepted onto a Stanford University AI programme. What are you hoping to learn from these experiences that could influence how you build the company?
I am convinced that curiosity is the key to success. Mark Randolph, co-founder of Netflix, recently said the same on LinkedIn, and I agree with him completely.
I repeat this to my team, friends, and fellow founders all the time. That is why I enjoy speaking with other startup founders: there is always an opportunity to learn something new and share advice in return.
Crunchbase is one of my favourite platforms. I am fascinated by the story behind every startup - each one is unique, with valuable examples of both best practices and mistakes to learn from. I also enjoy reading biographies. Analysing these stories helps me grow and thrive.
6. You have described creative careers as fragmented and far less structured than professions such as medicine or teaching. Why is it still so difficult for talented people in the cultural sector to build their careers and find professional opportunities?
Again, cultural institutions place very little focus on business. It is all about creativity. However, without technological and business knowledge, it is very difficult to succeed today.
Other industries already have clear career roadmaps: you can use dozens of career platforms, start as a volunteer, then become a junior, move into a mid-level role, and progress further. In the cultural industry, the path has historically been much less defined.
7. WeDirectory argues that many creative organisations can produce exceptional work and have beautifully designed websites, yet still remain largely invisible in AI powered discovery. Why does that happen?
They simply do not know what to improve. Statistically, 95% of websites are not readable by AI. AI entered our lives very quickly, and the cultural industry in particular is often afraid of it as a concept, avoiding anything related to it.
However, the truth is that certain technical foundations are now required. Many businesses still do not know how to set up SEO, even after 20 years - so AIEO/GEO can feel even more complex. They do not need to understand every technical detail; that is what we do for them through our unique AI technology.
8. For more than two decades, search engine optimisation, or SEO, has influenced online visibility. Now tools such as ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI are also becoming ways to discover information. What does that change mean for artists and creative organisations trying to make their work understandable to these systems?
The selection process is more rigorous, and the challenge of being seen and found is greater. Above all, we try to educate people and brands about the problem and explain what they can do about it. This will take time.
It is unfortunate that smaller creatives and brands do not have the same access to technology and visibility opportunities. Only the biggest names tend to appear at the top, while millions of others - often exceptionally unique and distinctive - remain behind the scenes.
I genuinely feel for them. Our goal is to make these opportunities and conditions accessible to everyone.
9. WeDirectory says it combines technology with human curation to help preserve originality, cultural relevance and creative quality while improving visibility. How do you make creative work easier for AI to understand without losing those qualities?
I cannot publicly share our technology stack, as it is unique and developed privately. However, we still moderate content manually.
Our extensive database allows us to train algorithms to support certain aspects of curation. Yet this is the cultural, art, and creative industry: AI cannot fully sense or recognise potential in the way people can, especially when informed by more than 10 years of industry experience.
I expect AI will become more capable of supporting moderation over the next few years, but we will never fully exclude human curation and review.
10. Do you see a risk that AI led discovery could favour creators and brands that are already well known, making it harder for emerging talent to be discovered? If so, what could platforms such as WeDirectory do about it?
This is how it works now, and that is why we are developing WeDirectory. We have already helped thousands of talents and brands become more discoverable, rank higher in search results across Google, ChatGPT, Claude, and other platforms, and significantly increase citations for WeDirectory members.
We work on multiple layers. WeDirectory itself functions as a search engine for the cultural industry, while our unique AI technology stack helps members become visible beyond the platform itself. It is exciting to see the impact.
11. One of WeDirectory's core features allows a member to provide a website address and receive a professional, searchable profile within seconds. What happens behind the scenes during those few seconds?
Ahaha - it’s a secret!
In a nutshell, our system takes a link and analyses the available data about a person or brand across the web in seconds. It then creates a professional profile - W Card + W Page - optimised behind the scenes with the tools AI algorithms need.
Members no longer need to worry about describing themselves perfectly, uploading images, or creating daily content. They simply add one link, and our system does the rest in seconds.
One action, no headache - just a little bit of magic.
12. AI handles part of that process, but every WeDirectory profile is also human verified. What still requires human judgement, and why is that particularly important when dealing with culture and creative work?
Once a profile is created, our expert team manually reviews every one. AI is still not perfect, so its output requires a human double-check.
This is not only a WeDirectory challenge - it remains a broader issue that AI companies are working to solve. Even tools such as Claude and ChatGPT can occasionally hallucinate, and everyone understands the importance of human oversight.
13. There is also a more technical side to the platform. WeDirectory supports tools such as JSON LD, robots.txt and llms.txt, which the company says help work appear more clearly across search engines and AI led discovery tools. For someone who has never heard of them, what do these tools actually do?
JSON, robots.txt, llms.txt, Schema.org, and similar elements are the basics that everyone should understand and implement. They give machines clearer instructions about a website’s identity, content, and permissions. However, they are only the surface. In reality, there are dozens - if not hundreds - of additional tools and steps involved. It requires a highly complex, multi-layered approach.
I often explain it like this: imagine asking a beehive to find a pink rose. Millions of bees would fly out to look for it. But if the pink rose is under a glass cover - like in Beauty and the Beast - the bees cannot reach it and will continue searching elsewhere. In the best-case scenario, they may return with a red rose; in the worst case, perhaps even a sunflower.
Our goal is to remove that glass cover. This is what happens to websites today when they do not have the right technical setup.
14. WeDirectory describes itself as a “trusted cultural data layer.” That can sound quite technical. In practical terms, what does it mean, and what can WeDirectory offer that someone would not already get from Google, Instagram, LinkedIn or a traditional SEO platform?
On most other platforms, people and brands describe themselves as best they can, but this does not always work well. We now live online most of the time, yet when you are focused on your own work, you may not have the time, experience, or knowledge to keep up with today’s digital rules.
At WeDirectory, we create professional profiles automatically. Members simply review their profile and can edit it whenever they wish. In the end, this creates a large, structured data infrastructure that algorithms can easily understand.
Google and Instagram are open to everyone, but they are also enormous. Reaching top positions often requires significant time, budget, knowledge, and a marketing team. It can be expensive and time-consuming to achieve results.
15. The platform is not limited to creating searchable profiles. Members can also find collaborators, promote their work and access website audits and optimisation tools. How do these different services fit into the larger idea behind WeDirectory?
All of these services support the same goal: helping creative people, projects, and brands become easier to find, understand, and connect with online.
A free WeDirectory profile provides the foundation - a professional, searchable presence within a trusted cultural ecosystem. Collaboration tools help members find relevant people and opportunities, while website audits and optimisation tools show them where their online visibility can be strengthened. Promotional services, such as editorial features and social media campaigns, offer an additional way for members to reach new audiences.
Some members need only the free profile, while others want more tailored support. Our paid services allow us to provide that additional level of visibility while keeping the core platform accessible and continuing to invest in our technology and curation.
16. When WeDirectory first tested the idea with a landing page, thousands of people applied within about a week. What did that response tell you, and what questions did it leave unanswered about the potential of the business?
We were incredibly surprised and, of course, delighted. Members experienced a real “wow” moment: in seconds, they received a professional, well-designed, and discoverable profile. We loved it too.
We immediately saw that it was becoming increasingly viral. We started receiving hundreds of mentions and reposts across the internet, with people saying, “Wow, I’m on WeDirectory - have a look at my profile!”
That was when we began thinking more seriously about the business model and how to make it profitable. It felt like genuine product-market fit: make something people want, as Y Combinator always says.
17. Since its launch by Parrot Art Inc. in November 2025, WeDirectory says it has attracted thousands of members worldwide and built an Instagram community of more than 128,000 followers. It has also collaborated with organisations including Giorgio Armani, Longchamp and Graduate Fashion Foundation. How do you plan to turn that reach and those collaborations into sustainable business growth?
It was an honour when such major brands came to us in the beginning. We could hardly believe it.
Honestly, I cannot say how many well-known brands have joined since then. It was possible to keep track at the beginning, but there are now so many. I recently learned from our Marketing Director that Jeff Koons and Italy’s Ministry of Culture follow us on Instagram, alongside many others.
I cannot know everyone personally, so we are planning to scale our London team. We will have curators responsible for each of our 15 categories, including art, fashion, music, design, and more.
18. Improving discoverability is one of WeDirectory's main goals. How can you tell whether it is working? For example, can you measure whether a member becomes easier to find through Google, ChatGPT, Claude or other AI led discovery tools?
We measure performance through internal analytics dashboards and monthly member reports. These track profile views, search impressions, website clicks, referral traffic, content engagement, and online mentions. We also monitor how often members appear in relevant search results and AI-led discovery environments.
This helps us understand what is working, where visibility can be improved, and which tools deliver the greatest value to our members.
19. The ambition is also to build WeDirectory into a scalable business. Where do you expect its revenue to come from as the company grows, and what will make that model sustainable over time?
WeDirectory is built around a freemium model. The free profile removes barriers to joining and helps us build a strong, trusted cultural data infrastructure. Revenue comes from members and organisations that choose additional services, including website audits and optimisation, tailored visibility tools, editorial and press opportunities, newsletter placements, and social media promotion.
The model becomes sustainable when the platform continues to deliver clear value: stronger discoverability, useful insights, relevant connections, and tools that save members time. We are focused on growing responsibly through retention, recurring demand for premium services, and partnerships with cultural institutions and brands.
Our priority is to strengthen our presence in the UK, Europe, and the US, while continuing to develop the technology and human-curation model that makes WeDirectory distinctive.
20. The plans for WeDirectory include creating jobs and expanding the business from the UK into international markets, while the platform already says it has members worldwide. As the company grows, where do you expect it to create the most human jobs, and what will need to change as WeDirectory builds a stronger presence in new markets?
For sure, London, as I live here and organised our first group exhibition at a Camden gallery in 2021. Our team is based here and across Europe, as are many of our partnerships.
Regarding team growth, we are always open to working with strong developers with AI expertise, as well as people with experience in the cultural sector.
The platform can grow internationally through technology, but we believe that local knowledge and real relationships will always matter. Perhaps one day we will expand and open an office in the US, but it is not necessary at this stage.
