30 Years of HELP.CH: Swiss Web Pioneer in the Age of AI Search

30 Years of HELP.CH: Founder Andy Rauch (left) and CEO Nishan Ulagarajah (right) – from the early days of the Swiss web to today’s AI-powered search. HELP.CH has been online since 1 September 1996.

From the Early Days of the Swiss Web to AI Search

When HELP.CH went online on 1 September 1996, the World Wide Web was still in its pioneering phase. Search engines, online directories and digital information services were only just beginning to emerge. For many Swiss companies, simply having their own website was still something new.

At the time, the central challenge could be summed up in a simple question: How can people find the right information on the rapidly growing internet?

Thirty years later, the same question is being asked again – under entirely different technological conditions.

People no longer search for companies, products and services exclusively through traditional search engines. Increasingly, they ask AI systems such as ChatGPT, Gemini or Claude directly and expect a specific answer rather than a list of possible websites.

For HELP.CH, this marks a new chapter in the same story.

“The technology is completely different, but the fundamental question is remarkably similar: How does a person find the right information? In 1996, websites and search engines were the answer. Today, AI systems are becoming part of that answer,” says Andy Rauch, founder of HELP.CH.

From Search Portal to Swiss Business Network

What began as an internet service in the 1990s has developed over three decades into a broad-based digital network.

Today, the HELP.CH network comprises more than 200 specialised portals, around 2,500 domains and over one million company and organisation profiles.

These include company and industry directories, search and specialist portals, media and press platforms, event services, as well as structured company and economic data.

A central component is the Swiss company directory operated by HELP.CH, where companies and organisations are listed with structured information and made digitally discoverable.

With the rise of generative artificial intelligence, the database built up over several decades is taking on additional importance.

Structured Company Data Is Becoming More Important for AI

For a company to be considered and correctly classified in an answer generated by artificial intelligence, its information must be discoverable, unambiguous, up to date and machine-readable.

Company name, location, industry, services, contact information and other business data should be available online in a structured and as consistent a form as possible.

HELP Media is therefore increasingly adapting its existing services to ensure that company information can be clearly understood not only by people and traditional search engines, but also by AI systems.

This is also changing the concept of digital visibility.

Until now, many companies have focused primarily on achieving the highest possible position in Google search results. Generative AI introduces an additional question: Is a company actually found, understood and considered relevant by AI systems?

Search Increasingly Delivers Answers Instead of Links

Traditional search engines have shaped the internet for decades. The principle was straightforward: a search query produced a list of websites and sources.

Generative AI is changing this model.

AI systems can combine information from different sources and formulate answers directly. For companies, this means that digital visibility will no longer be defined solely by their position in traditional search results.

“The next generation of search no longer provides just ten links – it provides an answer directly,” says Nishan Ulagarajah, CEO of HELP Media AG. “For companies, the crucial question will therefore be whether their information is actually found, understood and correctly classified by AI systems.”

Alongside traditional SEO factors, structured company information, clearly identifiable sources and a consistent digital presence are therefore becoming increasingly important.

Generational Change in the Anniversary Year

The 30th anniversary also coincides with a change in the company’s leadership.

Since 11 August 2026, Nishan Ulagarajah has served as CEO of HELP Media AG and is responsible for the company’s operational business. Founder Andy Rauch remains involved with the company in a strategic role.

HELP.CH is therefore combining its anniversary with a generational transition at a time when the way information itself is searched for is also undergoing fundamental change.

30th anniversary logo of HELP.CH. The Swiss internet service has been online since 1 September 1996.

30 Years of Technological Change

Since 1996, HELP.CH has experienced several major phases in the development of the internet: the early World Wide Web, the rise of search engines, broadband internet, smartphones, social networks and now generative artificial intelligence.

The technological platforms and the ways in which people search for information have changed repeatedly over this period.

The core idea behind HELP.CH, however, has remained remarkably consistent: to make information about Swiss companies, organisations, services and current topics digitally discoverable and accessible.

After 30 years, the next phase is now beginning.

In a digital world where information is increasingly not only searched for, but selected, processed and presented directly as answers by AI systems, the quality and structure of the underlying data are becoming ever more important.

For HELP.CH, this brings the story full circle after three decades: in 1996, the challenge was to make information discoverable on the emerging World Wide Web. In 2026, the additional challenge is to provide information in a way that enables artificial intelligence to find it, understand it and classify it correctly.

HELP Media AG / HELP.CH
Nishan Ulagarajah, CEO
Thurgauerstrasse 40
8050 Zurich
Switzerland
Tel. +41 44 240 36 40
Email: medieninfo@help.ch
www.help.ch