Last updated: 2026-10-19
Profound is an AI search visibility platform, launched in 2024, that tracks how brands appear in answers from up to nine engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. It captures responses from the consumer interface rather than APIs, and adds agents that draft and refresh content to close the gaps it finds.
About Profound
Profound is a New York company founded in 2024 that sells software for tracking and improving how brands appear in answers from AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. James Cadwallader is its co-founder and CEO. On 15 September 2026 it announced a $180 million Series D at a $1.8 billion valuation, co-led by Sequoia Capital and Kleiner Perkins, less than seven months after a $96 million Series C led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The core product, Answer Engine Insights, repeats a brand's tracked prompts every day across the engines and scores how visible the brand is, how it is described and which websites the engines cite. The vendor says it records answers from the consumer interface rather than from APIs, on the argument that this matches what a real customer sees. A FactCheck view lists wrong claims AI makes about a brand next to the source behind each one. Agent Analytics reads server logs, not a script tag, to show which AI crawlers visit a site and whether that activity turns into human visits. On Enterprise the engine list also reaches Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot and DeepSeek, and Ads Studio works across the ad managers of OpenAI and Google. Around those sit Prompt Volumes, a no-code Agents builder, and the newer AI Marketer and Ads Studio.
Profound is aimed at enterprise marketing, PR and agency teams that buy on a sales call. Smaller teams that want public prices have closer fits in Peec AI, CiteLens or OtterlyAI, and teams already working inside an SEO suite can look at Semrush, which sells its own AI visibility plan. For a side-by-side of two other trackers, CiteLens and Palmata, read the CiteLens vs Palmata guide, or scan the other visibility trackers in the directory. Content-side tools in the same category include Senso, Frase, Clearscope and Surfer SEO.
Pricing is the main friction. Nothing past the free trial is priced publicly for brands, so a budget conversation starts with the vendor, and the structure differs again for agencies. The product is used through a web platform, and its security claims sit on a dedicated enterprise page that a procurement team can read before booking a demo.
Pricing
Brands choose between a free one-week Trial and a custom-priced Enterprise plan; agencies choose between Agency Growth and a custom Agency Enterprise plan. Agency Growth lists add-ons of $399 a month per full client workspace and $199 a month for five extra trial workspaces, but the pricing page showed no base price for the plan. Third-party review sites quote other starting prices that the vendor page does not confirm, so none are used here.
com/pricing on 2026-10-19, in USD. For a tracker with printed prices, see Peec AI.
| Tier | Monthly price | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Trial | Free | 50 unique prompts, run daily for one week, ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, Limited AI Marketer credits, Unlimited seats, One language, one region, No exports, API, history, support or SSO |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom prompt tracking plan with daily runs, Up to nine answer engines, ChatGPT Shopping tracking, CSV and JSON exports, API access, full history, SSO and SOC 2 Type II, Email, dedicated Slack or a specialist with a 24 hour SLA |
| Agency Growth | Base price not published | 10 pitch workspaces a month, 25 prompts each, 7 days with option to extend, Client workspaces as add-ons: 100 prompts, 400 agent credits a month, Agency mode and consolidated billing, 5 agency seats and email support |
| Agency Enterprise | Custom | Tailored client and trial workspaces, API access and SSO, Dedicated agency partner and go-to-market support, Premium Slack support |
Key Features
- Answer Engine Insights: Runs tracked prompts daily and reports visibility score, share of voice, sentiment and cited sources, with answers the vendor says are captured from the consumer interface rather than API output.
- Engine coverage: Enterprise can track up to nine engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa Search, while the Trial covers three.
- FactCheck: Lists each inaccurate claim an AI engine makes about the brand beside the source driving it, so the team knows which page to fix.
- Agent Analytics: Reads server logs instead of a JavaScript tag to tell real AI crawlers from spoofed ones and benchmarks pages against more than 2 million others in the Profound Network.
- Agents builder: A no-code workflow builder with templates for content refresh, AEO FAQ generation, competitive research and net-new articles, metered in credits per run.
- Prompt Volumes: Shows how often topics are asked across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity so a team can choose which prompts are worth tracking.
- AI Marketer and Ads Studio: The vendor describes AI Marketer as an agent that deploys sub-agents, and Ads Studio as a way to build and manage AI Search ad campaigns across OpenAI, Google and Meta ad managers.
- Enterprise controls: Role-based access control, SAML or OIDC single sign-on, encryption at rest and in transit, and a SOC 2 Type II attestation stated on the vendor enterprise page.
Pros
- Security review is simpler for buyers who require SOC 2 Type II and SSO, both stated on the vendor enterprise page rather than offered on request.
- Tracking and action live in one product, so the page a FactCheck flags can go straight to a content-refresh agent in the same workspace.
- Agencies can pitch with live data before a contract exists, using a separate pitch workspace per prospect.
- G2 shows 4.5 out of 5 from 1,137 reviews (read on 2026-10-19), a large enough base to read for patterns rather than anecdotes.
Cons
- No public price for Enterprise or the base Agency Growth plan, so a team cannot set a budget before a sales conversation.
- The only self-serve brand plan is a time-boxed Trial that locks the prompt list and has no exports, history or API.
- Brands on the Trial miss Perplexity, Claude and Copilot; those engines come only with Enterprise.
- The product now spans agents and ads as well as tracking, so a team that only wants a visibility report should check the quote is not priced for that wider scope.
Data Handling
- Compliance
- SOC 2 Type II · SSO (SAML or OIDC) · role-based access control · encryption at rest and in transit · GDPR compliance stated by vendor
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Profound actually cost?
Profound shows two plans for brands, a free Trial and a custom Enterprise plan, and two for agencies, Agency Growth and a custom Agency Enterprise. On the agency side, a full client workspace is a $399 monthly add-on and five more trial workspaces cost $199, with no base price shown for the plan itself. At $399 for 100 unique prompts, a client workspace works out to about $3.99 per tracked prompt each month. Enterprise figures come only from a sales call.
Can you use Profound without paying?
Only through the Trial, which runs for a week. It tracks a recommended prompt set for your industry on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, with limited AI Marketer credits, one language and one region, and you cannot edit the prompts. Exports, API access, history and support are not included, and Prompt Volumes is capped at five searches.
What are Profound's closest competitors?
Peec AI suits teams that prefer printed self-serve prices and a daily tracker covering three models. OtterlyAI suits teams that want printed monthly prices and can start without a sales call. Semrush fits teams that already pay for it and want AI visibility inside the same SEO suite, and CiteLens covers tight budgets with a free plan of 10 prompts. Pick Profound over these when you need SSO, an API and the widest engine list.
How does Profound compare to Peec AI in 2026?
Peec AI prints its prices and tracks three models on every self-serve plan, while Profound's Enterprise plan reaches nine engines and adds exports, an API and SSO. Peec's own record shows SSO and API access also need an Enterprise contract, so the real gap is the SOC 2 Type II attestation and the agent and ad tooling. Pick Peec AI to start on a card, and Profound when security review decides the shortlist.
How do you set up Profound?
Start the Trial at platform.tryprofound.com, add your brand and competitors, and the platform assigns a prompt set for your industry. The vendor describes setup as instant. Agent Analytics is the slower part, since it needs your server logs forwarded through an integration such as Cloudflare, AWS, Fastly or Akamai, which usually means asking whoever owns your CDN. Enterprise onboarding goes through a demo.
Top Alternatives
- Peec AI: Pick Peec AI if you want published self-serve prices and daily tracking on three models; pick Profound if procurement requires a SOC 2 Type II attestation and SSO.
- Semrush: Pick Semrush if AI visibility should sit inside an SEO suite you already pay for; pick Profound if AI answers are the main job and you want agents and crawler analytics.
- CiteLens: Pick CiteLens if a small team needs a free plan and public tiers; pick Profound if the buyer is an enterprise brand or agency that wants the broader engine list and enterprise controls.
- OtterlyAI: Pick OtterlyAI if you want printed monthly prices and a trial you can start without a sales call; pick Profound if you need a SOC 2 Type II attestation or want its agents and ad tooling.