What Is Profound?
Profound tracks how brands show up in AI answers. It watches ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and other AI search tools, and reports whether your brand gets mentioned and how it gets described.
That is a different job than classic SEO software. Traditional tools track blue-link rankings. Profound tracks something newer: whether an AI assistant name-checks your brand when someone asks a related question, and what tone it uses when it does.
The company launched in 2024. Sequoia Capital led its $35 million Series B round in 2025. Ramp, U.S. Bank, Indeed, MongoDB, Docusign and Chime are named customers, which is a strong enterprise roster for a two-year-old startup.
Confusion about what Profound does is common. Even on forums like Reddit, people who found the funding news before the product page have asked what it actually tracks. Below is a plain breakdown of the features, the price, and who it fits.
Key Features
Profound is built around five named modules, not one dashboard.
- Prompt Volumes shows what people ask AI tools related to your category, so you can see demand before deciding what to target.
- Answer Engine Insights monitors how AI models describe your brand and your competitors across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Claude.
- Agents are automation workers for specific marketing tasks. One generates AEO-optimized FAQ content for landing pages.
- Agent Analytics shows how AI crawlers read and interpret your site, useful for figuring out why a page isn’t getting picked up in AI answers.
- Aim flags the highest-impact tasks each week. Think of it as a prioritization layer sitting on top of the other four modules.
Platform coverage depends on your plan. Starter tracks ChatGPT only. Enterprise tracks nine engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek and Google AI Overviews. A brand that only cares about ChatGPT does not need the same tier as one trying to cover every major AI assistant at once.
Profound Pricing
Profound has three tiers. Starter costs $99 per month, billed yearly, and covers ChatGPT only: 50 tracked prompts, 100 Agents credits, one seat. Growth costs $399 per month for three answer engines, 100 prompts, 400 Agents credits and three seats. Enterprise is custom-priced and adds multi-company tracking, SSO/SAML, SOC2 compliance and a dedicated support contact with a 24-hour SLA.
| Plan | Price | Answer engines tracked | Seats | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99/month | 1 (ChatGPT only) | 1 | No |
| Growth | $399/month | 3 | 3 | Yes |
| Enterprise | Custom | 9 | Custom | No (sales-assisted) |
Starter
Watch the ChatGPT-only limit closely before buying Starter. If ChatGPT really is the only surface you track, $99 a month is fair. If you also want Perplexity or Google AI Overviews coverage, budget for Growth from the start instead.
Growth
Growth is Profound’s default recommendation for teams treating AI search as a real channel. Three engines and 100 prompts give a much wider view than Starter, and it is the only self-serve tier with a free trial worth testing before you commit to annual billing.
Enterprise
Enterprise pricing needs a sales call. It fits larger organizations that need multi-brand tracking or compliance certifications. For a single-brand small business, it is overkill.
Who Should Use Profound (and Who Should Skip It)
Who Should Use Profound
Scaling tech companies and enterprise marketing teams fit best here, especially ones that already treat organic search as a serious channel. Teams that need to report AI visibility alongside SEO metrics to leadership will find the Answer Engine Insights and Agent Analytics modules built for exactly that.
Who Should Skip It
Solo operators and small budgets should look elsewhere first. Starter only tracks one platform, and multi-engine coverage starts at $399 a month. That is a real jump for a team still deciding whether AI visibility deserves its own budget line.
Profound Alternatives
Profound is not the only AI visibility tracker, and it is not the cheapest one either. If the pricing or platform coverage above does not fit, compare these first.
| Tool | Starting price | LLMs covered | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Profound | $99/month | 1 on entry tier, 9 on Enterprise | Scaling tech companies |
| Semrush | $99/month | 7+: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Google AI Overviews | Enterprise, existing Semrush users |
| Scrunch AI | $300/month | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Meta | Content-led teams |
| Otterly.ai | $29/month | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | Small teams, budget-conscious |
| AthenaHQ | Free / $295/month | Up to 9 AI models on paid tiers | SEO agencies, unlimited seats |
Semrush matches Profound on entry price but covers more platforms by default, and it is the obvious pick if you already run Semrush for SEO. Otterly.ai wins on budget if you do not need the Agents automation layer. See our 10 Best AI Visibility Tools comparison for the full ten-tool breakdown.
Founders and Funding
James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs founded Profound. The company has raised $58.5 million to date, including the $35 million Series B that Sequoia Capital led in 2025 with Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Saga VC and South Park Commons also participating. G2 named Profound a Leader in its inaugural Answer Engine Optimization category in the Winter 2026 report, and the platform now carries more than 140 verified customer reviews.
That funding and recognition is a fair trust signal for a young vendor, useful if you need to justify a new tool internally. It does not tell you whether the product fits your specific use case. The pricing and fit sections above answer that question better.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Profound cost?
Profound starts at $99 per month for Starter, which tracks ChatGPT only. Growth costs $399 per month and covers three answer engines. Enterprise pricing is custom.
Does Profound have a free trial?
Yes, on the Growth plan only. Starter and Enterprise do not offer a self-serve trial.
What AI platforms does Profound track?
Depends on your plan. Starter tracks ChatGPT only. Growth covers three engines. Enterprise covers nine, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek and Google AI Overviews.
Who is behind Profound?
James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs founded Profound in 2024. It has raised $58.5 million to date, including a Sequoia Capital-led Series B in 2025.
Is Profound worth it for small teams?
Usually not as a first tool. The $99 entry tier covers ChatGPT only, and full multi-platform coverage starts at $399 a month. Otterly.ai is a cheaper starting point if budget is the main constraint.
