Updated October 2026

SurfacedBy vs Profound

The enterprise platform reportedly valued at $1.8B vs an affordable, self-serve alternative. Here's an honest look at what each delivers.

SurfacedByvsProfound

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The Quick Verdict

Profound and SurfacedBy serve fundamentally different markets. Profound is an enterprise-focused platform with a reported $180M Series D at a $1.8B valuation, offering exclusive prompt volume data and shopping visibility for large brands. Its brand plans are now a free Trial (50 prompts daily for 7 days across ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews) and a custom-priced, sales-led Enterprise tier, so Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and any ongoing paid monitoring run through a sales process. SurfacedBy starts at $29/mo with 3 AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity), adds Google AI Mode on Professional with Claude, Grok, and DeepSeek as add-ons, provides a free AI visibility check that returns in a few minutes, and delivers a closed loop that goes beyond recommendations to content, community engagement, and publisher outreach you approve. If you're a Fortune 500 brand that needs prompt volume data and has enterprise budget, Profound is the category leader. For everyone else, SurfacedBy provides deeper actionable insights at a fraction of the cost.

Feature Comparison

How the two platforms compare across monitoring, analytics, pricing, and integrations.

Feature	SurfacedBy	Profound
Monitoring
AI platforms monitored	4 included by tier; Claude, Grok, and DeepSeek as add-ons	3 on the free Trial (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews), up to 9 on Enterprise (custom)
Claude tracking	Paid add-on	Enterprise only (custom pricing)
Google AI Mode	Professional+	Enterprise only
Grok tracking	Paid add-on
Check frequency	Daily Check + Full Check	Daily
Analytics & Insights
AI Visibility Score
Citation tracking
Prompt volume data (real search volumes)		Prompt Volumes (5 searches on the free Trial)
Shopping Visibility (product recs)		ChatGPT, Enterprise only
AI Content Readiness Score	Automated on every Full Check (30 to 250 pages per domain)
Actionable recommendations	21 types with action steps	AI Marketer opportunities and Agents (limited on the Trial)
Executive Brief
Weekly Action Brief
Read actual AI responses		Not listed on its pricing page
Pricing & Access
Starting price	$29/mo (3 platforms)	Free Trial, then Enterprise (custom)
Self-serve signup		Free Trial only; Enterprise is sales-led (demo)
Free AI visibility check	30 real checks, a few minutes	Gated AEO report (lead gen)
Time to first data	a few minutes	Setup listed as instant
Free trial	7 days	7 days (50 prompts daily, 3 engines, unlimited seats)
Integrations & Extras
GSC + GA4 integration	GSC + GA4	GA4 via Agent Analytics
Bot crawl monitoring	All plans (which AI bots crawl, per page)	Agent Analytics (both tiers)
AI traffic attribution	All paid plans (first-party cookie)	Agent Analytics (GA4, Cloudflare, Vercel)
AI content generation		Agents (both tiers)
Data exports		Enterprise (CSV, JSON); none on the Trial
API access	Professional (read), Agency (read + write). On-demand checks for anyone via SurfacedBy Console.	Enterprise only

SurfacedByProfound

Monitoring

AI platforms monitored

4 included by tier; Claude, Grok, and DeepSeek as add-ons3 on the free Trial (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews), up to 9 on Enterprise (custom)

Claude tracking

Paid add-onEnterprise only (custom pricing)

Google AI Mode

Professional+Enterprise only

Grok tracking

Paid add-on

Check frequency

Daily Check + Full CheckDaily

Analytics & Insights

AI Visibility Score

Citation tracking

Prompt volume data (real search volumes)

Prompt Volumes (5 searches on the free Trial)

Shopping Visibility (product recs)

ChatGPT, Enterprise only

AI Content Readiness Score

Automated on every Full Check (30 to 250 pages per domain)

Actionable recommendations

21 types with action stepsAI Marketer opportunities and Agents (limited on the Trial)

Executive Brief

Weekly Action Brief

Read actual AI responses

Not listed on its pricing page

Pricing & Access

Starting price

$29/mo (3 platforms)Free Trial, then Enterprise (custom)

Self-serve signup

Free Trial only; Enterprise is sales-led (demo)

Free AI visibility check

30 real checks, a few minutesGated AEO report (lead gen)

Time to first data

a few minutesSetup listed as instant

Free trial

7 days7 days (50 prompts daily, 3 engines, unlimited seats)

Integrations & Extras

GSC + GA4 integration

GSC + GA4GA4 via Agent Analytics

Bot crawl monitoring

All plans (which AI bots crawl, per page)Agent Analytics (both tiers)

AI traffic attribution

All paid plans (first-party cookie)Agent Analytics (GA4, Cloudflare, Vercel)

AI content generation

Agents (both tiers)

Data exports

Enterprise (CSV, JSON); none on the Trial

API access

Professional (read), Agency (read + write). On-demand checks for anyone via SurfacedBy Console.Enterprise only

Pricing Comparison

SurfacedBy starts at $29/mo with 3 AI platforms. Profound offers a free Trial on 3 engines, then custom-priced Enterprise.

SurfacedBy

Self-serve, instant access

Starter

$29/mo

1 domain , 15 prompts , 3 platforms (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) , Daily Check + Full Check

Professional

$99/mo

5 domains , 100 prompts , 4 AI platforms (adds Google AI Mode) + AI Overviews , Content, community + outreach

Agency

$299/mo

10 fully monitored domains , 350 prompts , 4 AI platforms + AI Overviews , Command center + read/write API

Every plan starts with a 7-day trial. Free AI visibility check with 30 real AI answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. Run a free check.

Profound

Free trial, then sales-led Enterprise

Trial

Free (7 days)

50 prompts run daily , ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews , Unlimited seats , Prompt Volumes (5 searches), Agents, limited Aim credits

Enterprise

Custom

Up to 9 answer engines , Shopping Visibility for ChatGPT , Agent Analytics , Full API + SSO , Sales-led (demo)

Agency Growth

Base price not shown

10 pitch workspaces/mo , Client workspaces at $399/mo each (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, 100 prompts) , 5 seats , 400 Agent credits per client workspace

The Trial runs for 7 days with unlimited seats. Enterprise is sales-led (demo). The Agency Growth base price is not shown.

SurfacedBy gives you 3 AI platforms on a self-serve plan from $29/mo. Profound's only self-serve option is the free Trial; ongoing brand monitoring is custom-priced Enterprise.

Where SurfacedBy leads

Instant Self-Serve Access

3 Platforms for $29/mo

SurfacedBy includes ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity on the $29/mo Starter, where Profound's free Trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews and every paid brand plan is a custom Enterprise contract. Our Professional plan ($99/mo) adds Google AI Mode for four platforms in total, and Claude is an add-on from $19/mo; Profound puts Claude and Perplexity behind Enterprise.

Actionable Recommendations

Research-backed recommendation types, executive briefs, and weekly action plans, with the content, community replies and publisher outreach drafted for your approval. Profound's AI Marketer surfaces opportunities, with full use on Enterprise.

Where Profound leads

Exclusive Prompt Volume Data

Real search volume data from consumer panels showing how many people ask specific questions to AI platforms. We do not offer an equivalent. The free Trial includes 5 Prompt Volumes searches.

Shopping Visibility & Bot Analytics

Track your brand in ChatGPT Shopping recommendations (Enterprise). Plus Agent Analytics on both tiers for AI-sourced traffic and attribution, with GA4, Cloudflare, and Vercel integrations.

Which one should you choose?

Choose SurfacedBy if...

You want a self-serve paid plan from $29/mo, not a custom Enterprise contract after a trial
You want Perplexity on your entry plan, not only on Enterprise
You want full self-serve without an enterprise sales process
You want actionable recommendations, not just monitoring data
You can add Claude, Grok, or DeepSeek for a monthly fee, with no Enterprise contract

Choose Profound if...

You need real prompt volume data from consumer panels
You want Shopping Visibility for ChatGPT product recommendations (Enterprise)
You want built-in agents and the AI Marketer (Aim)
You need Copilot or Exa Search coverage on an Enterprise contract
You're a Fortune 500 brand with enterprise budget and dedicated support needs

SurfacedBy is our own product. We've done our best to represent competitors accurately based on their public pricing pages and documentation, each checked on the date shown on its page and all of them since October 2026. We encourage you to try each tool yourself. Pricing and features may have changed since publication.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I sign up for Profound without a sales call?

You can start Profound's free Trial (50 prompts run daily for 7 days) without a sales call. Its only other brand plan is Enterprise, which is custom-priced and sales-led ("Get a Demo"), so ongoing monitoring, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and Shopping Visibility all go through sales. SurfacedBy is fully self-serve at every tier: sign up, run a free AI visibility check, and see results in a few minutes.

What is Profound's prompt volume data?

Profound offers prompt volume data sourced from double opt-in consumer panels. It shows how many people are asking specific questions to AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. The free Trial includes 5 Prompt Volumes searches.

Which AI platforms does Profound track on each plan?

Profound's free Trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Enterprise tracks up to 9 answer engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Mode, Gemini, Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, AI Overviews and Exa Search. Grok is not listed on any tier. SurfacedBy's $29/mo Starter covers ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, Professional ($99/mo) adds Google AI Mode, and Claude, Grok and DeepSeek are add-ons on any paid plan rather than a reason to quote you an enterprise contract.

Is Profound worth the price?

For Fortune 500 brands with dedicated budgets and a need for prompt volume data or shopping visibility, Profound is the category leader. For startups, growing SaaS companies, and brand owners who want actionable AI visibility insights without enterprise pricing or sales processes, SurfacedBy delivers significantly more value per dollar.

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