Semrush brings 15+ years of SEO expertise to AI visibility. Profound raised $96M in February 2026, then $180M at a $1.8B valuation in September 2026, to build enterprise-grade GEO tools. Both are serious tools for serious teams, but they emphasize very different capabilities.
What you get at entry level
The difference at the entry tier is striking.
Semrush's AI Toolkit gives you 25 prompts across 5 AI surfaces (ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini) for $99/month. All five are included at base price. Additional domains cost $99/month each.
Profound's pricing page lists a 7-day free trial (50 prompts a day on ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews) and Enterprise at custom pricing. Full coverage across up to 9 AI engines requires Enterprise.
So Semrush provides a public price you can buy today. Profound provides broader coverage, but behind an enterprise quote.
Where Semrush stands out
Semrush's Prompt Research is their differentiator. It works like traditional keyword research, but for AI prompts. You can discover high-opportunity prompts, see AI volume estimates, and understand competitive positioning. Profound doesn't offer discovery tools like this.
If you're already a Semrush user, having AI visibility in the same dashboard as traditional SEO creates useful correlations. Watch how Google rankings and AI mentions interact over time.
Semrush includes its 5 AI surfaces at the base $99/month price. No tier-gating, no calculating which platforms require upgrades.
Their geographic targeting spans 68,000+ locations for granular regional analysis.
Where Profound stands out
Real-time tracking is Profound's technical differentiator. Visibility updates happen as changes occur, not on a daily or weekly schedule. Some Semrush features update weekly, not daily.
For enterprise procurement, Profound checks the compliance boxes: SOC 2 Type II certification, SSO with SAML/OIDC support, the documentation Fortune 500 companies require.
They've earned G2 Leader status for AEO tools (Winter 2026), providing third-party validation from enterprise users.
At the Enterprise tier, Profound tracks up to 9 AI engines, including Copilot, Claude, DeepSeek and Exa Search. That's broader coverage than Semrush's 5, though only available at enterprise pricing.
Profound's free trial also allows 50 prompts a day, which matters if you're testing many variations before signing.
Which one fits you?
Semrush makes sense if Prompt Research (discovering opportunities, not just monitoring) is valuable to your strategy, you want 5 AI surfaces at $99/month without tier restrictions, you're already a Semrush user and want unified dashboards, SEO integration with AI visibility would inform your strategy, and 68,000+ location targeting matters.
Profound makes sense if SOC 2 compliance is a procurement requirement, real-time tracking (not scheduled updates) is essential, SSO/SAML is needed for enterprise identity management, Fortune 500 procurement processes are involved, and you need up to 9 AI engines at the enterprise tier (including Copilot, Claude, DeepSeek, Exa Search).
The bottom line
Semrush is better for discovery and SEO integration. Profound is better for compliance and real-time speed.
If you need to find opportunities and correlate AI visibility with traditional SEO performance, Semrush.
If you need compliance documentation and real-time updates for enterprise requirements, Profound.
One sells a $99/month self-serve toolkit, the other an enterprise contract. What you get is very different.
Not ready for $99/month? Mentionable offers a 7-day free trial for AI visibility tracking across 7 AI engines, with an AI assistant that explains your data on every plan. Test whether monitoring matters to your business before committing.
