Profound AI Search Visibility Platform and ChatGPT
Profound Starter is $99 annual and ChatGPT-only. Promptwatch paid plans are not. That is the whole buying mistake this query usually hides.
Profound is the AI search visibility platform people name first. ChatGPT is the engine they think they bought. Those two facts only meet on Starter, and Starter is a sample. Profound Starter is $99/mo billed annually: ChatGPT only, 50 prompts, one seat. Promptwatch paid plans are not ChatGPT-only. They include ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews.
Explore is free and ChatGPT-only (10 prompts), which is the honest trial SKU. Essential is $95/mo. Professional is $245/mo. Business is $579/mo. Agency Kick-off is $199/mo. Site: promptwatch.com.
Starter is ChatGPT-only
Public Profound pricing appeared in 2026. Starter at $99/mo annual is ChatGPT, 50 prompts, one seat. That is a yearly invoice for one engine. If the deck said "we bought Profound for AI search" and the SKU is Starter, you bought ChatGPT sampling.
Growth is $399/mo annual: three engines, 100 prompts, three seats. Confirm those three names before legal signs. The Profound that wins awards (up to ten engines, full Prompt Volumes, API, SSO) is Enterprise, sales-gated, commonly talked about in the $2,000 to $5,000+/mo range, with a one-to-three-month setup and a dedicated owner.
G2 sits at 4.6/5 in our data. Reviewers have also documented citation counts that do not match manual ChatGPT checks. Treat Profound numbers as directional, the same way you treat every tracker. At Enterprise money the gap stings more.
Promptwatch paid is not ChatGPT-only
This is the comparison the query is actually asking for. Promptwatch Explore is ChatGPT-only, like Profound Starter, except it is free and capped at 10 prompts. The moment you pay, the engine set opens.
Essential at $95/mo is monthly, not a forced annual ChatGPT sample. You get prompt tracking, citation analytics, crawler logs on higher tiers, and visitor analytics via a script or GTM. Professional at $245/mo adds 150 prompts, 1M visitor events, and 25M crawler logs. Business at $579/mo is the self-serve brand plan before a custom quote.
If someone says they need "Profound because we have to cover ChatGPT," they can cover ChatGPT on Promptwatch Explore this afternoon. If they need ChatGPT plus Perplexity, Starter is the wrong Profound SKU and Essential is the Promptwatch SKU that already includes both.
The $99 annual trap
Annual billing on a ChatGPT-only SKU locks the experiment into a year. The 7-day Profound trial is short for a platform that takes months to learn on Enterprise. Teams that wanted "an AI search visibility platform" and signed Starter to get the logo then cannot answer Gemini, Claude, or Overviews at the prompt level.
Promptwatch Essential includes a 7-day trial on a plan that is already multi-engine. Kick-off at $199/mo is the seat plan (unlimited projects, 10 seats) if the "platform" request is actually several brands.
Do not let procurement treat $99 and $95 as the same class of product. One is annual ChatGPT-only. The other is monthly multi-engine.
Growth at $399 and three engines
Growth can be the right Profound buy if those three engines are the three you need and you are fine with annual billing. Ask for the engine list in writing. A "3 engines" line that is not ChatGPT plus the two you named is still a miss.
Promptwatch Professional at $245/mo is the number we put next to Growth when the brief is daily mention and citation logs, not unpublished Prompt Volumes. You will not get Profound's query-demand dataset. You will get a prompt list you own, citation analytics, and crawler logs.
Otterly.AI at $29/mo and Peec AI at $95/mo (extra models $35 to $165/mo) show up in the same meeting. Otterly lags and add-ons Gemini/Claude. Peec caps models at three on the sticker. Neither is Profound. Neither is ChatGPT-only the way Starter is.
When Profound Enterprise is the right buy
Buy Enterprise when AI-referred pipeline is already material, someone will own the tool every day, and the unpublished suite (ten engines, Prompt Volumes, API, SSO) is the reason. Keep Promptwatch in parallel only if crawler logs or visitor analytics are missing from that contract.
Do not buy Starter as a path to Enterprise. It is a taste SKU. Do not buy Promptwatch Explore as the team program. It is a ChatGPT sandbox.
Ahrefs Brand Radar ($199/mo plus an Ahrefs plan) and Semrush AI Toolkit ($99/mo per domain) are suite add-ons. They do not replace a Profound vs Promptwatch platform choice.
| SKU | ChatGPT | Other engines on that SKU |
|---|---|---|
| Profound Starter | Yes | None |
| Profound Growth | Yes | Two more (confirm names) |
| Promptwatch Explore | Yes | None (free, 10 prompts) |
| Promptwatch paid | Yes | Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Overviews |
Method: how we rank. Longer pages: tools list.
FAQ
Is Profound Starter enough if we only care about ChatGPT?
It can be, if 50 prompts and annual billing are acceptable. Promptwatch Explore covers ChatGPT for free on 10 prompts. Essential at $95/mo is monthly and already includes more engines when the brief grows.
Does Promptwatch paid stay ChatGPT-only?
No. Paid plans include ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Overviews.
Should we wait for Profound Enterprise?
Only if you have the owner and the reported budget range. Meanwhile run Promptwatch on the ChatGPT list you already have.
Can we run both?
Yes, for a bake-off on the same prompts. Do not keep two scores in the QBR. Pick one system of record.
What to do this week
- Write down the Profound SKU you were quoted. If it says Starter, write "ChatGPT only" on the same line.
- List the engines leadership will ask about in the next quarterly review.
- If that list is longer than ChatGPT, strike Starter.
- Open Promptwatch Explore for a ChatGPT sanity check, or Essential ($95) if you need paid engines now.
- Only schedule Profound Enterprise if someone will own it daily and the engine list is in the contract.