01 What is GEO?
GEO is a set of strategies and methods designed to make your website more visible to generative AI systems, increasing the likelihood that your content will be referenced in AI-generated answers.
Unlike traditional SEO, which focuses on keyword rankings, GEO focuses on optimizing the probability that generative models will understand, trust, and cite your content.
In short: GEO is about making sure large language models reference your website and brand when providing answers.
Practical approaches include:
- Authoritative Tone: Use professional, persuasive language to build credibility.
- Statistics Addition: Incorporate data and numbers to enhance authority.
- Cite Sources: Reference reputable sources to increase citation likelihood.
- Quotation Addition: Add direct quotes from experts or authoritative works.
- Clarity: Simplify complex ideas into clear, accessible language.
- Fluency Optimization: Refine grammar, vocabulary, and flow for smooth readability.
- Unique Expressions: Use distinctive phrasing to avoid generic, repetitive content.
- Technical Terms: Incorporate domain-specific terminology to highlight expertise.
I’ve recently started a column that reviews GEO-related tools to help uncover the key challenges and opportunities in GEO-driven marketing.
Today’s spotlight: Profound.
02 Introduction to Profound
Profound is an AI visibility analytics platform designed for enterprises. It specializes in monitoring and optimizing brand exposure across generative search engines such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and more.
By tracking brand mentions, analyzing prompt trends, and studying AI crawler behavior, Profound provides marketing, content, and SEO teams with actionable insights. These insights reveal user needs, highlight content opportunities, and help shape strategies to boost brand influence and conversion in the AI-driven search ecosystem.
03 Key Features of Profound
- Answer Engine Insights
Track your brand’s visibility across AI platforms (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Bing Copilot, Meta AI). See how often your brand is cited, in what context, and where it ranks.
- Conversation Explorer
Analyze billions of real user prompts. Includes keyword research, semantic analysis, and topic clustering to uncover user demand and content trends. Bulk keyword analysis and export supported.
- Agent Analytics
Understand how AI crawlers interact with your website: referral sources, crawl paths, cited pages, and conversion flow. Measure AI-driven referrals and human click-through conversions.
- ChatGPT Shopping Visibility
Track if and how your products appear in ChatGPT’s shopping responses, including triggered keywords, recommendation placement, and user interactions.
- Actions (Recommendations Module)
Turn insights into actionable steps: content optimization suggestions, prompt templates, and citation opportunity analysis.
- Geo-level Prompt Analysis
Break down prompt and search trends by region/country, revealing market-specific generative search behaviors.
04 Target Users, Pricing, and Team
Target Users
Profound is designed for enterprises looking to increase visibility within generative search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI). It’s especially suited for:
- B2B tech companies
- Content-driven platforms
- E-commerce brands
- Multinational businesses
Its core users include marketing teams, SEO/content specialists, PR/brand managers, and strategy teams eager to lead in the AI-driven search era.
Pricing
- Profound Lite: $499/month
Ideal for startups, e-commerce brands, and agencies. Includes core functions such as Answer Engine Insights, Agent Analytics, Conversation Explorer, and Actions. Supports one brand, one language, and one region. Two months of historical data retention. Limited prompt queries and CSV/JSON exports.
- Enterprise Custom Plans
Tailored for large organizations and global brands. Supports multi-brand, multi-language, multi-region use. Offers API integration, ChatGPT Shopping monitoring, prompt scaling, team seats, SSO, dedicated support, and strategy consulting. Pricing is customized through enterprise sales discussions, with white-glove services and SLA support.
Team & Backing
Founded by an experienced Silicon Valley team:
- Sherman Grewal (ex-Meta, Datadog)
- Ali Vaghar (ex-Uber)
- Dylan Babbs
- John Allen
Backed by Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, NVIDIA NVentures, and others. The team brings deep expertise in AI, data, and product development, with a strong vision for the generative search era.
05 Summary: Profound
- Product Name: Profound
- Website: https://www.tryprofound.com
- Team: Sherman Grewal, Ali Vaghar, Dylan Babbs, John Allen; funded by Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, NVIDIA NVentures
- Core Features:
- Real-time monitoring of brand mentions and rankings in ChatGPT, Google AI, Perplexity, etc.
- Analysis of billions of AI prompts for keyword and trend insights
- Tracking AI crawler behavior and its impact on site visibility and conversions
- Monitoring product placement in ChatGPT Shopping modules
- Prompt-based optimization suggestions and citation analysis
- Regional breakdown of prompt/search trends
- Pricing:
- Lite Plan: $499/month (1 brand, 1 language, 1 region)
- Enterprise Custom: multi-brand, multi-region, advanced API/monitoring, premium support (pricing customized)
- Category: Analytics & Insights Tools
- User Base: 160.5K users
