Profound vs Ranksmith in 2026: Enterprise crawler logs versus published beta pricing with Grok and Claude
Structured onboarding with a CSM, or a clean self-serve entry with a free trial and citation attribution?
Profound
Ranksmith- Profound tracks 9 AI engines across the tier stack: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, DeepSeek, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. Ranksmith tracks 5: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, and Claude, with Grok and Claude on Enterprise tier only.
- Ranksmith publishes self-serve pricing at $69/month on Starter, $149/month on Pro, and $549/month on Enterprise, with a free trial on every tier and no credit card required. Profound Starter starts at $99/month and tracks ChatGPT only; full coverage requires Enterprise contracts.
- Profound exposes AI crawler log access showing when GPTBot and ClaudeBot last visited specific pages. Ranksmith does not expose crawler logs. If correlating crawl timing with citation changes is core, Profound is the answer.
- Neither tool offers API access on a standard plan. Profound gates API to Enterprise custom contracts; Ranksmith does not currently advertise API access on any tier. For programmatic data delivery on a standard plan, both tools are weak.
- Profound includes a built-in AEO content generation layer (Marketing Agents) for closing brand accuracy gaps. Ranksmith includes citation extraction and source attribution for PR workflows, with Prompt Prioritization scoring across tracked prompts.
- Ranksmith is in public beta with paying customers and an active app, but the team is still shipping features. Profound is an established enterprise platform with structured onboarding and a Customer Success Manager.
- For Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) workflows that need citation attribution and PR acquisition hooks, Ranksmith is a credible option. For GEO workflows that need crawler log data and content execution in one platform, Profound wins.
If you are weighing Profound against Ranksmith, you are really choosing between an enterprise AI visibility tool comparison entry and a beta-stage platform with published self-serve pricing. Profound is the deepest AI visibility platform on the market, with 9 engines tracked, crawler log analysis, and built-in AEO content generation, but the entry price is $99/month for ChatGPT only and the API is locked to Enterprise contracts. Ranksmith is a live, paying GEO platform in public beta that tracks up to 5 engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, Claude), with pricing starting at $69/month, a free trial with no credit card, and a citation-extraction layer for PR and review-acquisition workflows. The right pick depends on whether you need the deepest possible analysis and structured onboarding, or a more affordable entry point with Grok and Claude coverage on Enterprise tier.
The tools at a glance
Profound
Enterprise AI visibility with crawler log analysis and AEO content generation
Profound is the most feature-rich AI visibility platform available, tracking up to 9 engines across the tier stack: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, DeepSeek, Claude, and Google AI Overviews. The Starter plan covers ChatGPT only at $99/month, Growth expands to 3 engines at $399/month, and Enterprise covers up to 10 engines with custom pricing. No other tool in this comparison matches this breadth at the top of the market.
Two capabilities are unique to Profound. First, the crawler log layer shows when GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and other AI crawlers last visited specific pages on your site, letting teams correlate crawl timing with citation changes. Second, the Marketing Agents feature generates AEO-optimised content designed to close accuracy gaps surfaced by the analysis. For in-house content teams that want insight and execution in the same platform, those two layers together are the deciding capability.
The buying process is the trade-off. Profound requires a demo call before purchase, with structured onboarding and a Customer Success Manager once you are in. The API is locked to Enterprise custom contracts, there is no white-label delivery, and the platform is not designed for agencies managing multiple client brands under one account. For internal Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) programmes with budget, the depth justifies the friction.
| Feature | Starter $99/mo | Growth $399/mo | Enterprise Custom |
|---|---|---|---|
| Answer engines tracked | ChatGPT only | 3 engines | Up to 10 |
| Unique prompts tracked | 50 | 100 | Custom |
| Monthly responses analyzed | 1,500 | 9,000 | Custom |
| Team seats | 1 | 3 | Custom |
| CSV / JSON exports | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Agent credits/mo | 100 | 400 | Custom |
| SSO / SAML | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dedicated Slack support | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
Ranksmith
GEO platform tracking 5 AI search engines across prompts, competitors, and citations from $69/mo
Ranksmith is a Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) and Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) platform currently in public beta. It tracks brand presence across 5 AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, and Claude), with pricing starting at $69/month on Starter and scaling to $549/month on Enterprise. A free trial is offered on every paid tier with no credit card required, and there is a standalone Free AI Checker utility for one-off visibility queries without signup.
The product is built around three named modules: Prompt Prioritization, which scores every tracked prompt against current position, mention rate, and link rate; Competitor benchmarking, which surfaces share of voice and sentiment against named competitors in real time; and Source attribution, which extracts the citations AI models rely on so PR and content teams know where to focus review-acquisition and outreach. The citation-extraction layer is the most differentiated feature for teams that want to operationalise PR and link-building against AI visibility data.
The two real constraints are scope and API access. Grok and Claude coverage is Enterprise-only, so Starter and Pro miss those engines, and Google AI Overviews is not currently advertised at any tier. API access is not currently advertised on the public site. For Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) teams that want citation attribution and PR workflows on a self-serve plan, Ranksmith is a credible mid-market option worth the free trial.
| Feature | Starter $69/mo | Pro $149/mo | Enterprise $549/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prompts | 25 | 60 | 150 |
| Competitors | 5 | 10 | 20 |
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Perplexity | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok, Claude |
| Historical data | 6 months | 12 months | 24 months |
| Refresh rate | Daily | Daily | Daily |
| Advanced analytics | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| White label | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
| Free trial | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Profound | Ranksmith |
|---|---|---|
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini (Pro), Grok + Claude (Enterprise) |
| Competitive share-of-voice | Yes | Yes (up to 20 competitors) |
| Prompt-level citation data | Yes | Yes |
| Answer / content gap analysis | Yes (brand accuracy gap analysis) | No (prompt prioritization scoring only) |
| Category intelligence | Partial (prompt volume intelligence) | No |
| AEO content generation | Yes (Marketing Agents) | No |
| Crawler / AI bot log access | Yes | No |
| Page content audits | No | No |
| API access | Enterprise only | Not advertised |
| Looker Studio / BI connector | No | No |
| White-label delivery | No | No |
| Pay-per-prompt pricing | No | No |
| Agency multi-brand support | Limited | No |
| Starting price | $99/mo | $69/mo |
Considering AI Peekaboo alongside Profound and Ranksmith?
Neither Profound nor Ranksmith ships a read and write API and white-label delivery on standard plans. AI Peekaboo includes both from the $50/month Starter, with 5 AI surfaces and a Looker Studio connector on every tier. The best AI visibility tool for agencies that need white-label client reports and programmatic data access without enterprise contracts.
Read the AI Peekaboo review →Which should you choose?
ProfoundRanksmithProfoundRanksmithProfoundProfoundRanksmithProfound and Ranksmith solve different problems. Profound is the deeper enterprise platform with crawler logs, gap analysis, and content generation in one stack, gated by demo-call sales and Enterprise contracts. Ranksmith is the more accessible mid-market option with published pricing, a free trial, and a citation-extraction layer for PR workflows. The trade-off is depth of analysis and engine breadth versus accessible self-serve pricing and citation attribution.
Bottom line
Profound answers how deeply you can map the relationship between AI models, crawlers, content, and citations once you have committed to a serious AI search programme. Ranksmith answers how quickly you can get started with citation-attribution workflows on a published self-serve plan. If you need crawler logs and content execution in one platform, Profound. If you need a $69/month entry point with a free trial and citation attribution for PR, Ranksmith.
Frequently asked questions
How does Profound compare to Ranksmith on AI engine coverage?
Profound tracks up to 9 engines across the tier stack, with Grok and Claude available on the top tiers. Ranksmith tracks 5 engines, but Grok and Claude are Enterprise-only on Ranksmith; Starter and Pro miss them. For pure engine breadth, Profound wins at the top tier; for accessible mid-market coverage of ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, Ranksmith is credible.
Is Ranksmith worth the cost compared to Profound?
Ranksmith is cheaper to start at $69/month with a free trial and no credit card. Profound Starter is $99/month for ChatGPT only, and Growth is $399/month for 3 engines. Ranksmith delivers accessible entry pricing and citation attribution; Profound delivers deeper analysis and wider engine coverage on higher tiers.
Which tool tracks crawler logs, Profound or Ranksmith?
Profound is the only tool in this AI visibility tool comparison that exposes crawler log data showing when GPTBot, ClaudeBot, and other AI crawlers last visited specific pages on your site. Ranksmith does not expose crawler logs. If correlating AI crawler activity with citation outcomes is central to your programme, Profound is the answer.
Which is best for Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) workflows, Profound or Ranksmith?
For GEO workflows that need crawler log visibility, brand accuracy gap analysis, and content execution in one platform, Profound is the right choice. For GEO workflows that prioritise citation extraction, PR acquisition hooks, and accessible self-serve pricing, Ranksmith is the right choice. Both tools lack API access on standard plans, which is a real limitation for programmatic workflows.
How much does Profound cost compared to Ranksmith?
Profound Starter is $99/month for ChatGPT only; Growth is $399/month for 3 engines; Enterprise is custom. Ranksmith Starter is $69/month with ChatGPT and Perplexity, Pro is $149/month adding Gemini, and Enterprise is $549/month unlocking Grok and Claude. Profound covers more engines at the top tier; Ranksmith is cheaper at the entry tier.
Is Ranksmith production-ready compared to Profound?
Ranksmith is in public beta with paying customers and an active app at app.getranksmith.com, but the team is still shipping features and refinements. Profound is an established enterprise platform with structured onboarding, a Customer Success Manager, and dedicated Slack support on Enterprise contracts. If production-readiness and mature support matter, Profound is the safer choice.