Profound is the enterprise AI brand tracker — comprehensive, multi-engine, and priced from around $2,000/month. Spotlit is the self-serve, free-to-start alternative built for founders and agencies who don't want a sales call to see their ChatGPT rank.
Who each tool is for
Both products answer the same core question: "how does AI describe my brand?" They diverge on scope, engines covered, and how much you're willing to spend before seeing your first report.
Profound (tryprofound.com) targets brand, communications, and SEO teams at large companies. It tracks AI visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google's Gemini/AI Overviews, ships dedicated customer success, and is priced for six-figure annual marketing budgets.
Spotlit is self-serve. You enter a domain, get a free report in 30 seconds, then subscribe month-to-month from $29. It focuses on ChatGPT — the largest share of AI search traffic — and goes deep there instead of spreading thin across every engine.
Side-by-side
| Spotlit | Profound | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free (1 check, no signup) | Sales call required (publicly referenced at ~$2,000/mo+) |
| Lowest paid plan | $29/mo (Starter) | Enterprise-only, custom |
| Most popular plan | $79/mo (Pro — 3 brands, 100 queries) | Custom enterprise |
| Agency / multi-brand | $199/mo — 10 brands, white-label, API | Custom enterprise |
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT (Perplexity on roadmap) | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini / AI Overviews |
| Queries / month (entry) | 20 on Starter, 100 on Pro | Hundreds to thousands (custom) |
| Setup time | ~30 seconds — enter a domain | Onboarding call + query curation |
| Free tier | Yes, no signup | No |
| API access | Yes, on $199 Agency plan | Yes, enterprise |
| White-label reports | Yes, on $199 Agency plan | Yes, enterprise |
| Dedicated CS manager | Email / shared Slack | Yes, named CSM |
| Contract | Month-to-month, cancel anytime | Typically annual |
Profound pricing is not published on their website and the numbers above reflect publicly referenced ranges on review sites and procurement discussions. Contact Profound directly for a current quote. Spotlit pricing is published in full on the pricing page.
Fair comparison
We use Profound too. It's a serious product and deserves a serious comparison.
Decision guide
FAQ
Spotlit covers the core job Profound does — tracking how AI engines describe your brand for buyer-intent queries — at roughly 60x lower entry cost. Profound tracks multiple engines and ships enterprise features like dedicated CS and SSO. Spotlit focuses on ChatGPT first, is self-serve, and starts free. For most small and mid-market teams, Spotlit is the right Profound alternative. For Fortune 500 brand marketing teams, Profound probably still makes sense.
Profound does not publish pricing publicly. Public references and review sites describe it as enterprise-priced, typically starting around $2,000/month and scaling with brand count, query volume, and engines tracked. Profound requires a sales call. Spotlit publishes all pricing: free, $29, $79, and $199 per month on the pricing page.
Not yet. Spotlit is ChatGPT-only today. Perplexity is next on the roadmap. If you need multi-engine tracking at launch — for example, you know your buyers use Perplexity heavily — Profound or Otterly will fit better. ChatGPT is the largest share of AI search traffic, so Spotlit prioritized depth there first.
Yes. Run a free Spotlit check on your domain to see the output format, then subscribe to the Pro or Agency plan if the signal matches what you already get from Profound. There is no migration — Spotlit pulls live ChatGPT responses, so history starts the day you subscribe.
Enterprise brand and communications teams that need multi-engine tracking, custom query sets in the hundreds or thousands, dedicated customer success, SSO, and procurement-friendly contracts. If any of those are non-negotiable, Profound is the stronger fit.
No credit card. No signup. No sales call. Free Spotlit check on any domain — try yours or a competitor's.
Try Spotlit free →