OtterlyAI vs Profound (2026)

Both tools measure the same thing: how often, and how favorably, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and other AI engines mention a brand. They were built for buyers with very different budgets and team structures, though. Otterly AI leads with accessibility: a free trial requiring no credit card, then a $29/month Lite plan that already covers 4 engines by default (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot), with Gemini, Claude and Google AI Mode available as paid add-ons on any tier. Its plan ladder scales on monitoring volume rather than engine access: Lite tracks 15 prompts/month, Standard (from $189/mo) 100 prompts plus API and MCP access, Premium (from $489/mo) 400 prompts.

Profound, by contrast, has historically been the category's enterprise reference point, "one of the most-searched names in the space," per its own listing, and until 2026 sold sales-only. It now offers a free 7-day trial (ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews, 50 prompts a day), then a custom, sales-led Enterprise plan with up to 9 engines. There is no published Profound price to set against Otterly's $29/mo default 4-engine coverage.

The budget gap is simple: a team wanting Otterly's 4-engine Lite-tier baseline pays $29/month, while Profound needs an Enterprise quote once the trial ends. What Profound's Enterprise plan adds instead of raw engine count is depth: source-level citation analysis (which specific publications and pages the engines cite), AEO-focused content recommendations, multi-seat team access, and enterprise account features (SSO/SAML, SOC2, dedicated Slack support) that Otterly does not offer at any tier. Profound is also, by its own listing's framing, the most-searched brand in the category, a proxy for broader adoption among larger teams already budgeting for this depth.

Neither tool's API story favors Profound at the accessible end either: Otterly includes API and MCP access from its $189/mo Standard tier up; Profound offers its API only on the custom Enterprise plan.