# Profound vs Rankshift

> Source: https://citedindex.com/compare/profound-vs-rankshift (structured, researched, re-verified)

Profound and Rankshift both track how AI engines mention and cite a brand, but they price engine coverage in opposite directions. Rankshift's Starter tier costs $82/month and tracks all nine of its supported engines from day one: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Mistral and Meta AI. Profound's Starter tier costs slightly more, $99/month, and tracks exactly one: ChatGPT. Matching Rankshift's default nine-engine reach on Profound requires the custom, sales-led Enterprise plan; Profound's self-serve Growth tier ($399/month) still reaches only three engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews).

The gap continues past engine count. Rankshift bundles MCP and API access, unlimited projects and unlimited seats into every self-serve tier, Starter included. Profound has no public API at any self-serve tier (its own listing records API access as unavailable outside a custom deal) and gates seats by plan (1 seat on Starter, 3 on Growth); real API access only appears as an Enterprise-tier line item, alongside SSO/SAML and SOC2. Trial policy splits the same way: Rankshift offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required, across every self-serve tier. Profound's Growth tier carries a "try for free" offer; its cheaper Starter tier shows no equivalent.

The two also point their data at different jobs. Profound's citation-source module identifies which publications and pages the AI engines actually cite in a category, aimed at content and PR teams deciding where to place coverage, plus sentiment and framing analysis and competitive benchmarking, backed by a $96M funding round reported by Fortune. Rankshift's Agent Analytics does something adjacent but different: it logs real AI-crawler bot traffic against your own site, capturing bot name, page path and HTTP status: evidence a pure prompt-sampling tracker like Profound cannot produce on its own, useful for confirming a visibility change actually followed a re-crawl rather than assuming one happened.

Track record cuts the other way. Profound is, by its own listing's account, the most-searched brand in this category, sales-tested by large comms and brand teams and financially backed by that nine-figure raise. Rankshift, registered as Rankshift BV in Deerlijk, Belgium, is a newer entrant with no reviews yet on Slashdot or SourceForge, and independent reviewers note its bundled Content Brief Generator and AI Content Writer are rougher than its tracking core. A team weighing an established name and dedicated account support over price will still land on Profound; a team that wants the widest engine coverage, an API and a real free trial from the first dollar spent gets more of all three, per dollar, from Rankshift.

| Fact | Profound | Rankshift |
| --- | --- | --- |
| What it is | AI answer engine visibility platform with content agents and AI crawler analytics. | AI visibility tracking with unlimited projects and seats, plus content briefs and an AI writer. |
| Pricing | from $99/month | from $92/month |
| API | Yes — A documented REST API with Python and JavaScript SDKs exists, but the plan table marks API No on both self-serve tiers and access is granted on request. | Yes |
| Tags | AI Overviews · Brand monitoring · ChatGPT · Claude · Copilot · Enterprise · Free trial · Gemini · Perplexity | AI Overviews · API · Brand monitoring · ChatGPT · Claude · Content optimization · Copilot · Free trial · Gemini · Perplexity |
| Best for | enterprise comms, brand and content teams that need multi-engine depth and a sales-led Enterprise contract | — |
| Full facts | https://citedindex.com/profound.md | https://citedindex.com/rankshift.md |

## Verdict: Profound or Rankshift?

Want the category's most enterprise-tested name, deep citation-source analysis for PR targeting, and can commit to Growth or Enterprise pricing for real multi-engine depth → Profound. Want the widest engine coverage and an API from the cheapest tier, plus a 30-day free trial with no credit card, and can accept a newer, thinly-reviewed vendor → Rankshift.

## FAQ

**What's the main difference between Profound and Rankshift?**

Profound's $99/month Starter tier tracks ChatGPT only and has no public API. Rankshift's $82/month Starter tracks all nine of its supported engines and bundles API/MCP access on every tier. Profound is the category's established, better-funded enterprise anchor; Rankshift is a newer, much broader entry-tier vendor.

**Which tracks more AI engines at the entry tier?**

Rankshift, by a wide margin: nine engines (ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Mistral, Meta AI) on its $82/month Starter tier. Profound's $99/month Starter tracks ChatGPT alone; reaching Profound's own nine-engine maximum requires its custom Enterprise plan.

**Does either have a free trial?**

Rankshift offers a 30-day free trial, no credit card required, on every self-serve tier. Profound's Growth tier ($399/month) carries a "try for free" offer; its cheaper Starter tier shows no equivalent.

**Which one has an API?**

Rankshift bundles MCP and API access into every self-serve tier, Starter included. Profound has no public API at its Starter or Growth tiers; API access is listed only as an Enterprise-tier feature, alongside SSO/SAML and SOC2.

**Which has the stronger track record?**

Profound, clearly. It is described as the most-searched brand in the category and raised $96M according to Fortune's reporting. Rankshift is a newer vendor with no reviews yet on Slashdot or SourceForge, and independent reviewers note its bundled content-generation features are rougher than its tracking core.