b/cited
Menu

Best Profound alternatives

Profound is the best-funded tool in AI visibility tracking and the one most teams compare against. It is also an enterprise product: a free trial, then a contract with no published price. This page lists what else is on the market, with every figure read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown.

Every Profound figure below is from their own pricing page, read on , and every other tool’s from its own, dated beside it. If a vendor has changed their page since, trust their page over this one.

Why people look for a Profound alternative.

The enterprise end of the category: a free trial, then a custom-priced contract.

No published price for a paid plan

Profound's brands pricing page, read on 2026-11-02, lists a free 7-day Trial and a custom-priced Enterprise plan and nothing between. Starter and Growth tiers that used to sit there are gone. A team that wants to know what the second month costs has to book a call.

Claude is Enterprise-only

The free Trial runs ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Anthropic Claude appears only in the Enterprise engine list. If Claude is one of the engines that matter to the site, the trial will not show it.

Built for a buying committee

SSO/SAML, SOC 2, dedicated support and an AI Marketer agent are real strengths, and they are priced like it. A solo marketer or small agency pays for controls it will not use.

No Search Console side

Google Search Console integration is not listed on Profound's pricing page. Teams whose content process starts from what they already rank for have to join that data up elsewhere.

Profound’s page, read , lists Trial (Free) and Enterprise (Custom). Not listed on Profound’s page: Google Search Console integration, A published price for a paid plan. That means absent from the page b/cited read, not absent from the product. Full comparison: b/cited vs Profound.

What to look for.

Which engines, on which tier

Most tools list a long engine roster, then gate the engines that matter behind a higher tier, an add-on or a higher credit cost. Read the tier you would actually buy, not the roster.

How prompts are counted

Some tools sell prompts; some sell credits where one prompt on one engine costs a fraction of a credit, and the fraction varies by engine. Work out what one month of the prompts you need costs on each.

Whether a free tier exists, and what it runs

A free trial ends. A free tier keeps running. If the goal is to watch a handful of prompts indefinitely, the distinction decides the tool.

What happens after the dashboard

Tracking tells you where you are not cited. Ask whether the tool then connects that to your own search data and tells you what to write, or stops at the chart.

The 6 tools, side by side.

b/cited is listed first and is the host of this page. Every other row is from that vendor’s own pricing page on the date shown.

ToolEntry priceClaudeSource
b/citedFreeIncluded on every tier, Free included./pricing
Otterly.AI$29/moPaid add-on: $29/mo on Lite, $109 on Standard, $439 on Premium.otterly.ai
Peec AI$95/moListed only in the Enterprise column of their model table.peec.ai
Scrunch AI$250/moEnterprise only; not among Core's four engines.scrunch.com
Rankscale$20/moOn every plan, at 2 credits a run against 0.25 for ChatGPT or Perplexity.rankscale.ai
Athena HQFreeFrom Starter ($295/mo); not among the five engines on the free Essential tier.athenahq.ai

Tool by tool.

1. b/cited

Citation tracking for ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, joined to Search Console so the gaps become briefs.

From the plan table on /pricing
  • FreeFree

    5 prompts, run on request; 1 property

  • Solo$39/mo

    25 prompts, run nightly; 1 property

  • Pro$99/mo

    75 prompts, run nightly; 5 properties

  • Agency$299/mo

    250 prompts, run nightly; 10 properties

Engines. ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity on every tier.

Claude. Included on every tier, Free included.

What b/cited does that the others on this page do not

  • Claude on the Free tier. The only free tier on this page that includes Claude; Rankscale includes it on its $20/month Essentials plan at 2 credits a run, and Athena HQ from Starter.
  • Google Search Console clustering: what the site already ranks for, grouped into topics, with the citation gap marked per cluster.
  • Content briefs written against the gaps, so the output is a page to write rather than a dashboard to read.
  • A free, no-account site scan that grades AI-readiness before any tracking starts.

Best for. A site that already has Search Console data and wants ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity tracked from a free tier up, with the next page to write handed to it.

2. Otterly.AI

The low-cost entry point to the category, with the broadest geography.

From otterly.ai, read
  • Lite$29/mo

    15 search prompts; 1 workspace

  • Standard$189/mo

    100 search prompts; API, MCP and Agent Analytics

  • Premium$489/mo

    400 search prompts; API, MCP and Agent Analytics

  • EnterpriseCustom

    From 1,000 search prompts; SSO, dedicated customer success manager

Engines. ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot on every tier. Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini are paid add-ons.

Claude. Paid add-on: $29/mo on Lite, $109 on Standard, $439 on Premium.

Not listed on Otterly.AI’s page: Google Search Console integration, Content brief generation.

What Otterly.AI does better than b/cited

  • The cheapest paid plan on this page at $29/month.
  • Unlimited countries and languages on every tier; b/cited has no geographic segmentation.
  • Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot, neither of which b/cited tracks.
  • Prompt ceilings: Premium tracks 400 against b/cited Agency's 250.

Best for. Multi-market brands and anyone who wants the lowest monthly cost for tracking on its own, and does not need Claude.

3. Peec AI

Prompt-based tracking with unlimited users, popular with SEO teams and agencies.

From peec.ai, read
  • Starter$95/mo

    50 prompts; choose 3 models; 1 project; 1 country

  • Pro$245/mo

    150 prompts; choose 3 models; 2 projects; API

  • Advanced$495/mo

    350 prompts; choose 3 models; 5 projects; multi-country; Looker Studio

  • EnterpriseCustom

    Unlimited prompts; all models, up to 13 tracked; API; SSO

Engines. Starter to Advanced pick 3 of ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI; a fourth model is an add-on from $30/month. Enterprise lists all models, including Claude and Perplexity.

Claude. Listed only in the Enterprise column of their model table.

Not listed on Peec AI’s page: Google Search Console integration, A free tier.

What Peec AI does better than b/cited

  • Unlimited team users on every plan, including Starter.
  • Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot and Naver AI, none of which b/cited tracks.
  • Agent analytics: AI crawler and referral tracking from CDN and log integrations with Vercel, Cloudflare, AWS and others.
  • AI Shopping tracking at SKU level, brand fact-checking and a Looker Studio connector on Advanced.
  • SOC 2 on every plan, MCP on every plan, API from Pro.

Best for. SEO teams that want many hands in one account and care most about Google's AI surfaces and ChatGPT.

4. Scrunch AI

Monitoring plus an agent-experience layer that serves AI crawlers an optimised version of the site.

From scrunch.com, read
  • Core$250/mo

    125 unique prompts; 5,000 responses a month; 5 site audits a month; 1 brand workspace; 5 user licences; 7-day free trial

  • EnterpriseCustom

    Custom prompts and responses; Agent Experience Platform; API; SSO (SAML, OIDC); dedicated account team

Engines. Core lists 4: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot. Enterprise lists 9, adding Claude, Gemini, Meta AI, Google AI Mode and Grok.

Claude. Enterprise only; not among Core's four engines.

Not listed on Scrunch AI’s page: Google Search Console integration, A free tier, A published price above Core.

What Scrunch AI does better than b/cited

  • Agent Pages: a served-to-crawlers version of the site, which no pure tracking tool offers.
  • AI agent and bot traffic analytics on the Core plan.
  • Site audits (5 a month on Core) and page optimisation with content generation built in.
  • Google AI Overviews and Copilot, which b/cited does not track.

Best for. Brands that want to change what AI crawlers see, not only measure what AI answers say.

5. Rankscale

Credit-based tracking across the widest engine list on this page, with a yearly-only starter plan.

From rankscale.ai, read
  • Essentials$20/mo

    Yearly billing only; 120 credits a month; 2 brand dashboards; 10 page audits

  • Pro$99/mo

    1,200 credits a month; 10 brand dashboards; 50 page audits; free trial

  • Pro+$229/mo

    3,000 credits a month; 25 brand dashboards; REST API

  • Growth$385/mo

    5,500 credits a month; 50 brand dashboards; white-label dashboard links; agency programme

  • Enterprise$780/mo

    12,000 credits a month; 100 brand dashboards; priority support

Engines. 17+ engines on every plan, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, Anthropic Claude and Microsoft Copilot. Each query costs credits, and the cost varies by engine.

Claude. On every plan, at 2 credits a run against 0.25 for ChatGPT or Perplexity.

Not listed on Rankscale’s page: Google Search Console integration, A free tier (Pro has a free trial).

What Rankscale does better than b/cited

  • Engine breadth: 17+ including Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, Copilot and Meta Muse Spark.
  • All regions on every plan; scheduling from hourly to monthly.
  • Page audits, shopping analysis, ad analytics and local results on Pro and above.
  • Agency features: white-label dashboard links, a partner directory and affiliate commissions on Growth.
  • A published price at every level up to Enterprise, which nothing else on this page offers.

Best for. Agencies and anyone who wants Claude plus a long tail of engines and is comfortable budgeting in credits.

6. Athena HQ

An AEO platform with a free tier, a wide model list on Starter, and a Search Console integration.

From athenahq.ai, read
  • EssentialFree

    $25 free credit, 300 credits; ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot; unlimited users

  • Starter$295/mo

    3,600 credits a month (1 credit = 1 AI response); 11 models; unlimited topics, prompts and competitors; API and extra credits as paid add-ons

  • EnterpriseCustom

    Custom credits; knowledge base and claim review; SAML/OIDC SSO; multi-region; BI tool support

Engines. Essential lists ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot. Starter lists 11: those plus Google AI Mode, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral.

Claude. From Starter ($295/mo); not among the five engines on the free Essential tier.

Not listed on Athena HQ’s page: A published price for API access, Per-cluster citation gaps from Search Console data.

What Athena HQ does better than b/cited

  • 11 models on Starter, including Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, which b/cited does not track.
  • A Google Analytics and Google Search Console integration listed on both paid tiers, the only other tool on this page with one.
  • A content optimisation agent, brand-voice enforcement and a managed robots.txt and llms.txt.
  • Unlimited users, topics, prompts and competitors on Starter.

Best for. Teams that want a free start, then one platform that acts on the site as well as measuring it.

Which to choose, by what you need.

A free tier that tracks Claude

b/cited

b/cited Free runs 5 prompts on ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity. Athena HQ's free Essential tier covers five engines, Claude not among them; Profound's free Trial ends after 7 days and runs ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews.

Lowest monthly cost, Claude not needed

Otterly.AI Lite or Rankscale Essentials

Otterly Lite is $29/month for 15 prompts on four engines. Rankscale Essentials is $20/month but billed yearly, with 120 credits.

Google AI Overviews and AI Mode

Peec AI, Rankscale or Otterly.AI

All three list Google's AI surfaces. b/cited does not track them.

Many users in one account

Peec AI or Athena HQ

Both list unlimited users on every plan.

Change what AI crawlers see

Scrunch AI

Agent Pages serve an optimised version of the site to AI agents; the Core plan at $250/month includes bot traffic analytics and site audits.

Search Console joined to citation tracking

b/cited or Athena HQ

The two tools on this page that list a Search Console integration. b/cited clusters the queries and writes briefs against the gaps; Athena connects visibility to traffic and adds on-page actions.

Enterprise controls and the widest engine list

Profound

Up to nine engines, SSO/SAML, SOC 2 and the AI Marketer agent. If the budget is there, the thing people leave it for is price, not capability.

Common questions.

Why look for a Profound alternative at all?

Price transparency and tier fit. Profound's brands pricing page, read on 2026-11-02, lists a free 7-day Trial and a custom Enterprise plan with no published figure, and Claude is Enterprise-only. Teams that want a known monthly cost, or Claude tracked without an enterprise contract, look elsewhere. Profound's strengths are real: up to nine engines, SSO/SAML, SOC 2 and an AI Marketer agent.

Which Profound alternatives have a free tier?

Two on this page. b/cited Free tracks 5 prompts on ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity, run on request. Athena HQ Essential is free with 300 credits on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot. Profound, Otterly, Peec, Scrunch and Rankscale list free trials rather than a free tier.

Which alternatives track Claude without an add-on or enterprise tier?

b/cited includes Claude on every tier from Free up. Rankscale includes Claude on every plan but charges 2 credits a run against 0.25 for ChatGPT. Athena HQ includes it from Starter at $295/month. Otterly sells it as an add-on from $29/month; Peec and Scrunch list it only on Enterprise.

What is the cheapest Profound alternative?

By published monthly price, Rankscale Essentials at $20/month (yearly billing only, 120 credits), then Otterly Lite at $29/month for 15 prompts, then b/cited Solo at $39/month for 25 prompts with Claude included. Compare on what you need tracked rather than on the headline figure.

How current are the prices on this page?

Every figure was read from the vendor's own pricing page on the date shown beside it, and that page is linked. Prices change; if a vendor's page disagrees with this one, trust theirs.

Is b/cited affiliated with any of these companies?

No. b/cited is one of the tools listed and is placed first. The others are competitors, described from their own pricing pages, with what each does better than b/cited named.

Head-to-head comparisons

Sources: Otterly.AI: https://otterly.ai/pricing/, read ; Peec AI: https://peec.ai/pricing, read ; Scrunch AI: https://scrunch.com/pricing/, read ; Rankscale: https://rankscale.ai/pricing, read ; Athena HQ: https://athenahq.ai/plans, read ; Profound: https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing, read . Prices change; verify before deciding. bcited.ai is not affiliated with Profound or with any other vendor on this page.

Compare them on your own site.

The quickest way to compare is to run more than one on your own site. b/cited’s scan needs no account.

Try the free scan See pricing