AI visibility tools · Head to head

Ahrefs vs Profound: which AI visibility tool wins in 2026?

One bolts AI visibility onto the SEO suite you already run; the other is a dedicated answer-engine platform built for it. Compared on engines tracked, real pricing, and prompt data. Sourced from both companies' live pages.

Javed Khatri Co-founder, Prefer
Updated September 2026 · Facts checked September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
On this page
TL;DR

Ahrefs Brand Radar is the pick for teams that already live in Ahrefs, with seven engines tracked (the widest of the SEO-suite incumbents), a large search-backed prompt corpus and correlation with Ahrefs' backlink index; Profound is the pick for the deepest dedicated answer-engine analytics, with real-user prompt volumes and agent analytics a bolt-on module does not match. If you want the tracking and the content work in one plan, Prefer does both from $24 a month.

The split is bolt-on breadth versus dedicated depth. Ahrefs tracks seven engines through Custom Prompts (Claude only there), but its plans include just 5 to 20 tracked prompts; more prompts cost extra (check packages from $50/mo), and its AI Visibility Index, a 455M-prompt dataset across six engines, is $199/mo per platform or $699/mo for all. Profound offers brands a free ChatGPT-only Trial and then a custom Enterprise quote, going deeper on answer-engine data like real-user prompt volumes. Ahrefs is measurement-only; Profound's Agents also draft and publish content.

Ahrefs vs Profound at a glance
  • Ahrefs tracks seven engines through Custom Prompts (Claude is not in its Index); Profound's free Trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, and Enterprise up to 9.
  • Ahrefs includes Brand Radar in its plans but caps tracked prompts at 5 to 20; extra prompts start at $50/mo, and its Index is $199/mo per platform ($699 for all).
  • Profound goes deeper on answer-engine data: real-user prompt volumes and agent analytics.
  • Ahrefs is measurement-only; Profound's Agents draft and publish content.

The contenders

Screenshot not captured
Ahrefs AI visibility via Brand Radar, inside the SEO suite
  • PositioningAI module inside the Ahrefs SEO suite
  • Starting price$129/mo plan (5 tracked prompts); Index $199/mo per platform ($699 all)
  • Free tierNo; free AI Visibility Checker tool
  • Engines tracked7 via Custom Prompts (Claude only there)
  • Prompt corpus455M+ monthly prompts (19 Sep 2026)
  • Acts on findingsNo; measurement only
  • FocusAdd AEO to an existing SEO workflow
Screenshot not captured
Profound Purpose-built AI-visibility platform
  • Founded2024, New York
  • Starting priceBrands: free Trial, then Enterprise quote
  • Free tierFree Trial (50 prompts, daily for 7 days)
  • Engines at entry1 (ChatGPT) on the Trial; up to 9 on Enterprise
  • Prompt dataReal-user prompt volumes
  • Backing~$155M raised; $1B valuation
  • FocusDedicated answer-engine analytics
Capability Ahrefs Profound Prefer
Tracks AI citations across engines
Acts on findings (Prefer off-page on Managed)
Done-for-you Managed service

The Prefer column is shown for reference: it is our product, and this page compares the other two. Website screenshots captured September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026; every claim is referenced in Sources.

Where each tool sits

Positioning matrix: AI-search depth (vertical) by Scope (specialist → all-in-one suite) (horizontal). Ahrefs sits low on AI-search depth and high on Scope (specialist → all-in-one suite); Profound sits high on AI-search depth and low on Scope (specialist → all-in-one suite); Prefer (our product) sits high on AI-search depth and low on Scope (specialist → all-in-one suite).
Qualitative positioning from each product's public feature set and pricing pages, checked September 2026. Ahrefs is a broad SEO suite with an AI-visibility module (Brand Radar) added; Profound is a specialist answer-engine tracker with deep AI-search analytics; Prefer, our product, focuses on AI-search visibility with content in every plan, plus off-page execution on its done-for-you Managed and Enterprise plans. The x-axis runs specialist on the left to all-in-one on the right. Sources

Feature comparison

Capability
Ahrefs
Profound
AI-search coverage
Engines tracked[1]
7 via Custom Prompts (AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Copilot, Claude); Index 6, no Claude
1 on the free Trial (ChatGPT); up to 9 (Enterprise)
Real prompt tracking at entry[1]
5 to 20 tracked prompts (in $129 to $449 plans)
50 prompts, daily for 7 days (free Trial)
Serious prompt tracking[1]
Prompt packages from $50/mo (about 80 a day on 1 platform); Index $199/mo per platform
Enterprise quote (brands); $399/mo per client workspace (agencies, 100 prompts, 3 engines)
Prompt corpus / demand[2]
455M+ monthly prompts (Index), estimated impressions
Real-user prompt volumes
Social surfaces[2]
YouTube, Reddit, TikTok
Not the focus
Data and integrations
Backlink correlation[2]
Yes (Ahrefs index)
No
Agent / crawler analytics[2]
Not the focus
Agent Analytics
Metrics[2]
Mentions, citations, AI share of voice, gaps
Answer Engine Insights, share of voice
Free tool[2]
AI Visibility Checker (no signup)
Not advertised
Built on[2]
Mature SEO suite (keywords, audits, backlinks)
Dedicated AI-visibility platform
Action and fit
Acts on findings[2]
No; measurement only
Agents draft and publish content (credits)
Cost beyond the plan's prompts[1]
Packages from $50/mo; Index $199/mo per platform ($699 all)
Enterprise quote (brands); agencies from $99/mo plus $399/mo per client
Best for[2]
Teams already in Ahrefs adding AEO
Teams wanting deep dedicated AI analytics
Learning curve[2]
Whole SEO suite to use one module
Focused on AI visibility

Based on both products' public pages, facts checked September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026. "Not advertised" means we could not verify the capability from public materials. Spot something out of date? Tell us.

Pricing, side by side

Plan
Ahrefs
Profound
Entry (plan incl. Brand Radar)[1]
Lite $129/mo (5 tracked AI prompts)
Trial, free (50 prompts, run daily for 7 days, on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews)
Real AI tracking[1]
Prompt packages from $50/mo; Index $199/mo per platform ($699 all)
Enterprise, custom (brands); $399/mo per client workspace (agencies)
Higher tiers[1]
Standard $249, Advanced $449 (10 to 20 prompts)
Enterprise (custom, up to 9 engines)
Free tier[1]
No; free AI Visibility Checker tool
Free Trial (50 prompts, daily for 7 days)
Execution included[2]
No; measurement only
Agents draft and publish content (credits)

Prices checked September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026 from each product's public pricing page.

Ahrefs is a mature all-in-one SEO suite (keyword research, site audits, content, backlinks) that has added Brand Radar, an AI-visibility module that tracks mentions, citations, AI share of voice, and estimated impressions across seven engines and correlates AI citations with its backlink index. Its plans start at $129/mo (Lite) and include Brand Radar, but with only 5 to 20 tracked AI prompts; more prompts come as check packages from $50/mo, and its AI Visibility Index, a search-backed dataset of 455M+ monthly prompts across six engines, costs $199/mo per platform or $699/mo for all (ahrefs.com, rendered 19 September 2026). Profound (New York, founded 2024) is a dedicated answer-engine analytics platform that has raised roughly $155M at a $1B valuation and serves 700+ enterprise customers, going deeper on AI-search-specific data like real-user prompt volumes and agent analytics. Sources

Which should you choose?

Choose Ahrefs if…

  • You already run Ahrefs for SEO and want AI visibility in the same tool
  • Tracking seven engines, including Claude, out of the box matters
  • You value a search-backed prompt corpus and backlink-index correlation
  • You want a free, no-signup AI Visibility Checker to start

Choose Profound if…

  • You want the deepest dedicated answer-engine analytics
  • Real-user prompt demand data and agent analytics matter to your strategy
  • You have a large in-house team to act on deep analytics
  • You would rather buy a purpose-built platform than a suite add-on
The third option · Our product
Both measure. Prefer also does the work that wins citations.

Prefer tracks the same signals across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, then produces the content and citations that move the number. Free trial, paid from $24/mo. See how it compares to Profound.

Run your free audit No card, no commitment

Ahrefs vs Profound, answered

Is Ahrefs Brand Radar better than Profound?

Neither is better across the board: Ahrefs Brand Radar is the pick if you already run Ahrefs for SEO and want AI visibility in the same tool, with seven engines tracked (including Claude) and correlation with Ahrefs' backlink index, and Profound is the pick if you want the deepest dedicated answer-engine analytics, with real-user prompt volumes and agent analytics. If you want the tracking and the content work in one plan, Prefer does both from $24 a month. Choose Ahrefs to add AEO to your SEO workflow, Profound for a purpose-built platform.

How do Ahrefs and Profound pricing compare?

Checked 19 September 2026: Ahrefs includes Brand Radar in its paid plans (from $129/mo Lite), but with only 5 to 20 tracked AI prompts; more prompts are sold as check packages from $50/mo, and the AI Visibility Index is $199/mo per platform or $699/mo for all. Profound, checked 23 September 2026, offers brands a free Trial (50 prompts, run daily for 7 days, on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews) and custom Enterprise for up to 9 engines; its agency plans start at $99/mo plus add-ons. Ahrefs publishes its prices and bundles tracking into a full SEO suite you may already pay for; Profound's paid brand plan is a quote. Prefer publishes $24 a month for five engines and 15 AI articles.

How many AI engines do Ahrefs and Profound track?

Ahrefs Brand Radar tracks seven engines through Custom Prompts: Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, ChatGPT, Copilot, and Claude; its AI Visibility Index covers the first six, not Claude (checked 19 September 2026). Profound tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews on its free Trial and up to 9 engines on custom Enterprise (checked 23 September 2026). Ahrefs covers more engines at entry; Profound reaches more at the top.

Does Ahrefs Brand Radar cost extra?

Beyond a handful of prompts, yes. Ahrefs' paid plans include Brand Radar, but cap tracked AI prompts at 5 to 20. More of your own prompts are sold as check packages from $50/mo (about 80 prompts a day on one platform), and the separate AI Visibility Index, a 455M-prompt dataset rather than your own prompts, is $199/mo per platform or $699/mo for all six engines. Claude is only available through Custom Prompts and uses 8 checks per update. Checked 19 September 2026.

Do Ahrefs or Profound create content or win citations for you?

Profound does part of it: its Agents generate complete articles and publish approved content to your CMS, after an approval step. Ahrefs Brand Radar is measurement-only: it reports mentions, citations, AI share of voice, and gaps. Neither documents off-page citation work, which stays with your team. Prefer pairs the measurement with content from $24 a month, and Prefer Managed and Prefer's Enterprise plan also do the off-page work.

Who is Ahrefs Brand Radar best for?

SEO professionals and marketing teams who already live in Ahrefs and want to add AI visibility to the workflow they own, with the credibility of Ahrefs' index and a search-backed prompt corpus. It is less suited to a team new to AEO, who would face the whole Ahrefs suite to use one module.

What is the best alternative to Ahrefs and Profound?

Prefer is the best pick if the gap in both is execution (doing the content and off-page work the analytics point to): it pairs measurement across five engines, including Gemini and both of Google's AI surfaces without per-engine add-ons, with content from $24 a month and a free audit, and Prefer Managed and Prefer's Enterprise plan add the off-page work. The category also includes Peec AI, Scrunch, AthenaHQ, Otterly and Semrush's AI toolkit. See our roundup of the best AI visibility tools.

References

Sources

  1. Ahrefs Brand Radar page ahrefs.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  2. Ahrefs pricing page ahrefs.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  3. Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker (free tool) ahrefs.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  4. Profound pricing page tryprofound.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  5. Profound homepage (features) tryprofound.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  6. Fortune: Profound raises $96M Series C at a $1B valuation fortune.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026
  7. Profound Agents feature page tryprofound.com Accessed September 2026; Ahrefs re-checked 19 Sep 2026

Keep comparing

Head to head Prefer vs Profound Roundup The best AI visibility tools in 2026 Alternatives The best Profound alternatives

Get your free AI visibility report
in about 10 minutes.

See how answer engines describe your brand today, and where the openings are to outpace the competition.