Profound vs Peec vs Otterly: Which AI Visibility Platform Should You Buy?

Updated December 18, 2025

Your organic leads dropped 47% from January to October 2025 according to NP Digital's analysis of 50 B2B companies. Meanwhile, research from Magenta Associates reveals that 66% of UK senior decision-makers now use AI tools including ChatGPT, Copilot, and Perplexity to research suppliers, and 90% trust the recommendations these systems provide. Your traditional SEO metrics offer zero insight into why this is happening or where your brand appears when buyers ask AI for recommendations.

You're evaluating Profound, Peec AI, and Otterly because you need visibility into this new reality. This guide compares them across pricing, platform coverage, analytical depth, and user experience. However, we also argue that the best platform might actually be a managed service that turns visibility data into actual citations, because knowing you're invisible is only step one.

The state of AI visibility: Why traditional SEO tools are blind

Traditional SEO tools measure keyword rankings, backlinks, and organic traffic. These metrics worked when buyers clicked through Google's blue links to your site, but that world is disappearing fast.

Gartner predicts search engine volume will decline 25% by 2026 as users shift to AI chatbots for answers. We're seeing zero-click searches hit 60% of Google queries, and when AI Overviews appear, click-through rates plummet to just 8% compared to 15% for traditional results. B2B marketers report self-reported attribution from AI sources increased 9.25% year-over-year.

The shift from rankings to citations changes everything. In traditional SEO, you optimized to rank #1 for "project management software." In Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), you optimize to be cited when a buyer asks ChatGPT "What's the best project management software for distributed teams?" Your brand either appears in that AI-generated answer or it doesn't.

As we explain in our AI visibility guide, SEO isn't dead but traditional tactics are losing share rapidly. Semrush, Ahrefs, and Moz track Google rankings beautifully but remain blind to ChatGPT citations, Perplexity mentions, or Claude recommendations. Profound, Peec AI, and Otterly were built specifically to close that gap.

At a glance: Profound vs. Peec vs. Otterly

We see clear market segmentation across these three platforms. Profound positions itself as the enterprise solution with comprehensive coverage and technical depth. Peec AI targets the mid-market sweet spot where speed and usability matter more than exhaustive features. Otterly serves budget-conscious buyers who need basic visibility tracking without enterprise complexity.

Deep dive: Profound review

Profound bills itself as the enterprise-grade AI visibility platform for Fortune 500 brands. At $499/month for the Lite plan, it's 48% more expensive than the average AI search monitoring tool according to competitive analysis.

What you get for that premium:

The platform tracks brand mentions across eight major AI engines including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, Grok, Meta AI, and DeepSeek. The Conversation Explorer feature uses proprietary data to estimate conversation volume on LLMs, giving you directional insight into query frequency. One user on G2 praised how "the front-end querying makes the data far cleaner and more actionable than platforms relying on API pulls."

Enterprise features include SOC-2 Type II certification, SSO integration, and REST APIs with 10,000 daily calls. For companies with strict security requirements, these aren't nice-to-haves but deal requirements. Profound also offers bi-weekly strategy sessions, which several reviewers highlighted as valuable for translating data into action plans.

The complexity trade-off:

Independent testing in December 2025 gave Profound an overall score of 3.2/5, with reviewers noting that technical depth and enterprise-grade capabilities create a steeper learning curve. Multiple G2 reviews mention the platform "has become unstable, slow and tedious lately" with data-rich dashboards feeling overwhelming without a dedicated owner.

This isn't a tool you hand to a junior marketer and expect results in week one. As one reviewer noted, you need to "spend time setting up keyword lists for prompt tracking during initial setup." Performance issues include features like the Watched URL tab often not working properly, with deleting URLs failing and loading times hitting 15 seconds.

The execution gap:

Profound excels at showing you the problem. It doesn't solve it. As one G2 reviewer explained, "Profound shows you where you stand, but you'll still need other tools for keyword research, SEO audits, and content creation to act on those insights."

Ideal user: A VP of Marketing at an enterprise B2B SaaS company with $50M+ ARR, a dedicated marketing analyst on staff, and the internal resources to execute on insights. If you lack that infrastructure, Profound's depth becomes a liability.

Deep dive: Peec AI review

If Profound feels like overkill, Peec AI offers a middle ground. At €89/month for the Starter plan, it's accessible while still delivering serious analytical firepower.

What makes Peec AI different:

The platform's biggest differentiator is speed paired with actionable insights. Users report "getting started is refreshingly simple with quick signup, intuitive project creation process, and frictionless onboarding." An onboarding button at the top of the first page helps you get familiar immediately.

Peec AI tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude. While that's fewer platforms than Profound's eight, it covers the engines that matter most for B2B buyers. The depth of competitive analysis consistently earns praise. You can see exactly which prompts trigger competitor citations, what language they use, and where gaps exist.

The standout feature is customer support. Multiple reviewers highlight "direct Slack access to their team with response nearly instant, a massive advantage especially for smaller teams" who don't have dedicated analysts to troubleshoot issues.

The trade-offs:

For mid-market teams, Peec AI covers essential features well. However, enterprise buyers should note the platform currently lacks a public API (available only on €499/month Enterprise plans), SOC-2 compliance, and SSO integration.

The platform also doesn't estimate traffic from AI sources. You'll see your citation frequency increase from 5% to 28%, but you won't directly correlate that to website visits without manual attribution work in Google Analytics.

Like Profound, Peec AI is observational. It surfaces signals but teams still need to execute. One case study mentioned a company that created 100 targeted articles in one month using Peec AI insights. Notice they created the articles—Peec AI identified the gaps.

Ideal user: A VP of Marketing or Head of Demand Gen at a $5M-$30M ARR B2B SaaS company who needs visibility data quickly, values responsive support, and has a content team ready to execute on insights.

Deep dive: Otterly.AI review

Otterly.AI positions itself as the accessible entry point to AI visibility tracking. At $29/month for the Lite plan, it's the most affordable option by a wide margin.

What you get at this price point:

The Lite plan includes 15 search prompts, tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. The platform currently supports Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Microsoft Copilot as add-ons. For agencies, the value proposition is clear. One user noted "account teams can quickly pull a report during a client call showing visible proof of AI search presence."

OMR Reviews gave Otterly a 5.0 overall rating with ease of use scoring 9.1. Quality of Support scores 9.7 on G2. Users highlight that the team "will even jump on calls for a few minutes to debug tracking prompts."

The GEO Audit Tool provides content optimization strategies, technical improvements for AI crawlability, structured data implementation guidance, and content gap analysis. Link citation tracking automatically monitors all domains and URL citations on AI search experiences weekly.

The limitations:

Otterly tracks fewer platforms than competitors. No Meta AI, Grok, or DeepSeek. For most B2B SaaS companies, that's fine because ChatGPT and Perplexity dominate buyer usage.

The platform currently does not offer an API to export data, though they've added an OtterlyAI Looker Studio Connector. Integration options remain limited compared to Profound or Peec AI.

Like the other platforms, Otterly doesn't provide direct website traffic estimation from AI search engines. You see citation frequency increase but not revenue impact without manual attribution work.

Ideal user: A founder or solo marketing lead at an early-stage startup, an agency managing multiple client AI visibility programs, or a team wanting to test AI visibility tracking before committing to enterprise pricing.

Head-to-head comparison: Feature and ROI analysis

Platform coverage: Who tracks what matters?

All three platforms cover the essential four: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Claude. Profound extends to Grok, Meta AI, and DeepSeek. Research shows that 80% of global B2B tech buyers use genAI as much as traditional search, with ChatGPT and Perplexity dominating usage.

The question isn't "Does this tool track Grok?" but "Do my buyers use Grok?" In our experience working with B2B SaaS companies, the answer is no. ChatGPT represents the lion's share of AI-driven research.

Attribution and ROI: Can you measure pipeline impact?

Here's where all three platforms fall short. None offer closed-loop attribution linking citations to MQLs, SQLs, or revenue. When your CFO asks "What's the ROI on $15K/month in AI visibility investment?" you need to show attributed pipeline, not just citation frequency improvements.

Profound delivers enterprise-grade analytics with sentiment scoring but no conversion tracking. Peec AI users wish the platform would track traffic from LLMs. Otterly doesn't offer built-in end-to-end AI referral attribution.

You need to build attribution manually using UTM parameters, CRM tagging, and analytics workflows to measure pipeline impact.

Actionability: Do they tell you what to fix?

Profound provides data-rich dashboards but leaves strategy to you. Peec AI offers competitive gap analysis showing where rivals dominate. Otterly includes a GEO Audit Tool with optimization recommendations. All three identify the problem. None execute the solution.

Our research on getting cited by AI shows the fix requires coordinated steps: clear entity structure, intent architecture, third-party validation, answer grounding, block-structured content, temporal consistency, and entity graph implementation. That's not something you implement by looking at a dashboard showing low citation rates.

Pricing and contracts: What's the real investment?

Profound's pricing creates a significant barrier at $499/month for basic functionality. Add the internal resources to analyze data, create content, implement technical fixes, and build authority, and total cost reaches $15K-$25K/month. At that investment level, many companies find managed services more cost-effective.

Peec AI and Otterly offer month-to-month flexibility with free trials. You can test, validate, and scale without enterprise sales cycles. The question becomes whether you have the internal capability to execute on insights.

The "dashboard trap": Why software alone won't fix visibility

Buying a scale doesn't make you lose weight. It shows you the problem. Similarly, buying Profound, Peec AI, or Otterly shows you're invisible to AI but doesn't make you visible. That requires execution.

What execution actually requires:

• Content production: You need to produce content using entity-structured frameworks that LLMs trust. Research shows pages with comprehensive schema markup get a 36% advantage in AI-generated summaries.
• Third-party validation: AI models trust external sources more than your owned content. That means orchestrating mentions across Wikipedia, Reddit, G2, Capterra, industry forums, and tech blogs.
• Continuous optimization: AI platforms update algorithms constantly. Monthly sprints testing content variations, measuring citation impact, and iterating based on results are essential.

The resource reality:

When Profound shows competitors dominating 45% of buyer-intent queries while you're cited in just 12%, your already-stretched team needs to produce targeted articles, implement schema across pages, and continuously optimize. Our analysis shows companies with monitoring tools but no execution support take 6-9 months to achieve what managed services deliver in 90 days.

How Discovered Labs bridges the gap between data and execution

We don't sell a dashboard. We sell results. Our approach combines proprietary tracking technology with hands-on execution using the CITABLE framework to engineer your brand into AI recommendation layers.

What that actually means:

We start with the same visibility audit these platforms provide. We test buyer-intent queries across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Copilot to map where you appear and where competitors dominate. Our audit template tracks citation frequency, positioning, sentiment, and share of voice versus your top three competitors.

Then we execute the fix. We produce content at volume using the CITABLE framework. Our CITABLE framework structures every piece with Clear entity definitions, Intent architecture answering main and adjacent questions, Third-party validation, Answer grounding with verifiable facts, Block structure optimized for RAG systems, Latest timestamps and consistent data, and explicit Entity relationships. Our packages start at 20 pieces of content per month and scale to 2-3 pieces daily for larger clients.

We build third-party authority through coordinated campaigns across Reddit, G2, Wikipedia, industry forums, and tech publications. We implement technical optimization including Organization, Product, and FAQ schemas. We continuously test content variations against AI models to understand what earns citations.

The proof:

We helped a B2B SaaS company increase from 500 trials per month to over 3,500 trials per month within seven weeks.

Another client improved ChatGPT referrals by 29% and closed five new paying customers in month one. These results come from execution, not monitoring.

The difference:

Profound, Peec AI, and Otterly are valuable tools for teams with execution capacity. We're built for teams that need both the intelligence and the execution. Our pricing starts at €5,495/month, which includes audits, end-to-end content, Reddit marketing, and continuous optimization. You're not paying for a dashboard plus internal resources—you're paying for delivered results.

We operate month-to-month with no long-term lock-in. If citation rates don't improve and AI-referred MQLs don't materialize, you're not stuck.

Final verdict: Which platform fits your stage?

Choose Otterly if: You're an early-stage startup ($500K-$2M ARR) or agency managing multiple clients. At $29/month, it's accessible experimentation, but requires strong internal execution.

Choose Peec AI if: You're a mid-market B2B SaaS company ($5M-$30M ARR) with a content team ready to execute. The €89/month price delivers analytical depth with responsive Slack support.

Choose Profound if: You're an enterprise company ($50M+ ARR) with dedicated analyst resources and strict security requirements (SOC-2, SSO). The $499/month investment makes sense when you have the infrastructure to execute on complex insights.

Choose a managed service if: You recognize AI visibility is critical but lack bandwidth to execute on monitoring insights. Our 28-point AEO implementation checklist reveals why most in-house efforts stall between diagnosis and treatment. Managed services cost more than software but typically deliver faster results because execution is included.

The platforms aren't mutually exclusive with managed services. Many clients use Peec AI or Profound for ongoing monitoring while we handle execution.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Peec AI and Otterly.AI?
Peec AI costs €89/month and delivers deeper competitive analysis with direct Slack support for mid-market teams. Otterly costs $29/month with simpler reporting and agency-focused features for budget-conscious buyers.

Is Profound suitable for SMBs?
No, Profound's $499/month starting price and enterprise complexity make it a poor fit for most SMBs under $10M revenue. Otterly or Peec AI deliver better value without the learning curve.

How do I measure ROI for an AI visibility platform?
Track citation frequency changes alongside AI-referred traffic using UTM parameters and tag AI-sourced MQLs in your CRM. AI-referred traffic converts at 2.4x higher rates than traditional organic, making the ROI calculation straightforward.

What is a good citation rate?
Citation rates above 40% indicate strong AI visibility. Most mid-market B2B SaaS companies start between 5-15% and should target 30-40% within six months of optimization.

Can these platforms attribute pipeline to AI citations?
No, all three platforms track citations but don't link them to revenue. You'll need manual attribution workflows through Google Analytics and CRM tagging to measure pipeline impact.

Key terminology

AI Visibility Platform: Software that monitors and tracks how often your brand appears in AI-generated responses across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and other LLMs compared to competitors, but typically doesn't execute the content strategy needed to improve those results.

Citation Rate: The percentage of target buyer-intent queries where AI systems cite your content or brand, calculated as (citations received / total tracked prompts) × 100.

Share of Voice: The portion of total brand mentions your company receives compared to competitors in AI-generated answers, indicating your relative authority in AI search results.

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO): The practice of optimizing content to appear as direct answers in AI-generated responses, featured snippets, and knowledge panels through structured data and clear formatting.

Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): The broader practice of adapting content and online presence to improve visibility in results produced by generative AI systems including ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.

Ready to see where your brand appears versus competitors across ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity? Request an AI Visibility Audit and we'll deliver a comprehensive benchmark showing your current citation rates, share of voice gaps, and a 90-day roadmap to close them. No long-term contract required.