Profound leads everywhere that matters; Semrush owns the startup conversation. Profound's 49 visibility score versus Semrush's 36 is largely a ChatGPT story: Profound scores 75 there to Semrush's 27, and that gap shows up in the question themes where intent is highest, specifically best overall, enterprise, and single-pick recommendations. Semrush holds its ground with Gemini (30 to Profound's 12) and wins on budget, startup, and top-tools framing, which suggests buyers who frame the search around cost or team size still hear Semrush's name first. Profound's month-over-month gain of 8 points while Semrush held flat means the separation is widening, not stabilizing.
| Profound | Semrush | |
|---|---|---|
| Visibility Score | 49 | 36 |
| Rank in category | #1 | #2 |
| Mention rate | 58% | 53% |
| #1 pick rate | 33% | 7% |
| Avg. position when named | 2.6 | 4.2 |
The models split: ChatGPT prefers Profound, Claude prefers Profound, Gemini prefers Semrush.
Each axis is one of the 8 measured buyer questions; the further out, the more of that question's answers name the brand. Hover an axis for the raw counts. Single-axis gaps ride on 9 answers each, so read the overall shape, not one spike.
Mentions out of 9 answers per question. Click any question for the full transcripts.
| Question | Profound | Semrush | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best overallWhat's the best tool for tracking how my brand appears in AI assistant answers? | 6 | 2 | Profound |
| Use-case fitOur CEO asked why ChatGPT recommends our competitor and not us. What tools help measure and fix that? | 7 | 6 | Profound |
| Top tools in 2026What are the top AI visibility and answer engine optimization tools in 2026? | 7 | 9 | Semrush |
| Startup & small teamWhich AI search visibility tool should an early-stage B2B SaaS use? | 6 | 8 | Semrush |
| Enterprise pickWhich AI visibility and AEO platform should a large enterprise standardize on, considering security, compliance, and scale? | 7 | 3 | Profound |
| Feature-led askI need to track brand citations across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews with an API. What are my options? | 3 | 3 | even |
| If you could pick oneIf you could only pick one AEO or GEO tool, which one and why? | 6 | 5 | Profound |
| Budget & alternativesWhat's a budget-friendly alternative to the big AI visibility platforms? | 0 | 2 | Semrush |
Open this matchup in the compare tool → · Profound brand report · Semrush brand report
Measured from 72 fresh answers collected from the models' production APIs in September 2026; rankings change monthly. Neither brand can pay to appear here or to move the numbers. Full recipe on the methodology page.