# AthenaHQ vs. Profound

A detailed comparison to help you choose the right tool.

## Pricing and key differences

### AthenaHQ

#### Best for

[Enterprise](/content/aeo-tools/enterprise/index.html) [SMB](/content/aeo-tools/smb/index.html)

#### Pricing

- ✓Self-serve: $295/month
- ✓Enterprise: custom

#### Funding

$2.7 million

#### Free plan or trial

- ✗No free trial
- ✓offers a free audit and discounted first month ($95)

### Profound

#### Best for

[Enterprise](/content/aeo-tools/enterprise/index.html) [Agency](/content/aeo-tools/agency/index.html)

#### Pricing

- ✓Starter: $99/month
- ✓Growth: $399/month
- ✓Enterprise: custom

#### Funding

$155 million

#### Free plan or trial

- ✗No free trial
- ✓Demo available upon request

## AEO tool overview

### AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ was founded in 2024 and emerged from stealth in 2025. In addition to monitoring, auditing, and optimization, it also offers AI-generated content capabilities designed to help you draft content briefs, outlines, and full articles.

### Profound

Profound launched in 2024. It's aimed primarily at enterprise companies, with features that span monitoring, auditing, optimization, and AI-generated content.

#### Worth noting

AthenaHQ uses a credit-based system (for example, the Self-serve plan includes 3,500 credits per month), wherein one credit is spent each time you take a certain action, like analyzing an AI prompt response for a specific AI model or drafting content.

#### Worth noting

Some users report that Profound is complex and may require a longer learning curve to successfully deploy.

## AEO and GEO features comparison

### AthenaHQ

[✓ **Monitoring**](/content/aeo-tools/monitoring/index.html)

Track how often your brand appears in AI-generated answers across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude, and other LLMs. See share of voice, prompt coverage, and visibility trends over time.

[✓ **Auditing**](/content/aeo-tools/auditing/index.html)

Analyze which pages and content are being cited by AI engines. Identify gaps, see competitor presence, and understand which sources AI models rely on for your industry.

[✓ **Optimization**](/content/aeo-tools/optimization/index.html)

Get actionable recommendations to improve content so it ranks better in AI answers. Align your pages with the prompts that matter and refine structure for LLM-friendly consumption.

✗

#### Content Delivery

Not offered by this vendor.

✗

#### Enterprise Ready

Not offered by this vendor.

[✓ **Enterprise Ready**](/content/aeo-tools/enterprise-ready/index.html)

Built for scale with SSO, team management, API access, and support tailored to larger organizations.

## Customer reviews and success stories

[10x citation rate growth\
\
> GEO became Rootly's #1 growth pillar.\
\
Adam Frank, Head of Marketing — Rootly](https://www.athenahq.ai/case-studies)

[50% increase in demos from AI search\
\
> AthenaHQ helped us understand where citations lead to real business outcomes.\
\
Finn Lobsien, Content Lead — Lago](https://www.athenahq.ai/case-studies)

[Share of Voice: 2.0% to 12.6% in 60 days\
\
> Share of Voice grew from 2.0% to 12.6% in 60 days.\
\
Connor Dault, CMO — Gruns](https://www.athenahq.ai/case-studies)

[800% boost in visibility\
\
> Our growth relies on people finding us. How that was happening was changing dramatically.\
\
Linda Schwaber-Cohen, VP of Marketing — Hone](https://www.tryprofound.com/customers/hone)

[Improved visibility on AI answer engines\
\
> We were looking for a way to track and improve our visibility on AI solutions. Profound has been a game-changer for our AEO and content strategy.\
\
Lilly Schimmelschmidt, Head of SEO — Xero](https://www.tryprofound.com/customers)

[Increased AI brand visibility 7x\
\
> Profound helped us become a top fintech brand in AI search.\
\
Ashley Nguyen, SEO Strategist — Ramp](https://www.tryprofound.com/customers/ramp-case-study)