#USA #New York #Kleiner Perkins #Profound #AI Visibility

Profound Secures $20 Million to Transform AI Responses for Marketers

In a bold move to enhance brand strategies in the rapidly evolving digital landscape, Profound recently announced a successful $20 million Series A funding round, led by Kleiner Perkins. Notable investment came from a coalition of high-profile venture firms, including NVentures, Khosla Ventures, and Saga VC, alongside contributions from influential angel investors such as Guillermo Rauch, Andrew Karam, and Kevin Wang.

The funding is a pivotal milestone for Profound, which has positioned itself as a critical platform for marketers seeking to navigate the new world dominated by artificial intelligence (AI) and zero-click searches. As AI continues to permeate consumer behavior, traditional digital marketing methods are becoming obsolete, making way for innovative solutions that can manage AI interactions effectively.

The Growing Importance of AI in Marketing

AI tools and platforms have rapidly transitioned from niche technologies to mainstream essentials. Recent data shows that ChatGPT alone has surpassed one billion weekly active users, with over 60% of consumers initiating product research through AI rather than conventional search engines.

Yet, many brands lack insights into how these AI assistants portray their products. James Cadwallader, Co-founder and CEO of Profound, articulated the paradigm shift, stating, "In a zero-click world, the conversation between consumers and an AI agent is the new first impression." Understanding and controlling this narrative is crucial for success in modern marketing.

Unveiling the Profound Platform

Profound's platform is uniquely designed to grant marketers visibility within the burgeoning AI landscape. Key features include:

• - Answer Engine Insights: This function analyzes how chatbots represent a brand or product, providing proactive feedback for marketers.
• - Agent Analytics: It sheds light on how AI bots interpret website content.
• - Conversation Explorer: This tool identifies trending topics within AI searches, giving brands a competitive edge in real-time.
• - Agents: Utilizing advanced reasoning models, it delivers actionable insights tailored for marketing strategies.

Profound processes an impressive 100 million AI search queries monthly and has established a robust user base across 18 countries and six languages. Companies like Indeed and MongoDB rely on Profound for automated insights into customer interactions.

Launch of Profound Lite

In conjunction with the funding announcement, Profound is unveiling Profound Lite, a self-service model priced at $499 monthly. This venture aims to democratize access to AI visibility tools, empowering startups and small businesses to harness the advantages of this emerging technology.

Cadwallader commented on this shift, "AI Visibility has transitioned from a concern exclusive to Fortune 500 companies to an essential requirement for every brand. Profound Lite enables even startups with limited resources to influence how AI agents communicate about them. By 2026, AI Visibility will dominate the marketing landscape, and Profound will lead the charge."

Investor Confidence and Future Growth

The new capital infusion will allow Profound to expand its engineering and data science teams in New York, enhancing its ability to adapt to emerging AI platforms and accelerating innovative product development. Ilya Fushman from Kleiner Perkins expressed confidence in Profound's potential, remarking, "Profound is the clear leader in a category that will define modern marketing. As the web evolves from static pages to dynamic AI answers, Profound is establishing the crucial infrastructure that every brand will need."

About Profound

Profound stands at the forefront of AI visibility, assisting brands in comprehending, improving, and quantifying their presence in AI-powered search results. With a team comprised of alumni from renowned companies like AMD, Microsoft, and OpenAI, Profound equips marketers for success in a future where AI agents, rather than traditional blue links, dictate online discovery. For more information, visit www.tryprofound.com.

As the digital marketing landscape transforms, the need for sophisticated tools to manage AI interactions will only increase. Profound's innovative approach to AI visibility positions it as a vital resource for brands seeking to thrive in an agent-driven internet environment.