Profound: Brand visibility for the generative internet

We are in the midst of a fundamental shift in how people interact with brands. For the first time, consumers aren’t just searching for products, they’re having conversations with AI to help make purchasing decisions. AI has become the answer engine powering decision-making, and in the near future will be able to anticipate consumer needs and act on their behalf.

This shift is seismic and rapid. ChatGPT recently crossed one billion weekly active users, many of whom now begin product research with an AI assistant instead of a search engine. But most brands lack both the visibility into what these AI assistants are saying about them and the tools to influence it. 

This is where Profound comes in. Profound is building the platform that helps brands understand and control how they show up across the generative Internet. We first met co-founders James Cadwallader and Dylan Babbs when Profound was still in education mode, helping brands wrap their heads around what was coming. In a very short time, they’ve built a product that gives marketing teams real data driven understanding and control over how their brands engage with the agentic internet. Today, some Profound customers are seeing AI answer engines like ChatGPT drive 15% of referral traffic, with double-digit growth each month. The Profound platform is processing more than 100 million AI search queries a month, supporting users across 18 countries and six languages, with early adopters including Indeed, MongoDB, and Ramp.

As we head toward a future where brands could speak directly to a customer’s AI, every marketer will need a platform to support how AI perceives their brand. We’re excited to lead Profound’s Series A and partner with them to help consumers and brands connect in the age of the generative Internet.

—Ilya