Cleversearch vs. Profound
Research Tool vs. AI Visibility Platform
TL;DR
Profound
AI research assistant that helps teams find and synthesize information
Cleversearch
AI visibility platform that helps your brand be seen, understood, and cited by ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity
Use Profound to research faster • Use Cleversearch to become the source AI engines quote
Quick Definitions
Understanding the key concepts behind modern AI visibility and optimization
Answer Engine Optimization
Optimizing content to be included and cited inside AI-generated answers
Generative Engine Optimization
Ensuring AI crawlers can access your site and models can trust it (metadata, schema, provenance)
Large Language Model Optimization
Making content machine-understandable (entities, sameAs, consistent facts)
Zero-click Engine Optimization
Staying visible without a click (AI Overviews, featured snippets, branded mentions)
Profound accelerates human research: ask complex questions, get summarized, source-backed answers, compare viewpoints, and brief a team quickly. It improves how your team consumes information — it does not change how AI engines perceive or cite your site.
Great for:
- Analysts who need fast synthesis and competitive/context scans
- Marketers who need fast synthesis and competitive/context scans
- Product Managers who need fast synthesis and competitive/context scans
Cleversearch is the GEO/AEO layer for your website. It ensures AI engines can see you, understand you, and cite you.
AI Crawler Accessibility Check
Verify visibility to GPTBot, Gemini and others; fix robots, rendering, auth, and sitemap issues
Citation & Inclusion Tracking
Measure where you appear in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity answers; monitor changes as models update
Structured Data & Entity Builder
Ship JSON-LD schema, meta tags and canonical fact blocks, sameAs links, and provenance (author/date)
Answer-Ready Guidance
Turn long articles into concise, citable answer units with sources, dates, and stable URLs
Great for:
Growth/SEO leaders who need AI discoverability and measurable citations
Side-by-side
A clear comparison of capabilities and focus areas
| Feature | Profound | Cleversearch |
|---|---|---|
| Primary job | Help people find answers | Help your brand be the answer |
| Core user | Researchers, marketers, PMs | Marketing + web teams |
| Optimizes | Human workflows | AI crawler access, structure, and citations |
| Outputs | Summaries, links, insights | Fixes & telemetry: accessibility, schema, inclusion & citation metrics |
| Success metric | Faster research | Inclusion rate, citation share, model coverage |
Why this matters now
AI search collapses “ten blue links” into one synthesized answer. If ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity can't access, parse, and trust your content, you vanish — even with strong traditional SEO.
Crawlers & access
OpenAI's GPTBot and Google's Gemini/GSC-linked crawlers need permission and renderability
Structure
Schema/JSON-LD, canonical tags, and entity links make your content machine-readable
Answer format
Short, verifiable claims + sources get quoted
Helpful resources
Learn more about AI crawlers and search optimization
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1: How is AEO different from GEO?
AEO targets answer inclusion and citations inside AI responses. GEO ensures AI crawlers can access your pages and that your content is structured and credible so inclusion is possible.
Q2: What metrics prove this works?
Track Inclusion Rate (appearance in answers), Citation Share (attributed sources per 100 answers), and Model Coverage (ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity).
Q3: Do we need schema if we already have great content?
Yes. Schema, canonical facts, sameAs, and author/date metadata make your content machine-legible — a prerequisite for trust and citation.
Q4: Can we run Profound and Cleversearch together?
Absolutely. Profound helps you consume the web; Cleversearch helps AI consume your site.