{"citations":{"source_mix":{"company_owned":11,"independent":39,"unclear":0},"sources_referenced_by_questions":0,"support_mix":{"direct":41,"partial":9},"total_sources":50,"unique_domain_count":35},"claims":[{"claim_id":"claim-001","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-09-18","platform_support":["anthropic","deepseek","google","grok","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"predicate":"platforms_analyzed","qualifier":"valid included platform responses","subject":"Best AI Search Audits Before Hiring a GEO Agency","unit":"platforms","value":7},{"claim_id":"claim-002","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-09-18","platform_support":["deepseek","openai"],"predicate":"final_consensus_rank","qualifier":"AI Search Audits Before Hiring a GEO Agency","subject":"Profound","unit":"rank","value":1},{"claim_id":"claim-003","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-09-18","platform_support":["deepseek","openai"],"predicate":"platform_mentions","qualifier":"out of 7","subject":"Profound","unit":"platforms","value":2},{"claim_id":"claim-004","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-09-18","platform_support":["google"],"predicate":"fit_rating_count","qualifier":"strong","subject":"Profound","unit":"platforms","value":1},{"claim_id":"claim-005","confidence":"verified","observed_at":"2026-09-18","platform_support":["openai","anthropic","deepseek","grok","perplexity","kimi"],"predicate":"fit_rating_count","qualifier":"good","subject":"Profound","unit":"platforms","value":6}],"content_scope":"aggregated facts, computed metrics, and retrieval summaries","entities":[{"average_rank":2,"best_rank":1,"entity_id":"entity-001","entity_type":"company","final_rank":1,"name":"Profound","platform_mentions":2,"platform_share":0.2857142857142857}],"identity":{"dataset_url":"https://aimarketingconsensusindex.com/datasets/ai-search-audits-market-intelligence/before-hiring-geo-agency/profound.json","page_url":"https://aimarketingconsensusindex.com/ai-search-audits-market-intelligence/before-hiring-geo-agency/profound","report_type":"fit_review","study_id":"AIMCI-STUDY-62B81E791D36","title":"Profound for AI Search Audits Before Hiring a GEO Agency: AI Consensus Fit Review"},"limitations":["Use the run researchdate as the study date. Platform-reported dates are provenance metadata and do not independently prove freshness.","All included platforms evaluated fit, but platformmentions counts only platforms that named the entity during ranking discovery.","Do not resolve conflicting product names, pricing, or capabilities by guessing; describe the conflict and tell buyers what to verify.","The supplied URLs were collected from platform responses and were not independently validated by the writer stage.","Platform-reported research dates differ from the authoritative run date; disclose this as a methodology limitation.","The deterministic identity audit contains qualification notes that must be disclosed where relevant.","Citations are platform-reported evidence, not independently verified facts. No-search model claims require explicit verification before being described as current facts."],"methodology":{"fit_rating_contract":["strong","good","mixed","weak","uncertain"],"included_valid_platform_count":7,"maximum_finalists":10,"minimum_mentions":2,"name":"AI Marketing Consensus Index cross-platform AI consensus analysis","platforms_included":["anthropic","deepseek","google","grok","kimi","openai","perplexity"],"platforms_queried":["openai","anthropic","deepseek","grok","perplexity","kimi","google"],"stages":["ranking_discovery","fit_assessment","normalization","editorial_synthesis"],"version":"alias-table-1"},"provenance":{"generated_at":"2026-09-18 12:46:20.072735+00","research_date":"2026-09-18","source_snapshot_sha256":"64e6232f557bb8d1f79b0b3f8d155b0d57a89dfdc36d4d4082e132a7f1443fe5","verification_scope":"public_verification"},"ranking":{"candidates_evaluated":52,"qualified_finalists":7,"ranking_unit":"Audit company, audit service, or advisory provider"},"schema_version":4,"summary":"Profound is a good fit for companies that need a documented, multi-engine baseline of AI search visibility before signing a GEO agency contract. Two of the seven platforms in this study named Profound during the ranking stage, and both placed it in the top three (average listed rank 2.0; best rank 1). Its strongest advantage is that it measures the exact factors a pre-agency audit requires: visibility, competitor share of voice, cited sources, and citation gaps. The main limitation is cost and commitment structure: the useful multi-engine baseline generally requires the Growth tier or…","target_buyer":"Companies evaluating GEO agencies that want a baseline AI search audit before signing a contract","topic":{"base_category":"AI search audits and market intelligence","category_criteria":["Measure current AI recommendation visibility","citations","competitor performance","high-value prompts","citation architecture","and source gaps so it can evaluate future agency performance against a documented starting point"],"geography":"United States","slug":"best-ai-search-audits-before-hiring-a-geo-agency","title":"Best AI Search Audits Before Hiring a GEO Agency","use_case":"AI Search Audits Before Hiring a GEO Agency"}}