Profound is an NYC-based AI startup helping brands measure and improve their visibility in AI platforms such as ChatGPT. We partner with some of the biggest brands and marketing agencies, including companies like MongoDB, Indeed, Mercury, DocuSign, Zapier, Ramp, Rho, Golin, Workable, Mejuri, Eight Sleep, G2, US Bank, Chime, and Clay.
We recently raised a $35 million Series B funding round led by Sequoia Capital, with continued backing from venture capital firms Kleiner Perkins, Khosla Ventures, Saga VC, and South Park Commons, as well as angel investors including Guillermo Rauch (Vercel) and Andrew Karam (Applovin).
Learn more at tryprofound.com.
Profound is on a mission to help companies understand and control their AI presence. As a Research Associate, you will develop a deep understanding of how people use AI to search, evaluate products, and make decisions. You will transform real user conversations and AI model outputs into high quality research that guides product direction, supports client strategy, and informs how the world adapts to AI powered experiences.
What You Will DoConduct rigorous analysis to uncover how users interact with AI across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and emerging AI interfaces
Identify behavioral shifts, usage patterns, and platform changes before they become visible to the broader market
Translate complex datasets and model behavior into clear insights and research artifacts
Engage with media, industry experts, and academia to share evidence grounded findings and educate the market
Support and influence the AI strategy of the world’s most sophisticated brands through compelling analysis and insights
Collaborate with product and research teams on frameworks, metrics, and findings that advance our understanding of AI powered search and shopping
Ensure rigorous research methodology including clear hypothesis framing, robust validation and sensitivity checks, defensible assumptions, well-documented workflows, and reproducibility of results
Experience conducting analytical or research driven work in industry or academia
Proficiency in SQL and R or Python for data exploration and modeling
Ability to communicate insights clearly to both technical and executive audiences
Strong pattern recognition and structured thinking
Ownership mindset with a commitment to quality and accuracy
Preferred
Background in economics, analytics, strategy, public policy, or data driven fields
2+ years of experience in consulting, market research, competitive intelligence, or applied research
Understanding of search systems or LLM behavior including how information is surfaced, ranked, or cited
Client facing experience with strong storytelling skills
Access to rare and unmatched datasets on real AI usage and how models source and surface information
Opportunities to produce research and frameworks that define how organizations adapt to AI
Direct exposure to how leading global companies are transforming their digital strategy for the AI era
Close collaboration with experienced researchers and product leaders
A fast paced, high trust environment where impactful work is recognized quickly
Competitive compensation and meaningful equity in a rapidly growing company
Top Skills
What We Do
Hundreds of millions of consumers are now using AI Search like ChatGPT or Perplexity to discover brands and products.
Profound has developed the first analytics platform to help enterprise brands understand and improve how they show up in AI Search.
