FAQ

Where does the Prompt Volumes data come from?

Profound licenses data from well-known, established double opt-in consumer panel providers. These panels consist of millions of active AI assistant users who have opted in to have their behavior tracked and anonymized. Profound receives tens of millions of real prompts each month from these panels, cleans the data, applies probabilistic modeling to correct for demographic and geographic biases, and produces the insights visible in the platform.

All data is fully compliant with CCPA and GDPR, and Profound also applies additional anonymization and aggregation on top of vendor-level protections.

Do you use synthetic or simulated data in the dataset?

No. Every prompt in the dataset comes from real users interacting with AI answer engines. Synthetic or simulated data is not used at any point.

How fresh is the data?

Prompt volume data is updated on a rolling weekly basis, with a data latency of less than two weeks. This means the trends you see in Prompt Volumes reflect near-current conversations.

How far back does the data go?

This depends on your region and the platform in question. Generally, for the US it's January 2025, and for all other regions Profound currently tracks, it's July 2025.

To learn more about data coverage, see the Historical data section in 📄 About Prompt Volumesarticle.

Which AI platforms are included?

In the US, ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity data is available. In other regions, coverage may vary by country. Get in touch with your Profound representative to learn more about what's available to you.

Additional platforms are in scope for future expansion.

Why does the data primarily show ChatGPT usage?

ChatGPT data may appear to dominate for earlier date ranges because Profound launched Prompt Volumes initially with ChatGPT only in the US, then expanded to other answer engines as panel coverage grew. For more recent date ranges, data is available across all platforms.

Are all regions covered?

No. Coverage is strongest in the US, UK, and select European markets. 

Can I see rising topics and trends over time?

Yes. The Prompt Volumes chart shows how keyword volume changes over time so you can spot rising topics and seasonal shifts. The Keyword Hierarchy tab shows how a topic expands into related terms, and the Similar Keywords table surfaces adjacent terms that commonly appear alongside your keyword. Profound's Opportunities feature (currently in early access) also runs weekly comparisons of prompt volume snapshots to automatically flag meaningful changes and surface them as actionable opportunities.

Where do tracked prompts come from?

You create them yourself, either manually or with AI-assisted suggestions based on your brand and topics. Prompt Volumes helps you write better prompts by showing you the actual language real users are submitting to AI engines in your category, so your tracked prompts reflect genuine market language.

Why aren't my keyword phrase searches returning results?

Prompt Volumes match keywords across AI conversations, so volume scales inversely with specificity: single words return the broadest results, while full sentences return very few. The sweet spot is typically 2–4 words that capture the core intent. Use Keyword Hierarchy and Similar Keywords to find related terms and drill into subcategories.

What's the difference between Prompt Volumes and the Prompts table in Answer Engine Insights?

The Prompts table in Answer Engine Insights shows the specific prompts you're actively tracking and how your brand performs against them. Prompt Volumes shows the full landscape of what users are asking AI about any topic, including questions you haven't started tracking yet. Use Prompt Volumes to decide what goes into your Prompts table.