From what I can tell, plan and profile annotation groups are set in the base geometry file's feature symbology settings. My problem is, I have other exhibits that use the same alignment but I want to use a different annotation group for the plan and profile. Is there a way to use a different annotation group in an exhibit file when referencing in my base geometry file?
Not that I consider this a solution, but we're including all of the alternatives in a single annotation group. The various alternatives are placed on different levels, so are selected by turning the appropriate levels on or off. For instance our most common plan sheet scale is 1"=100' and a very common detail scale is 1"=10'. Our annotation group places one set of annotations on the inch100 level(s) and another set on the inch10 level(s). It's kind of a crude workaround but it gets the job done.
This method is the way that I have went, with the creation of levels for the various types of annotation, biggest drawback is that if you do not have all the different styles set-up initially and then go back and add one, when you open a different drawing set there is all of a sudden an additional annotation set that needs to be turned off on every sheet. Or the first time you annotate an alignment the screen is flooded with multiple annotations.