The Best AEO Tools for 2026: How to Track Your AI Search Visibility

You already know that Answer Engine Optimization matters. Your potential customers are asking ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity for product recommendations — and those AI engines are either mentioning your brand or mentioning your competitors.

But here's the problem: you can't improve what you can't measure. Manually querying each AI engine, copying responses into a spreadsheet, and trying to spot patterns? That doesn't scale. You need a tool built for the job.

The AEO tools market has exploded in the past year. Some tools are excellent. Others are expensive dashboards that tell you what you already know. This guide breaks down the options honestly — what each tool actually does, what it costs, and which one fits your situation.

Why You Need an AEO Tool (Not Just Manual Queries)

Before we get into the tools, let's address the DIY approach. Some marketers think they can just open ChatGPT, type a few prompts, and see if their brand shows up. Here's why that doesn't work:

AI responses vary constantly. The same prompt can produce different answers based on session context, timing, and model version. A single query is a snapshot, not a strategy.

You need multi-engine coverage. Your brand might dominate on ChatGPT but be invisible on Gemini. Engine-specific gaps are real — and you'll only catch them with systematic cross-engine monitoring.

Competitor intelligence requires volume. Understanding why a competitor appears in AI responses while you don't takes analysis across dozens of prompts and multiple engines. No human can do this consistently at scale.

Trends matter more than snapshots. Is your AI visibility improving or declining month-over-month? You need historical data and trend tracking — not a one-time check.

What to Look For in an AEO Tool

Not all AEO tools are created equal. Here's what separates the useful ones from the noise:

Multi-engine coverage. Any tool that only tracks ChatGPT is giving you a partial picture. At minimum, look for coverage across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, and Perplexity. Claude and Copilot coverage is a bonus.

Real-time queries, not cached data. The best tools run live queries against AI engines. Tools that rely on cached or pre-generated datasets will show you stale results.

Competitor intelligence. It's not enough to know your own visibility. You need to see who the AI recommends instead of you — and why.

Actionable recommendations. Raw data is table stakes. The tools worth paying for tell you what to do about it: which content to create, which engines to focus on, and what your competitors are doing differently.

Reasonable pricing for what you get. AEO is a new category, and some vendors are charging enterprise prices for basic monitoring. Know what you're getting before you commit.

The Best AEO Tools for 2026

1. AEO Scanner (runaeo.com)

Best for: Quick, free baseline scans and competitive intelligence with no signup friction

AEO Scanner takes a different approach than most tools on this list. Instead of monthly monitoring dashboards, it delivers a deep, on-demand scan of your brand across multiple AI engines — with a focus on competitive intelligence.

What it does:

• Runs 25 industry-specific prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini
• Generates a visibility score (0-100), mention rate, recommendation strength, and sentiment analysis
• Maps your competitive landscape: which brands get mentioned alongside yours, how often, and in what context
• Provides a "why" analysis — not just whether AI mentions you, but why it recommends competitors over you
• Delivers engine-specific breakdowns so you can spot gaps (e.g., strong on Claude, invisible on Gemini)

Pricing: Free tier with no signup required. Premium tiers for recurring scans and deeper analysis.

Engines covered: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini

Standout feature: The competitor "why" analysis. Most tools tell you that competitors outrank you. AEO Scanner explains what they're doing differently in terms of content strategy, brand positioning, and authority signals.

Limitations: Currently focused on on-demand scanning rather than daily automated monitoring. Three engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini) versus some tools that also cover Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews.

Best use case: You want a fast, free baseline of your AI visibility before committing to a monthly tool. Or you want competitive intelligence that goes deeper than simple mention tracking.

Try AEO Scanner free — no signup required

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2. HubSpot AEO Grader

Best for: Free, unlimited brand analysis with competitive positioning

HubSpot entered the AEO space aggressively with their AEO Grader — and their strategy is clear: give it away free to drive HubSpot platform adoption. The result is a genuinely useful free tool.

What it does:

• Runs queries across ChatGPT (GPT-4o), Perplexity, and Gemini
• Generates a 0-100 visibility score with platform-specific breakdowns
• Categorizes your brand as Leader, Challenger, or Niche Player based on AI positioning
• Measures share of voice against competitors
• Provides sentiment analysis and optimization recommendations

Pricing: 100% free. No usage limits, no credit card, no paid upgrades required. Unlimited reports.

Engines covered: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini

Standout feature: The market position assessment. Getting categorized as Leader/Challenger/Niche Player — with data behind it — is immediately actionable for marketing teams building their AI strategy.

Limitations: It's a HubSpot lead-gen tool at heart. The recommendations tend to steer you toward HubSpot's content platform. The competitive analysis is broad but doesn't go deep on the "why" behind competitor visibility. No Claude coverage.

Best use case: You want free, unlimited monitoring and you're comfortable with HubSpot's ecosystem. Great for SMBs who need a no-cost starting point.

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3. Otterly.ai

Best for: Ongoing daily monitoring with prompt-level tracking across 6 engines

Otterly focuses on one thing and does it well: daily automated monitoring of your AI visibility across a broad set of engines. If your priority is tracking trends over time rather than one-time analysis, Otterly is a strong choice.

What it does:

• Monitors your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode
• Runs daily automated checks on your configured prompts
• Tracks your Brand Visibility Index over time
• Provides citation tracking — which of your URLs are being cited in AI responses
• Offers AI keyword research to turn your keywords into prompts your audience actually uses

Pricing: Lite plan at $29/month (15 prompts). Standard at $189/month (100 prompts). Premium at $489/month (400 prompts). 14-day free trial, no credit card.

Engines covered: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode (6 engines — broadest coverage on this list)

Standout feature: The breadth of engine coverage. Six platforms including both Google AI Overviews and AI Mode gives you the most complete picture of your AI search visibility available today.

Limitations: Prompt limits feel restrictive on lower tiers. The Lite plan's 15 prompts isn't enough for serious competitive monitoring. You'll likely need the Standard plan at minimum. Brand-level dashboards are solid but the optimization recommendations aren't as deep as some competitors.

Best use case: You want daily trend tracking across the widest range of AI engines and you're willing to invest in ongoing monitoring. Particularly strong for teams focused on Google AI Overviews alongside chat-based AI.

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4. Scrunch AI

Best for: Mid-market B2B teams who want competitive benchmarking with bot traffic analysis

Scrunch positions itself as an "AI Customer Experience Platform" — which is a broader scope than pure AEO monitoring. Their competitive benchmarking is solid, and the bot traffic analysis feature is genuinely differentiated.

What it does:

• Tracks AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, and Meta AI (7 engines)
• Provides competitive analysis by persona, topic, and geography
• Monitors AI bot crawler traffic to your website via GA4 integration
• Offers an Agent Experience Platform (AXP) that optimizes content specifically for AI crawlers
• Identifies visibility gaps and content opportunities

Pricing: Starts at $300/month (350 prompts, 3 personas). Pro plan at $500/month. Enterprise custom pricing. Annual billing saves ~17%.

Engines covered: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Meta AI (7 engines)

Standout feature: AI bot traffic analysis. Knowing which AI crawlers are visiting your site, how often, and which pages they're reading is intelligence nobody else offers at this level. The AXP layer — serving optimized content to AI crawlers without changing your human-facing pages — is an innovative approach.

Limitations: Premium pricing puts it out of reach for small teams. The "Insights" feature is still in beta and lags behind competitors. The $300/month starting price is a big commitment for teams who aren't sure if AEO matters for them yet.

Best use case: Mid-market B2B SaaS teams who already know AEO is important and want competitive benchmarking plus the unique bot traffic analysis. Worth the premium if you're serious about understanding how AI platforms crawl your content.

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5. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit

Best for: SEO teams who want to add AI visibility to their existing Semrush workflow

If your team already lives in Semrush for SEO, adding AI visibility tracking without switching tools is appealing. The AI Visibility Toolkit brings AEO monitoring into the Semrush interface you already know.

What it does:

• Tracks brand mentions, sentiment, and visibility across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode
• Benchmarks your AI visibility against competitors
• Discovers new prompts and topics to target for AI visibility
• Provides daily visibility tracking for your configured prompts
• Integrates with Semrush's existing SEO data for a unified view

Pricing: Standalone AI Visibility Toolkit at $99/month (1 domain, 25 prompts). Additional domains $99 each. 50 more prompts for $60/month. Semrush One bundles (SEO + AI) start at $199/month. No free trial for the standalone toolkit; Semrush One offers a 14-day trial.

Engines covered: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode. Gemini coming soon.

Standout feature: The unified SEO + AEO view. If you're already paying for Semrush, you can see traditional search rankings alongside AI visibility in one dashboard. That cross-channel perspective is valuable for understanding the full picture.

Limitations: Engine coverage is narrow — only 3 platforms right now, missing Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, and Copilot. The standalone plan's 25-prompt limit is extremely restrictive, and adding more prompts gets expensive fast. The tool is clearly designed as an add-on to Semrush, not as a standalone AEO solution.

Best use case: You're already a Semrush customer and want to add AI visibility tracking without adopting another tool. Not recommended as a standalone AEO solution — the prompt limits and engine coverage don't justify $99/month on their own.

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6. Profound

Best for: Enterprise teams who need comprehensive AEO infrastructure across 10+ engines

Profound is the most ambitious platform on this list. Backed by $35M in Series B funding from Sequoia Capital, they're building end-to-end AEO infrastructure — not just monitoring, but content creation, publishing, and optimization.

What it does:

• Monitors AI visibility across 10+ engines (the broadest coverage available)
• Provides prompt volume data from 1.5 billion real user conversations — so you know which prompts matter most
• Offers AI-powered agents that draft articles, content briefs, and landing pages based on visibility gaps
• Tracks citations — which specific URLs are being cited in AI responses
• Monitors AI bot traffic with agent analytics

Pricing: Starter at $99/month (ChatGPT only — limited). Growth at $399/month (full feature set). Enterprise custom pricing. This is the premium end of the market.

Engines covered: 10+ AI platforms including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, and more.

Standout feature: The prompt volume dataset. With 1.5 billion real conversations analyzed, Profound can tell you which prompts are actually being asked by users — and how often. This lets you prioritize the prompts that drive the most real-world discovery, not just the ones you think matter.

Limitations: Expensive. The Starter plan at $99/month only covers ChatGPT, making it essentially a trial tier. Real value requires the Growth plan at $399/month. The AI content agents are a nice idea but add complexity. For teams that just want monitoring, it's overkill.

Best use case: Enterprise teams with a dedicated content or AEO budget who want a platform that doesn't just track visibility but actively helps improve it. The prompt volume data alone might justify the cost for large brands.

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Comparison Table

| Tool | Starting Price | Free Tier | Engines | Prompts (Base) | Competitor Intel | Daily Monitoring | Best For | |------|---------------|-----------|---------|----------------|-----------------|-----------------|----------| | AEO Scanner | Free | Yes (no signup) | 3 | 25 per scan | Deep "why" analysis | On-demand | Free baseline + competitive intelligence | | HubSpot AEO Grader | Free | Unlimited | 3 | Unlimited | Share of voice | On-demand | Free, unlimited brand checks | | Otterly.ai | $29/mo | 14-day trial | 6 | 15 (Lite) | Basic | Daily | Broadest engine coverage + trend tracking | | Scrunch AI | $300/mo | No | 7 | 350 | By persona/geo | Daily | Bot traffic analysis + mid-market B2B | | Semrush AI Toolkit | $99/mo | No (trial w/ One) | 3 | 25 | Yes | Daily | Existing Semrush customers | | Profound | $99/mo* | No | 10+ | Varies | Citations + agents | Daily | Enterprise teams with budget |

*Profound's $99/month Starter covers ChatGPT only. Full platform starts at $399/month.

Which Tool Should You Use?

This depends less on which tool is "best" and more on where you are in your AEO journey:

"I'm not even sure AEO matters for my brand yet"

Start with: AEO Scanner (free, no signup) or HubSpot AEO Grader (free, unlimited). Run a scan, see your score, and decide if the data warrants further investment. Takes 2 minutes.

"I know AEO matters and I want to track it monthly"

Go with: Otterly.ai (Standard plan). The 6-engine coverage and daily monitoring give you the most complete picture for the price. Pair it with quarterly deep scans from AEO Scanner for competitive intelligence.

"We're already paying for Semrush"

Add: Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit. The unified SEO + AEO view saves context-switching. But supplement with another tool for broader engine coverage — Semrush's 3-engine limitation is a real gap.

"We have a serious AEO budget and want the most data"

Consider: Profound (Growth plan) for the prompt volume data and content agents, or Scrunch AI for bot traffic analysis and competitive benchmarking by persona. At this tier, the tool you choose matters less than having a clear strategy for acting on the data.

"I want the best competitive intelligence"

Use: AEO Scanner. The competitor "why" analysis — explaining not just who outranks you but what content strategies and positioning choices drive their AI visibility — is the deepest competitive intelligence in the category.

The Bottom Line

The AEO tools market in 2026 is where SEO tools were in 2012: rapidly growing, not yet consolidated, and full of both genuine innovation and expensive noise. The good news is that the free options (AEO Scanner and HubSpot AEO Grader) are genuinely useful — you don't need to spend $300/month to get started.

Whatever tool you choose, the most important step is the first one: actually measuring your AI visibility. Most brands don't know their score. The ones that do are already optimizing. The gap between the two groups is widening every month.

Your move: Run your first scan free at runaeo.com — no signup required, results in 2 minutes. See exactly where you stand before choosing a long-term tool.

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Keep Reading

• What is AEO? Answer Engine Optimization Explained — Understand the landscape these tools are built for.
• How to Improve Your AI Visibility Score — What to do with the data once you have it.
• AI Visibility Leaderboard 2026 — See which brands are winning in AI search right now.