Best AEO Tools (2026): 7 Ways to Track Your Brand in AI Answers
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AEO tools show you where your brand appears in answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features, where competitors appear instead, and which pages those answers cite.
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: getting your brand named when people ask an AI assistant for advice. You may also see these products called GEO tools or AI visibility trackers. Below are seven of them, with the price of the cheapest plan that includes AI tracking, checked on each vendor's own site.
The short answer
On a small budget, Otterly.ai is the cheapest way in at $29/mo for 15 prompts. If you already pay for an SEO suite, check its AI add-on first: Semrush and SE Ranking both have one. Profound is built for large brands and doesn't publish prices.
Quick picks
| Tool | Best for | Entry price for AI tracking | Prompts |
|---|---|---|---|
 Otterly.ai | Small budgets | $29/mo billed monthly | 15 |
 Writesonic | Tracking plus content to fix the gaps | $79/mo billed annually | 50 |
 Surfer SEO | Writers who already optimize content | $82/mo billed annually | 50 |
 Peec AI | Choosing which AI models to watch | $95/mo billed monthly | 50 |
 Semrush | Teams already using Semrush for SEO | $199/mo billed monthly | 50 |
 SE Ranking | An SEO suite with an AI add-on | $218/mo billed monthly | 200 |
 Profound | Large brands that need many engines | Custom | — |
— means we couldn't find a published prompt limit for that plan.
What an AEO tool actually does
An AEO tool asks AI assistants a fixed list of questions for you, every day or every week, and records the answers. You choose the questions. In these tools they are called prompts, for example “best CRM for a small agency”.
From those answers the tool reports three things:
- Mentions. How often your brand is named, and in what position.
- Citations. Which web pages the answer links to as its sources.
- Competitors. Which rival brands show up for the same questions. Some tools call this share of voice.
Most AEO tools only measure. To improve the numbers you still change your own pages, the same way you would for SEO. A few, like Writesonic and Surfer, also help you write the content.
How we chose
We checked each tool's official pricing and feature pages on October 9, 2026. We haven't tested these tools hands-on yet, so we don't rank them against each other. Each pick says who it suits instead.
The price shown is the cheapest published plan that includes AI visibility tracking. That is sometimes higher than a tool's cheapest plan overall.
What to look for
- Engines covered. Check that the assistants your customers use are included in the plan, not sold as add-ons.
- Prompts and refresh rate. More prompts tracked daily gives a steadier picture than a few prompts checked weekly.
- Citations. Seeing which pages an answer links to tells you what to improve or where to get mentioned.
- Competitors. Share of voice against named rivals is more useful than a single score.
- Price per prompt. Divide the plan price by its prompts to compare plans of different sizes.
Otterly.ai: best for small budgets
Tracks how often your brand and links appear in ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot answers.
- Tracks
- ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot
- Entry plan
- Lite: $29/mo billed monthly
- Prompts
- 15
Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini are paid add-ons. Every plan tracks prompts daily and includes link citation analysis.
Who it's for: Bloggers, small sites and solo marketers who want a first look at their AI visibility without a big bill.
Skip it if: You need Claude or Gemini tracked from day one and don’t want to pay for add-on engines.
Visit Otterly.aiRead the Otterly.ai profile
Source: otterly.ai
Writesonic: best for tracking plus content to fix the gaps
AI writing platform that also offers features for tracking how brands appear in AI answer engines.
- Tracks
- ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews
- Entry plan
- Starter: $79/mo billed annually
- Prompts
- 50
Starter also includes 15 AI-written articles and 10 site audits a month. Sentiment analysis starts on the Growth plan.
Who it's for: Content teams that want to see where they are missing in AI answers and write the pages to fill those gaps in the same tool.
Skip it if: You only want tracking. You would be paying for writing features you won’t use, and sentiment analysis needs the higher Growth plan.
Visit WritesonicRead the Writesonic profile
Source: writesonic.com
Surfer SEO: best for writers who already optimize content
Content optimization tool that compares your draft with top-ranking pages, with AI visibility tracking on higher plans.
- Tracks
- ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews and Gemini
- Entry plan
- AI Search Analytics: $82/mo billed annually
- Prompts
- 50
Prompts refresh daily. Surfer’s cheaper Standard plan tracks 25 prompts weekly, on ChatGPT only, and its Discovery plan has no AI tracking.
Who it's for: Writers and editors who already use Surfer to optimize articles and want AI answers tracked in the same place.
Skip it if: You don’t write or optimize content yourself. A tracking-only tool such as Otterly.ai costs less per month.
Visit Surfer SEORead the Surfer SEO profile
Source: surferseo.com
Peec AI: best for choosing which AI models to watch
AI search analytics that tracks your visibility, position, sentiment and share of voice against competitors across chosen AI models.
- Tracks
- Any 3 of ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI
- Entry plan
- Starter: $95/mo billed monthly
- Prompts
- 50
Tracks visibility, position, sentiment and share of voice against competitors, with unlimited users.
Who it's for: Marketing teams that want to pick exactly which AI models to watch and compare themselves with named competitors.
Skip it if: Your budget is under about $100 a month, or you need more than three engines on the entry plan.
Visit Peec AIRead the Peec AI profile
Source: peec.ai
Semrush: best for teams already using Semrush for SEO
All-in-one SEO platform for keyword research, site audits, rank tracking and competitor analysis, with AI search visibility tracking.
- Tracks
- ChatGPT and Google AI Mode
- Entry plan
- SEO + AI Search Starter: $199/mo billed monthly
- Prompts
- 50
$165.17/mo if billed annually. The price includes Semrush’s full SEO toolkit, so it isn’t a like-for-like comparison with tracking-only tools.
Who it's for: Teams that already run keyword research, audits and rank tracking in Semrush and want AI visibility in the same account.
Skip it if: You don’t need a full SEO suite. You would be paying for keyword and audit tools on top of AI tracking.
Visit SemrushRead the Semrush profile
Source: semrush.com, semrush.com
SE Ranking: best for an SEO suite with an AI add-on
SEO platform for rank tracking, site audits and keyword research, with an AI Search add-on for tracking visibility in AI answers.
- Tracks
- Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and ChatGPT
- Entry plan
- Core plan + AI Search add-on: $218/mo billed monthly
- Prompts
- 200
$129/mo for Core plus $89/mo for the AI Search add-on ($174.40/mo together if billed annually). The add-on lists 200 prompts and AI result tracking on those four engines. Core on its own lists 100 prompts tracked daily for its GEO research features.
Who it's for: SE Ranking customers, or anyone who wants rank tracking and site audits with AI search tracking in the same account.
Skip it if: You only want AI tracking. Core’s keyword and audit tools make up most of the price.
Visit SE RankingRead the SE Ranking profile
Source: seranking.com, seranking.com
Profound: best for large brands that need many engines
AI visibility platform aimed at larger brands, tracking answers across up to 9 AI engines on its Enterprise plan.
- Tracks
- Up to 9 engines on Enterprise, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot
- Entry plan
- Enterprise: Custom
- Prompts
- No published limit found
Prices aren’t published. A free 7-day trial covers 50 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
Who it's for: Large brands that need many AI engines tracked and are used to buying software through a sales call.
Skip it if: You want a published price, or you are a small business. Start with a self-serve tool instead.
Visit ProfoundRead the Profound profile
Source: tryprofound.com
Side-by-side: price per tracked prompt
Plans bill differently and include different extras, so treat this as a rough guide, not a ranking.
| Tool | Plan | Price | Prompts | Per prompt |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SE Ranking | Core plan + AI Search add-on | $218/mo billed monthly | 200 | $1.09 |
| Writesonic | Starter | $79/mo billed annually | 50 | $1.58 |
| Surfer SEO | AI Search Analytics | $82/mo billed annually | 50 | $1.64 |
| Peec AI | Starter | $95/mo billed monthly | 50 | $1.90 |
| Otterly.ai | Lite | $29/mo billed monthly | 15 | $1.93 |
| Semrush | SEO + AI Search Starter | $199/mo billed monthly | 50 | $3.98 |
Left out: Profound, which doesn't publish prices. SE Ranking's figure combines Core and the AI Search add-on.
How to choose the right AEO tool for you
Start from what you already pay for and how many questions you need to watch. This table is our suggestion based on the published plans above, not on hands-on testing.
| If you are… | Start with | Why |
|---|---|---|
| A blogger or small site testing the idea | Otterly.ai Lite | Lowest published price with daily tracking ($29/mo for 15 prompts) |
| A content team that writes a lot | Writesonic or Surfer SEO | Tracking and writing help in one tool |
| Already paying for an SEO suite | The AI add-on of Semrush or SE Ranking | One login, one bill, data next to your rankings |
| A marketing team watching named rivals | Peec AI | You pick the engines; share of voice and unlimited users on Starter |
| A large brand with a procurement process | Profound | Up to 9 engines on Enterprise; free 7-day trial |
Try it free for a week first
- Write down 10 questions a customer might ask an AI assistant before buying from you.
- Ask each one in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and note which brands and links appear.
- Repeat a week later. If the answers move and you want to track more questions, a paid tool will save you time.
Want to compare these tools with the rest of the category? See all AI SEO & AEO tools, listed A–Z with prices.
FAQ
What is AEO?
AEO, or answer engine optimization, is the work of getting your brand mentioned and linked in answers from AI assistants such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI Overviews. It overlaps heavily with SEO, because these assistants still draw on pages they can find and trust.
Are AEO and GEO the same thing?
Close enough for buying a tool. GEO, or generative engine optimization, is another name for the same goal: showing up in answers written by AI. Vendors use AEO, GEO, “AI visibility” and “AI search analytics” for the same kind of product, so compare features, not labels.
Do I need a paid AEO tool?
Not to start. You can ask the main assistants the questions your customers ask and note who gets mentioned. A paid tool earns its cost when you need to track many prompts every day, across several engines, and against named competitors.
How much do AEO tools cost?
On October 9, 2026, the cheapest published plan with AI tracking in this guide was Otterly.ai Lite at $29/mo. The other published entry plans ranged from $79 to $218 a month, and Profound doesn’t publish prices. Taxes, extra seats, add-on engines and extra prompts can raise the total, so check the vendor’s page before you buy.
Why don’t my AEO tool’s results match what I see in ChatGPT?
AI answers change with the exact wording of the question, the date, the location and whether the assistant searches the web. A tool asks a fixed set of prompts on a schedule and reports what it saw, so treat its numbers as a trend over time, not a copy of any one chat.
How many prompts should I track?
Our suggestion: start with the 15 to 50 questions that come closest to a buying decision in your niche, such as “best tool for X” or “X vs Y”. Add more once you know which ones move.
Sources
All pages checked October 9, 2026.