AEO / AI Search Visibility Monitoring: Market & Pricing Review
Last updated: May 24, 2026 (refresh of a March 3, 2026 baseline) Purpose: Survey the AEO / AI search visibility monitoring market — what the tools do, how they collect data, and what they cost. Covers ~30 platforms across budget, mid-market, enterprise, and managed-service tiers, including new entrants that launched or became visible since the March baseline. Verification note: Pages that block simple fetching or hide prices behind JavaScript — Profound, Ahrefs Brand Radar, RankScale, Astiva, Trendos, Daydream, BrightEdge, Evertune — were browser-rendered and read directly on May 24, 2026. Figures from that pass are marked "browser-verified" below.
AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) monitoring tools send prompts to AI engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews / AI Mode, Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, DeepSeek — and track whether a brand is mentioned, cited, how it's described, and where it lands in recommendations. Most refresh automatically on daily-to-3-day cycles.
A note on comparing prices: "per-prompt" cost is only loosely comparable across tools because each defines a "prompt" differently. Some run one prompt across many engines simultaneously; others count each engine query separately, or meter by credits, conversations, or executions. Where useful, per-prompt figures below are the monthly plan price divided by the prompt allowance — treat them as rough, not exact.
Key Takeaways
AEO monitoring tools range from free to roughly $700/mo self-serve, with enterprise platforms and managed services running into custom four- and five-figure contracts. Most self-serve tools cluster between $79 and $399/mo.
- Cheapest paid entry: Mangools AI Search Watcher (~$15.60/mo), then RankScale, Otterly, and Astiva at $20–$29/mo.
- Free options: HubSpot's AEO Grader (one-time score), Trendos, Authoritas, and Gumshoe (one free report) all have no-cost tiers.
- Most expensive: seoClarity (~$4,500/mo base), BrightEdge (~$12K/yr+), and managed services like Daydream — all enterprise/custom, no public pricing.
- Best for agencies (white-label): Trakkr, Rankability, Nightwatch, SE Ranking, RankScale, and Gauge offer white-label or multi-client features.
- Biggest 2026 pricing changes: Scrunch repackaged to a $300 base (was $250 for fewer prompts), Ahrefs Brand Radar moved to flat $398/$699 bundles, and Nightwatch merged AI tracking into its core plans.
- Pick on fit, not headline price: engine coverage, refresh frequency, data-collection method, and agency features matter more than per-prompt cost, which isn't directly comparable across tools.
Summary Comparison Table
Sorted by entry price (approximate, ascending). ✦ = new entrant since the March baseline. Currencies noted where not USD.
| Tool | Starting Price | Entry Allowance | Per-Query Equiv. | Engines | Agency / White-Label |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HubSpot AEO Grader ✦ | Free (grader) | One-time score | — | 3 | No |
| Trendos ✦ | Free (paid from $169/mo) | 100 prompts (free) | — | 3+ | Affiliate program |
| Authoritas | Free tier | Limited | ~$0.03/prompt (PAYG) | 4+ | Enterprise |
| Gumshoe ✦ | Free / PAYG | 1 report | $0.10/conversation | 11 | Not stated |
| Mangools AI Search Watcher | ~$15.60/mo | Not published (keyword-metered) | n/a | 5 | Agency tier |
| RankScale | $20/mo | 120 credits (~480 responses) | ~$0.04/response | 17+ | White-label (Growth) |
| Otterly.ai | $29/mo (15) | 15 prompts | $1.93/prompt | 4 | Agency partner program |
| Astiva AI ✦ | $29/mo (Lite) | 15 prompts | $1.93/prompt | 10 | White-label (Ent.) |
| Cairrot ✦ | $39/mo (15) | 15 prompts | $2.60/prompt | 2 (5 on Pro) | Agency-oriented, free API |
| HubSpot AEO (monitoring) ✦ | $50/mo | You define prompts | n/a | 3 | No |
| Geoptie ✦ | $49/mo (15) | 15 prompts | $3.27/prompt | 5 | Not stated |
| Knowatoa | $59/mo (30) | 30 questions | $1.97/question | 3 (6 on Growth) | API, no explicit WL |
| Rankability ✦ | $79/mo | 10,000 credits | credit-based | not enumerated | White-label + MCP, all tiers |
| Trakkr ✦ | £62/mo (~$79) | 50 prompts | ~£1.24/prompt | 8 | White-label portals (Scale) |
| Nightwatch | €79/mo (50) | 50 prompts | ~€1.58/prompt | 4 | White-label (Pro+) |
| Peec AI | €89/mo (25) | 25 prompts | €3.56/prompt | 3 + add-ons | Unlimited seats |
| Ranketta ✦ | €89/mo (25) | 25 prompts | €3.56/prompt | 3 (7 on Ent.) | Enterprise & Agency tier |
| Rankshift | $92/mo (9,500 cr) | ~4,750 responses | ~€0.016/response | 8 | Unlimited projects/seats |
| SE Visible (SE Ranking) | $99/mo (200) | 200 prompts | ~$0.50/prompt | 4 | Agency Pack add-on |
| Profound | $99/mo (50) | 50 prompts, 1 engine | $1.98/prompt | 1 (3 on Growth, 10+ Ent.) | Enterprise only |
| Semrush AI Visibility | $99/mo (25) | 25 prompts | $3.96/prompt | 4 | Via Semrush agency kit |
| Gauge ✦ | $100/mo (100) | 100 prompts, 1 engine | $1.00/prompt | 7 | Agency Mode |
| Am I on AI | $100/mo (150) | 150 prompts | $0.67/prompt | 2 | Managed (GEO Council) |
| Geostar ✦ | $249/mo | 6,000 executions | ~$0.04/execution | 3 (all on Ent.) | Full-Service managed |
| AthenaHQ | $295/mo | 3,600 credits | ~$0.082/credit | 8 | Unlimited seats |
| Scrunch | $300/mo ($250 annual) | 350 custom + 1,000 industry | ~$0.86/prompt | 6 (9 at Ent.) | Agency program |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | $398/mo (standalone) | 2,500 checks | ~$0.16/check | 6 (+beta surfaces) | Standalone product |
| Evertune ✦ | Custom (demo only) | ~1.25M prompts/brand | ~$2.40/1,000 prompts (est.) | 9 | Unlimited logins |
| seoClarity ArcAI | Enterprise custom (~$4,500/mo base) | from 500 prompts | n/a | 9 | Not specified |
| Daydream | Managed (no public price) | n/a | n/a | Multiple | Managed service |
| Bluefish AI ✦ | Enterprise custom | n/a | n/a | Multiple | Enterprise |
| BrightEdge | Enterprise custom (no public price) | n/a | n/a | Limited | Enterprise |
Market Positioning & Price Tiers
The market splits into four broad bands. Per-prompt economics matter less than fit — what engines you need, whether you manage multiple clients, and whether you want a tool or a service.
Budget ($15–$60/mo). Mangools AI Search Watcher (~$15.60), RankScale Essentials ($20), Otterly Lite ($29), Astiva Lite ($29), Cairrot ($39), Geoptie ($49), HubSpot AEO ($50), Knowatoa Starter ($59). Plus genuinely free options: HubSpot's AEO Grader (one-time score), Trendos (free tier; paid from $169/mo), Authoritas (free tier), and Gumshoe (one free report, then $0.10/conversation). Good for a single brand, light monitoring, or a first look. Trade-offs: small prompt allowances, fewer engines, or narrow Google-AIO focus (Mangools).
Mid-market ($79–$300/mo). The crowded center: Scrunch, Profound, Peec AI, Otterly Standard/Premium, Knowatoa Growth, Nightwatch, Semrush AI Visibility, SE Visible, AthenaHQ, Am I on AI, plus new entrants Trakkr, Gauge, Rankability, Ranketta, Astiva, and Geostar. Most include daily or near-daily refresh, multiple engines, and competitor tracking in the subscription. This is where agency/white-label features start to appear (Trakkr, Rankability, Nightwatch, Gauge, SE Ranking).
Enterprise / custom ($398+/mo or annual contracts). Ahrefs Brand Radar (now two flat bundles at $398 / $699), Scrunch Enterprise, Profound Enterprise ($2,000–$5,000+/mo), seoClarity ArcAI (~$4,500/mo base), BrightEdge (~$12K/yr floor, six figures at scale), Evertune (~$3,000/mo, third-party estimate), Bluefish AI (quote-only). Heavier platforms with API access, SSO, dedicated support, and broader data operations.
Managed services (retainer). Daydream and Am I on AI's GEO Council ($2,500/mo) and Geostar's Full-Service tier are not pure SaaS — they bundle the tool with done-for-you strategy, content, and citation work. Pricing is retainer-style and quote-based.
Where the per-prompt math gets misleading: A prompt run across 6 engines (Scrunch) is not the same unit as a prompt run against 1 engine (Profound Starter). A fairer unit is "per prompt × per engine × per run." Credit- and execution-metered tools (Rankshift, RankScale, Geostar, AthenaHQ, Rankability) look cheap per unit but consume faster at daily frequency. Read allowances and engine counts together, not price alone.
Detailed Tool Profiles
Listed alphabetically. ✦ marks new entrants since the March baseline.
Ahrefs Brand Radar
URL: https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: Google AI Overviews & AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Grok (6), plus beta surfaces (YouTube, TikTok, Reddit).
Repackaged since March into two flat bundles:
| Plan | Monthly | Platforms | Custom prompt checks/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Select Platforms | $398 | Choose individual platforms | 2,500 |
| All Platforms ("Best Value") | $699 | All 6 (243M+ organic prompts) + beta surfaces | 2,500 |
Per-check: $0.16 (Select), $0.28 (All). Additional custom-prompt packages available on top of the 2,500 base ("Buy custom prompts"). Data method: Search-backed prompts derived from real organic/clickstream data, not synthetic queries. 400M+ monthly prompts tracked across the index. Notable: The per-platform $199/mo add-on model from March is retired in favor of the two bundles. Brand Radar is now sold as a standalone product with its own "Sign up for Brand Radar" flow — the page shows no requirement for a separate Ahrefs subscription on top of the bundle. (Resolves the earlier "needs base Ahrefs sub?" flag.) Source: https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar
Am I on AI
URL: https://www.amionai.com/pricing Monitors: ChatGPT + Google AI Overview (narrow coverage).
| Plan | Monthly | Prompts | Segments |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pro | $100 | up to 150 | 1 |
| Prism (recommended) | $349 | up to 750 | 5 |
| GEO Council | $2,500 | Custom (managed) | Custom |
Per-prompt: Pro $0.67, Prism $0.47. Free trial now 7 days (down from 14). Notable: Added the Prism mid-tier and named the old "Business custom" as GEO Council, a managed/consulting tier (currently waitlisted). Engine coverage is the narrowest in the category. Source: https://www.amionai.com/pricing
Astiva AI ✦
URL: https://astiva.ai/pricing (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, Meta AI, DeepSeek, Mistral, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overview (10, user-selectable per plan quota).
| Plan | Regular | Launch (first 3 mo, −30%) | Prompts | Platforms | Brands |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free Analysis | $0 | — | 10 (one-time) | 2 | 1 |
| Lite | $29 | $20 | 15 | 3 | 1 |
| Starter | $99 | $69 | 25 | 3 | 1 |
| Growth (popular) | $249 | $174 | 100 | 5 (incl. Claude, Grok) | 3 |
| Pro | $499 | $349 | 300 | 7 (incl. Meta AI, DeepSeek) | 5 |
| Enterprise | Custom | — | Unlimited | 10 | Unlimited |
Per-prompt: Lite $1.93, Starter $3.96, Growth $2.49, Pro $1.66 (regular pricing). Notable: Competitive-intelligence framing — 7 AISO metrics incl. First Mention Rate and Sentiment Volatility, competitive quadrant maps, GA4 revenue attribution (Growth+), and gap-driven citation-ready content generation. Growth adds GA4 attribution; Enterprise adds white-label, SSO/SAML, full API. 14-day free trial; SOC 2 Type II in progress. SF, founded 2025. Full tier pricing now confirmed (was "from $99, figures not published"). Source: https://astiva.ai/pricing
AthenaHQ
URL: https://athenahq.ai Monitors: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Claude, Copilot, Grok (8+).
| Plan | Monthly | Credits/mo |
|---|---|---|
| Self-Serve | $295 (annual $95/mo) | 3,600 (incl. $300 free credit) |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom |
Per-credit: ~$0.082. Credits consumed per action (analyzing a response, drafting content). Unlimited seats with role-based access. Data method: Dynamic AI crawling; proprietary Citation Engine (ACE) on Enterprise. Notable: Essentially unchanged since March (credits nudged 3,500 → 3,600). Source: https://athenahq.ai
Authoritas
URL: https://www.authoritas.com/pricing (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini (4 listed on the AI Search teaser; blog content also references DeepSeek and AI Overviews). Pricing: Still gated. The pricing page now splits into three products — AI Search, SEO, and API — but each only shows feature bullets behind a "View Pricing Details" click; no dollar figures render publicly. Off-page sources cite a free account, an entry plan "from $119/mo, 2,000 prompt credits," and PAYG at ~£24 / 1,000 prompts (~$0.029–$0.033/prompt). Per-prompt: ~£0.024 PAYG — among the lowest in the market, if accurate. Notable: Positions on cheapest per-prompt cost. Confirmed via browser that Authoritas exposes no clean public price table — the figures above remain lightly sourced. Source: https://www.authoritas.com/pricing
BrightEdge
URL: https://www.brightedge.com (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: Google AI Overviews (primary), entity optimization for AI search via BrightEdge Prism. Pricing: No public pricing. The "Product Pricing" page is a contact form only — "We would be more than happy to discuss our product and pricing with you… or over the phone at 800-578-8023." Third-party estimates put the floor near ~$12,000/yr scaling to $30K–$150K+/yr, but these are estimates, never published by BrightEdge. Per-prompt: Not available. Notable: Full enterprise SEO platform (S3) with AI monitoring added on. No self-serve, no trial. Source: https://www.brightedge.com/products/product-pricing
Bluefish AI ✦
URL: https://www.bluefishai.com Monitors: Multiple engines across five pillars — AI Monitoring, GEO Optimization, GEO Measurement, AI Commerce, and AI Accuracy (the last launched May 5, 2026, to flag AI hallucinations / inaccurate brand mentions). Pricing: Quote-based, sales-only. Not public. Notable: $20M Series A (Aug 2025, NEA + Salesforce Ventures). Enterprise / Fortune-500 positioning. Source: https://www.bluefishai.com/
Cairrot ✦
URL: https://cairrot.com Monitors: ChatGPT + Perplexity (Starter); adds Gemini, Claude, DeepSeek (Pro/Enterprise); Grok as a +$25/mo add-on.
| Plan | Monthly | LLMs | Prompts | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $39 | 2 | 15 | 3 |
| Pro | $99 | 5 | 40 | 10 |
| Enterprise | $299 | 5 | 100 | unlimited |
Per-prompt: ~$2.50–$2.99 across tiers. Notable: One of the cheapest entry points with explicit agency framing, AI-crawler monitoring (GPTBot etc.), GA4 integration, and a free API on request. Source: https://cairrot.com/pricing/
Daydream
URL: https://www.withdaydream.com (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: Multiple AI search platforms (LLM citation tracking is part of the service, not a standalone dashboard). Pricing: No published pricing of any kind — the site is waitlist / "Book a call" / "Explore Full-Service," with a complimentary strategy audit "if there's a fit." The earlier $4,000–$10,000/mo figure is unverifiable and should not be quoted. Notable: A managed SEO + AI-search service ("SEO agents + dedicated experts"), not a SaaS product — the retainer covers tooling and people. Heavy programmatic-SEO case-study focus. Source: https://www.withdaydream.com
Evertune ✦
URL: https://www.evertune.ai (browser-verified May 24, 2026 — /pricing redirects to /why-evertune) Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek, AI Overviews, AI Mode (9). Pricing: No public pricing — demo only ("Book a demo"). Third-party reports cite ~$3,000/mo for a single enterprise tier, and Evertune publishes a $2.40-per-1,000-prompts metric; treat both as estimates, not confirmed list prices. Data method: Prompts across every major LLM "at volumes that ensure statistical significance," plus a 25M-user consumer panel to track real AI-search behavior — a panel/clickstream angle rather than pure scraping. Notable: Enterprise / CMO-focused; founders helped build The Trade Desk. Products span User Insights, AI Brand Monitoring, AI Website Optimization, Content Strategy, and AI Retargeting. Trusted by Fortune 500 brands. Source: https://www.evertune.ai
Gauge ✦
URL: https://www.withgauge.com Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, AI Mode, AI Overviews (7).
| Plan | Monthly | Prompts | Engines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $100 | 100 daily | ChatGPT only |
| Growth | $599 | 600 daily | all models |
| Enterprise | Custom | — | — |
Per-prompt: ~$1.00 across tiers. Data method: Claims it pulls "real data from the true web experiences models surface to users" (real-UI surfacing) rather than API-only. Notable: Bundles an agentic "Ask Gauge" assistant that recommends and executes optimizations; GA/GSC/Slack integrations tie AI visibility to referral traffic. Includes an "Agency Mode." Source: https://www.withgauge.com
Geoptie ✦
URL: https://geoptie.com Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews (5).
| Plan | Monthly | Prompts | Brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $49 | 15 | 2 |
| Professional | $99 | 100 | 10 |
| Enterprise | $199 | 400 | 50 |
Per-prompt: $3.27 → $0.99 → $0.50 (best value at the top tier). Notable: Strong prompt-per-dollar at $199 (400 prompts / 50 brands), bundled on-page optimization, and seven free public tools. All-in-one budget GEO positioning. Source: https://geoptie.com
Geostar ✦
URL: https://www.geostar.ai Monitors: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity (Lite); all platforms on Enterprise.
| Plan | Monthly | Executions/mo | Engines |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $249 | 6,000 prompt executions | 3 |
| Enterprise | Custom | unlimited | all |
| Full-Service | Custom | unlimited | all + done-for-you |
Per-execution: ~$0.04 (very high run-volume per dollar). Notable: Sells execution volume rather than prompt count, plus a managed Full-Service tier (strategy, content optimization, citation outreach) — closer to an agency replacement than a pure dashboard. Source: https://www.geostar.ai/pricing
Gumshoe ✦
URL: https://gumshoe.ai Monitors: 11 models incl. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, DeepSeek, Google AI Overviews, Grok. Pricing: Free (one report run); pay-as-you-go at $0.10/conversation; Enterprise custom. Real-world ranges cited ~$60–224/mo (weekly) to $450–1,680/mo (daily comprehensive). Data method: Distinct — runs structured multi-turn conversations as AI-inferred buyer personas across all models, then scores brand appearance by persona/topic/model. Not anonymous-session scraping. Notable: The only persona-based conversational simulation in this set, and the only true usage-based pricing — good fit for spiky or audit-style use. Source: https://gumshoe.ai/
HubSpot AEO ✦
URL: https://www.hubspot.com/aeo-grader Monitors: ChatGPT (GPT-5.x), Perplexity, Gemini. Pricing: Free one-time AEO Grader (5 scored dimensions: sentiment, presence quality, brand recognition, share of voice, market position). Paid ongoing monitoring at $50/mo, 28-day free trial, no HubSpot subscription required. Notable: Brand-name credibility at the lowest committed price in the category. The free grader is a strong lead-gen counterpart. No agency/white-label. Sources: https://www.hubspot.com/aeo-grader , https://www.hubspot.com/aeo-grader/ai-search-tool
Knowatoa
URL: https://www.knowatoa.com/pricing Monitors: AI Mode, AI Overviews, ChatGPT (Starter); adds Claude, Gemini, Meta, Perplexity at Growth (6).
| Plan | Monthly | Questions | Answers processed/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $59 | 30 | 2,790 |
| Growth | $199 | 100 | 21,700 |
| Enterprise | from $499 | Custom | Custom |
Per-question: ~$1.97–$1.99. API access, Looker Studio, NinjaCat integration, dedicated account rep on Growth+. Notable: Prices unchanged since March; platform-coverage detail (3 vs 6 engines) and answers-processed volumes now published. Uses a "BISCUIT Framework" for ranking analysis. Source: https://www.knowatoa.com/pricing
Mangools AI Search Watcher
URL: https://mangools.com/ai-search-watcher/ Monitors: Brand/URL mentions in Google AI Overviews and AI-generated results (Google-AIO-focused). Pricing: Standalone from $15.60/mo (annual); bundled with the Mangools SEO suite from $30.50/mo. Bundle tiers: Basic $29.90, Premium $44.90 (AI Watcher included), Agency $66. Per-prompt: Not derivable — metered by keyword lookups / tracked keywords, not AI prompts. Notable: Cheapest entry point; "set up in 30 seconds" lightweight monitoring. Best for teams already on Mangools for traditional SEO. Source: https://mangools.com/ai-search-watcher/plans-and-pricing
Nightwatch
URL: https://nightwatch.io/pricing/ (EUR) Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity (4) — alongside traditional SERP rank tracking.
| Plan | Monthly | AI prompts | AI responses/mo | Websites |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €79 | 50 | 1,500 | 5 |
| Professional | €159 | 150 | 4,500 | 25 |
| Agency | €399 | 500 | 15,000 | 100 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
Per-prompt (AI portion of bundled price): ~€1.58 → €0.80. Plans now bundle SEO + AI together. Notable: Restructured since March — the separate AI add-on is gone; AI is merged into core plans, now in EUR. White-label reports from Professional; Agency adds dedicated AM, SLA, SSO, custom API. Source: https://nightwatch.io/pricing/
Otterly.ai
URL: https://otterly.ai/pricing Monitors: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity, MS Copilot (4); AI Mode / Gemini as paid add-ons.
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Prompts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lite | $29 | $25 | 15 |
| Standard (popular) | $189 | $160 | 100 |
| Premium | $489 | $422 | 400 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom |
Per-prompt: $1.93 / $1.89 / $1.22. Extra 100 prompts: $99/mo. Daily tracking on all tiers. Notable: Unchanged since March. Agency Partners get bonus prompts + unlimited workspace management. Unlimited team members on all plans. Source: https://otterly.ai/pricing
Peec AI
URL: https://peec.ai/pricing (EUR) Monitors: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews (3 base); Claude, Gemini, DeepSeek, Grok as add-ons (~€20–30 each).
| Plan | Monthly | Prompts | Projects |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €89 | 25 | 1 |
| Pro | €199 | 100 | 2 |
| Enterprise | €499+ | 300+ | 5+ |
Per-prompt (base): €3.56 / €1.99 / ≤€1.66. Annual saves ~15%. Unlimited seats on all tiers. Notable: Unchanged since March; per-engine add-on model now explicit (3 engines baked in, pay for more). 7-day free trial. Source: https://peec.ai/pricing
Profound
URL: https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: ChatGPT (Starter); + Perplexity and Google AI Overviews (Growth); up to 10 engines incl. Claude and Grok (Enterprise).
| Plan | Monthly (billed yearly) | Prompts | Responses/mo | Engines | Seats |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $99 | 50 | 1,500 | 1 (ChatGPT) | 1 |
| Growth (popular) | $399 | 100 | 9,000 | 3 | 3 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | up to 10 | Custom |
Per-prompt: Starter ~$1.98 (1 engine), Growth $3.99 (3 engines). Prices shown are the annual-billing rate ("2 months free"); monthly billing runs higher. Notable: Growth adds 6 optimized articles/month, 400 agent credits, and 4 opportunities/week; Enterprise adds ChatGPT Shopping, API, SSO/SAML, SOC 2, and dedicated Slack. Raised $96M Series C at a $1B valuation. The live pricing page confirms only Starter / Growth / Enterprise — there is no self-serve "$499 Lite" tier (it appears only as an FAQ question), and Enterprise is "Custom," not a published dollar band. Earlier third-party "$2,000–$5,000+/mo" figures are not on Profound's page. Source: https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing
Rankability ✦
URL: https://www.rankability.com Monitors: AI search visibility / AEO action plans (markets ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews; specific engines not enumerated on the pricing page).
| Plan | Monthly | Seats | Clients | Credits/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | $79 | 1 | 5 | 10,000 |
| Core | $199 | 3 | 15 | 30,000 |
| Team | $399 | 5 | 30 | 75,000 |
Per-prompt: Not directly computable (credit-based, flowing across tracking, research, content, optimization). Notable: Agency-first packaging by client count, with white-label reporting and API/MCP access on every tier. Repositioned an older SEO content tool toward AI search. Source: https://www.rankability.com/pricing/
RankScale
URL: https://rankscale.ai/pricing (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Mistral, Grok, Copilot + more (17+), including separate GUI and API engine variants.
| Plan | Monthly (USD) | Credits/mo | AI responses/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essentials | $20 | 120 | up to 480 |
| Pro | $99 | 1,200 | up to 4,800 |
| Growth (Agency's Choice) | $385 | 5,500 | up to 22,000 |
| Enterprise | $780 | 12,000 | up to 48,000 |
Per-response: ~$0.04 (Essentials). Credit cost varies by engine — 0.25 credits each for ChatGPT/Gemini/Perplexity/AI Mode, 1 for DeepSeek, 2 for Claude. Refresh schedulable hourly to monthly; unused credits roll over (up to 2–3×). Yearly billing saves 15%. Notable: Growth adds white-label dashboards, REST API, and lifetime affiliate commissions. Currency resolved: the live site prices in USD (Rankscale GmbH is Vienna-based, but the pricing page and credit calculator both display $). Sources: https://rankscale.ai/pricing
Rankshift
URL: https://www.rankshift.ai/pricing/ (multi-currency) Monitors: ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Claude, Perplexity, Mistral, Llama (8).
| Plan | Monthly (USD) | Credits/mo | Daily prompts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $92 ($82 annual) | 9,500 | 150 |
| Professional | $210 ($189 annual) | 22,000 | 350 |
| Business | $473 ($425 annual) | 53,000 | 850 |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | — |
Per-response: 2 credits per response → ~€0.016/response (Starter). Daily (switchable to weekly). Notable: Significant repackaging since March (tiers and credit allotments all moved up; now publishes USD/GBP/EUR). Unlimited projects and seats on all plans; includes crawler analytics. UI-capture data method. Source: https://www.rankshift.ai/pricing/
Ranketta ✦
URL: https://ranketta.com Monitors: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity (Starter/Pro); Gemini, Claude, Copilot, AI Mode on Enterprise. Product/SKU-level AI Shopping visibility.
| Plan | Monthly (EUR) | Prompts | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | €89 | 25 | 1 |
| Pro | €249 | 100 | 2 |
| Enterprise & Agency | Custom | 100+ | 2+ |
Per-prompt: €3.56 / €2.49. Notable: Ecommerce/D2C niche — tracks which products LLMs recommend inside AI Shopping answers and why. Czech startup (Brno); raised €1M pre-seed Nov 2025. Source: https://ranketta.com/pricing
Scrunch
URL: https://scrunch.com/pricing/ Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode/Overviews, Meta (6 at base; up to 9 incl. Grok/Copilot at Enterprise).
| Plan | Monthly | Annual | Prompts | Key limits |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | $300 | $250 (17% off) | 350 custom + 1,000 industry | 3 users, 3 personas, 5 audits |
| Growth | $500 | $417 | 700 custom + 2,500 industry | 5 users, 5 personas, 10 audits |
| Enterprise | Custom | Custom | Custom | Dedicated GTM team |
Per-prompt (Starter): ~$0.86 on custom prompts (allowance consumed per engine tracked). Agency: Agency Core $500/mo (multi-client management + Data API); Agency Enterprise adds prospecting licenses and enablement. Data method: Hybrid — "appropriate method per platform" (browser automation + official APIs), validated against a consumer-collected dataset. Includes the "Agent Experience Platform" (AXP). Notable: Significantly repackaged since March (was Core $250/125 prompts/4 LLMs). New Starter/Growth/Enterprise tiers, larger prompt allowances, 6 LLMs at base. Scrunch's own FAQ page still shows the old Core/$250 structure and is out of date — the live /pricing/ page is authoritative. Sources: https://scrunch.com/pricing/ , https://scrunch.com/faqs/what-is-the-pricing-for-scrunch-plans/
Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit
URL: https://www.semrush.com/kb/1493-ai-visibility-toolkit Monitors: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini (and others).
| Option | Monthly | Prompts |
|---|---|---|
| AI Visibility standalone | $99 | 25 |
| Semrush One — Starter | $199 | 50 |
| Semrush One — Pro+ | $299 | 100 |
| Semrush One — Advanced | $549 | 200 |
Per-prompt: Standalone $3.96; with extra prompts (+$60/50) ~$2.12. +$99/mo per extra Brand Performance domain. Data method: Hybrid — runs a curated query set through LLMs; Brand Performance pulls from search-demand data across 68,000+ locations. Daily refresh (Brand Performance weekly). Notable: Stable since March; Advanced tier now confirmed at $549/200 prompts. Makes most sense for teams already on Semrush. Source: https://www.semrush.com/kb/1493-ai-visibility-toolkit
SE Ranking / SE Visible
URL: https://visible.seranking.com/ Monitors: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Perplexity (4).
| Plan (standalone) | Monthly | Prompts | Brands |
|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | $99 | 200 | 3 |
| Core | $189 | 450 | 5 |
| Plus | $355 | 1,000 | 10 |
Per-prompt: ~$0.50 / $0.42 / $0.36 — among the most competitive of the dedicated tools. As an SE Ranking add-on: +$89/mo on Core or Growth plans. Notable: Moved from EUR tier names (Creator/Business/Enterprise) to USD Basic/Core/Plus since March. White-label available; multi-country tracking. Sources: https://visible.seranking.com/ , https://seranking.com/subscription.html
seoClarity ArcAI
URL: https://www.seoclarity.net/ai-seo/pricing Monitors: ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini, DeepSeek, Anthropic, Copilot, Grok (9). Pricing: Enterprise / custom quote only. Base platform from ~$2,500/mo (Research & Content) to ~$4,500/mo (Enterprise floor); real-world contracts $4,500–$15,000+/mo. ArcAI tiers: Core / Discovery / Accuracy (prompts from 500). Data method: UI scraping (browser automation) — among the loudest scraping advocates. Notable: No material price change since March; ArcAI now has a named 3-tier structure on a dedicated page. Source: https://www.seoclarity.net/ai-seo/pricing
Trakkr ✦
URL: https://trakkr.ai Monitors: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek, Copilot, Meta AI (8, all plans).
| Plan | Monthly (GBP) | ~USD | Brands | Prompts/brand |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free | £0 | $0 | test only | — |
| Growth | £62 | ~$79 | 1 (daily) | 50 |
| Scale | £315 | ~$399 | 10 (daily) | 50 |
| Enterprise | Custom | — | unlimited | unlimited |
Per-prompt: ~£1.24 (Growth), ~£0.63 (Scale). Notable: Genuine free tier plus a transparent, low-cost white-label path — Scale includes client portals + REST API; branded portals on custom domains at +$49/client/mo. Free tier uses faster/basic model variants; paid tiers use the premium consumer models. Sources: https://trakkr.ai/pricing , https://learn.trakkr.ai/plans
Trendos ✦
URL: https://trendos.com (browser-verified May 24, 2026) Monitors: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude + others; unlimited countries; 2.3M+ brand historical database.
| Plan | Monthly | Custom prompts | Answers/mo | Brands |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Basic | Free | 100 | 3,000 | up to 10 |
| Starter | $169 | 250 | 7,500 | unlimited |
| Pro | $339 | 550 | 16,500 | unlimited |
| Enterprise | Custom | High-volume | Custom | unlimited |
Per-prompt: Starter $0.68, Pro $0.62 (yearly billing saves 15%; Starter "save $358," Pro "save $718" annually). Notable: Paid tiers are now public (was "announced, not yet priced"). Built by Tesonet (NordVPN / Oxylabs parent) — notable for data scale and backing. Recently added "Ad radar" to monitor ChatGPT ads. Affiliate program for agencies. Don't confuse with the unrelated trendos.io ecommerce tool. Sources: https://trendos.com/ , https://tesonet.com/newshub/trendos-launch/
Data Acquisition: Scraping vs. API vs. Hybrid
The industry is split on how to collect AI search data, and the method directly affects whether the data reflects what real users see. A Surfer SEO study (1,000 prompts across ChatGPT and Perplexity) found only 24% brand overlap and 4% source overlap between API and UI-scraped results.
The camps
UI scraping advocates — Profound, Peec AI, seoClarity, SE Visible, Otterly, Rankshift, Gauge. Argument: APIs return stripped-down developer outputs that miss RAG browsing, shopping integrations, citations, and the full consumer experience. Trade-off: fragile (DOM changes break scrapers), possible ToS friction, captures one user configuration.
API advocates — Conductor, Ahrefs (partial). Argument: scraping violates platform ToS and can't be sustained at scale; APIs provide structured metadata and citation data. Trade-off: API responses diverge from the web UI (the web app may run a newer model than the API).
Hybrid / proprietary — Scrunch, Authoritas, Semrush, Ahrefs Brand Radar. Scrunch applies "the appropriate method per platform" and validates against a consumer-collected dataset. Semrush is different again: it doesn't query engines at all — it pulls clickstream data from real user sessions ("captured from real requests and not via any APIs of LLMs"). Ahrefs Brand Radar uses search-backed prompts derived from real organic/clickstream data rather than synthetic queries.
Persona-conversation simulation — Gumshoe. Runs structured multi-turn conversations as AI-inferred buyer personas across models, rather than scraping anonymous sessions. A newer methodological angle in 2026.
What the debate misses
The scraping-vs-API argument is close to a false binary. The real question is what you're measuring:
- "What does a random user see when they ask about my brand?" — Scraping a logged-out session is an imperfect proxy (real users are logged in, on different models, with history). API is also imperfect. Clickstream (Semrush) is closest to ground truth but can't run your specific prompts.
- "Is my brand represented in the models' knowledge?" — The API is fine; brand knowledge doesn't change with the interface.
- "Does my content get cited for topics in my category?" — Scraping matters more, because citation behavior differs between API and web UI (the 4–8% source-overlap finding).
Hybrid tools are hedging — admitting no single method captures everything. That's probably the most honest position, even if it's harder to explain to clients.
The question worth asking any vendor: for each engine, which method are you using, and how do you validate that it matches the consumer experience? Willingness to answer in detail separates real methodology from marketing.
Methodology by tool
| Tool | Method | Key detail |
|---|---|---|
| Scrunch | Hybrid (scrape + API) | Appropriate method per platform; validates against consumer-collected dataset |
| Otterly.ai | UI scraping | Simulates anonymous/neutral sessions |
| Profound | UI scraping | "Capture responses from the consumer experience, not API outputs"; 3M+ daily prompts |
| Peec AI | UI scraping | "Browser automation as real user simulation" |
| Knowatoa | Unknown | Queries models directly; not documented |
| Authoritas | Hybrid (UI crawl + API) | Claims hybrid gives "most accurate AI Share of Voice" |
| Nightwatch | UI simulation | Simulates user interactions with major LLMs |
| Mangools | Unknown | Runs each prompt 5× to average variance |
| Rankshift | UI capture | Responses pulled from the UI, not API |
| RankScale | Unknown ("Prompt Decoding") | Proprietary; collection layer not disclosed |
| Semrush | Proprietary clickstream | Captured from real requests, not LLM APIs |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Search-backed prompts | Derived from real organic/clickstream data, not synthetic |
| SE Visible | UI scraping / snapshots | Scrapes real interfaces; cached snapshots; 100M+ answers/month |
| seoClarity | UI scraping (browser automation) | Loudest scraping advocate |
| Gauge | Real-UI surfacing | "Real data from the true web experiences models surface" |
| Gumshoe | Persona-conversation simulation | Multi-turn conversations as AI-inferred buyer personas |
| AthenaHQ | Dynamic AI crawling | Proprietary Citation Engine (ACE) on Enterprise |
| Evertune | Multi-LLM prompting + consumer panel | 25M-user panel; prompts at statistical-significance volumes |
| BrightEdge | Unknown | "Billions of data points" via Data Cube X |
Refresh frequency
| Frequency | Tools |
|---|---|
| Daily (auto-included) | Scrunch (new prompts), Otterly, Profound, Peec AI, Knowatoa, Nightwatch, Mangools, SE Visible, AthenaHQ, Trakkr, Gauge, Rankshift |
| 3-day cycle | Scrunch (established prompts) |
| Credit/execution-metered (daily–monthly) | RankScale, Geostar, Rankability |
| Configurable (hourly–monthly) | Authoritas, seoClarity, RankScale |
| Weekly only | Am I on AI |
| Monthly (LLMs) | Ahrefs Brand Radar |
| Not disclosed | BrightEdge, Bluefish, Evertune |
Tools with automatic daily/3-day refresh include monitoring frequency in the subscription. Credit-based tools charge per run, so daily monitoring burns credits ~10× faster than monthly checks — a tool that looks cheap per credit can be expensive at monitoring-grade frequency.
Agency & White-Label Options
| Tool | Agency Pricing | White-Label | Multi-Client Dashboard |
|---|---|---|---|
| Trakkr ✦ | Scale £315/mo | Yes (client portals, custom domains +$49/client) | Yes |
| Rankability ✦ | By client count from $79/mo | Yes (all tiers) + MCP/API | Yes |
| Nightwatch | €399/mo (Agency) | Yes (from Professional) | Yes |
| Gauge ✦ | Agency Mode | Not stated | Yes |
| Scrunch | $500/mo (Agency Core) | Agency Partner Program | Yes (Enterprise) |
| SE Ranking | Agency Pack add-on (+$69/mo) | Yes | Yes |
| RankScale | Growth $385/mo | Yes (Growth+) | Yes |
| Otterly.ai | Agency Partner (bonus prompts) | Limited | Enterprise |
| Cairrot ✦ | Agency-oriented, free API | Not stated | Yes |
| Profound | Enterprise only | No public option | Enterprise |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the cheapest AEO monitoring tool?
Mangools AI Search Watcher is the cheapest paid option at about $15.60/mo (annual billing), followed by RankScale Essentials ($20/mo), Otterly Lite ($29/mo), and Astiva Lite ($29/mo). For zero cost, HubSpot's AEO Grader, Trendos, Authoritas, and Gumshoe all offer free tiers, though with limited prompts or one-time snapshots.
How much do AI search visibility monitoring tools cost?
Most self-serve AEO monitoring tools cost between $79 and $399 per month. Budget tools start around $15–$60/mo, mid-market tools run $79–$300/mo, and enterprise platforms (seoClarity, BrightEdge) or managed services (Daydream) use custom annual contracts that reach four to five figures per month.
Which AEO tools offer a free tier?
HubSpot's AEO Grader (a one-time visibility score), Trendos (free Basic plan, paid from $169/mo), Authoritas (free account), and Gumshoe (one free report, then $0.10 per conversation) all have genuinely free options. Several paid tools — Otterly, Peec AI, Nightwatch, Astiva, Profound Growth — also offer free trials.
Which AEO monitoring tools are best for agencies?
Tools with explicit white-label or multi-client features include Trakkr (client portals on custom domains), Rankability (priced by client count, white-label + API on all tiers), Nightwatch (white-label reports), SE Ranking, RankScale (white-label on Growth), and Gauge (Agency Mode). Scrunch and Otterly offer agency partner programs but reserve white-label for higher tiers.
What AI engines do these tools track?
Most track some combination of ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, Grok, and DeepSeek. Coverage varies widely: Profound Starter tracks ChatGPT only, while RankScale, Astiva, and seoClarity cover 9–17+ engines. Check engine coverage per tier — many tools gate additional engines behind higher plans or per-engine add-ons.
Why isn't per-prompt pricing comparable across tools?
Each tool defines a "prompt" differently. Some run a single prompt across many AI engines at once, while others count each engine query separately or meter usage by credits, conversations, or executions. A prompt checked across six engines is not the same unit as one checked against a single engine, so compare prompt allowances and engine counts together rather than relying on per-prompt cost alone.
How do AEO tools collect their data — scraping or API?
Tools split into three camps: UI scraping (Profound, Otterly, Peec AI, seoClarity), official APIs (Conductor, partly Ahrefs), and hybrid or proprietary methods (Scrunch, Authoritas, Semrush). A few use distinct approaches — Semrush and Evertune draw on real-user clickstream/panel data, and Gumshoe simulates persona-based conversations. The method matters because API and scraped results can differ substantially in which brands and sources appear.
How often does AEO tool pricing change?
Frequently. This category re-prices and repackages often — between March and May 2026 alone, Scrunch, Ahrefs Brand Radar, Nightwatch, SE Visible, and Am I on AI all changed their tiers. Always verify current pricing on the vendor's page before quoting figures to clients.
Sources
Pricing pages (verified May 2026): - Scrunch · Otterly.ai · Profound · Peec AI · Knowatoa · Authoritas · Nightwatch · Mangools - Rankshift · RankScale · Semrush AI Visibility · Ahrefs Brand Radar · SE Visible · seoClarity ArcAI · BrightEdge · Daydream · AthenaHQ · Am I on AI - New entrants: Trakkr · Gauge · Cairrot · Rankability · Geoptie · Ranketta · Astiva AI · Gumshoe · Geostar · HubSpot AEO · Evertune · Bluefish AI · Trendos
Methodology sources: - Surfer SEO: Scraped AI Answers vs. API Results - Scrunch FAQ: Data Collection Methods - Profound: Seeing What Customers See - Otterly: UI vs API Differences - seoClarity: Scraping vs. API - Conductor: Why API Monitoring Beats Scraping - Ahrefs Brand Radar Methodology - Semrush: AI Visibility Toolkit Data Sources
Resolved via browser verification (May 24, 2026): - Profound — confirmed Starter $99 / Growth $399 (billed yearly) / Enterprise Custom; no "$499 Lite" self-serve tier; Enterprise is not a published dollar band. - Ahrefs Brand Radar — confirmed $398 / $699 bundles sold standalone (own sign-up; no separate Ahrefs subscription shown as required). - RankScale — currency confirmed USD (Vienna-based vendor, but $ on the live page): Essentials $20 / Pro $99 / Growth $385 / Enterprise $780. - Astiva — full tiers confirmed: Lite $29 / Starter $99 / Growth $249 / Pro $499 (30% off first 3 months); 10 platforms. - Trendos — paid tiers now public: Basic free / Starter $169 / Pro $339. - Daydream — confirmed no public pricing (waitlist / book-a-call managed service); prior $4K–$10K figure dropped. - BrightEdge — confirmed no public pricing (contact-sales page only); ~$12K/yr+ remains a third-party estimate. - Evertune — confirmed no public pricing (demo only); ~$3,000/mo and $2.40/1,000-prompts are estimates; uses a 25M-user consumer panel.
Still unconfirmed: Authoritas pricing (page splits into AI Search / SEO / API but figures stay behind a "View Pricing Details" click — the $119/2,000-credit and £24/1,000-prompt figures remain off-page).
By Will Scott (CEO, Search Influence). Pricing changes frequently in this category — verify against vendor pages before quoting figures.