Generative engine optimization tools compared

Generative engine optimization tools split into two groups that are easy to confuse. Most measure whether AI systems mention you: they run prompts through ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google’s AI features and log the answers. A smaller group checks whether AI systems can read you: crawler access, rendering and on-page signals. Buying the first kind while the second kind of problem is unfixed is a common and expensive mistake.

The table below compares twelve tools on four points: what each measures, which platforms it covers, whether there is a free tier, and the starting price. We checked every row against the vendor’s own pages on November 3, 2026, and we list monthly prices unless noted. No vendor paid for inclusion; the last row is our own tool.

The comparison table

Tool	What it measures	AI platforms covered	Free tier	Starting price
Ahrefs Brand Radar	Mentions, citations, AI share of voice, estimated impressions	AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot; Claude on custom prompts	Separate free checker (snapshot, no signup)	$50 custom prompts or $199 AI Visibility Index, plus a paid Ahrefs plan
Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit	Brand performance, prompt tracking, prompt research, sentiment, AI crawler blocker audit	ChatGPT and Google AI Mode named for prompt tracking	Limited AI visibility features in Semrush’s free plan	$99 per domain
Profound	Answer engine visibility, citations, sentiment, prompt volumes, bot analytics	Up to 9 engines on Enterprise	7-day trial: 50 prompts, 3 platforms	Custom
Peec AI	Daily brand visibility across tracked prompts and countries	ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini, Naver AI; more on Enterprise	None listed	$95 (50 prompts, 3 models)
Otterly.AI	Brand mentions and citations for tracked prompts	ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot; AI Mode, Gemini and Claude as add-ons	Free trial	$29 (15 prompts)
Scrunch	Visibility on custom and industry prompts	ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Meta	7-day trial	$300, or $250 billed annually
AthenaHQ	AI responses tracked on a credit basis	5 platforms free; 11 on Starter	Essential plan, 300 credits	$295
SE Ranking	Brand mentions and links in AI answers, cited sources, saved answers	AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot	14-day trial; free checker, 5 checks a day	Included in Core at $129; SE Visible add-on from $71
Rankscale	Credit-based prompt tracking and prompt research	“17+” engines (vendor claim)	Pro trial	Essentials about $17–20, yearly billing
LLMrefs	Mentions, sources and fan-out queries for tracked prompts	ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta	7-day trial	$79 (500 prompts)
HubSpot AEO Grader	One-time brand score from what models say	ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini	Free	Free
Seouch AI visibility checker	Crawler access for 17 AI bots, fetch-as-bot test, on-page readiness; mentions check with email	Crawler checks across AI vendors; mentions for ChatGPT and Google AI	Free	Free

Not in the table: the free first-party reports from Google and Microsoft. Search Console’s generative AI reports show impressions in AI Overviews, AI Mode and Discover (Google Search Central blog), and Bing Webmaster Tools reports Copilot citations. Both belong in any GEO stack; our answer engine optimization tools roundup describes them in more detail.

How to read the table

• Starting prices are not comparable on their own. One vendor’s 15 prompts run on four platforms is not the same as another’s 50 prompts on three chosen models, or a credit where one credit equals one AI response. Work out the cost of your own prompt set at your own frequency.
• Platform lists hide add-ons. Several tools include a core set of platforms and charge extra for AI Mode, Gemini or Claude. Check the platforms that matter to your audience are in the plan you are pricing.
• Suite add-ons sit on top of a subscription. Ahrefs Brand Radar needs a paid Ahrefs plan; Semrush’s toolkit is per domain, and extra domains are charged at the same rate.
• One-time snapshots and ongoing trackers do different jobs. HubSpot’s grader and Ahrefs’ free checker are useful for a first look or a competitor check. They cannot show whether a change you made worked.
• “What it measures” differs more than the names suggest. Separate mentions (your brand named) from citations (your page linked). A tool that blends them into one visibility score makes it harder to see which one moved.

What can GEO tools measure, and what can’t they?

The term generative engine optimization comes from a 2023 research paper, later published at KDD 2024, which measured a source’s visibility as the share of an AI answer’s words attributed to it, weighted by position (Aggarwal et al.). Commercial tools mostly use simpler, more practical measures: were you mentioned, were you cited, and what is your share of mentions against competitors.

They can show:

• whether your brand appears for the prompts you chose, on the platforms you pay for
• which domains and pages are cited instead of yours
• how that changes week to week and against named competitors
• in some tools, how bots reach your site and which prompts are trending

They cannot show:

• Real user prompts. No tool sees actual ChatGPT or Gemini conversations. Prompt volume figures are estimates from other data; ask how they are produced. See prompt volume for what the metric can and cannot tell you.
• Personalized answers. Real users bring location, history and settings that a tracker’s clean session does not.
• Cause and effect. A rise in citations after you edit a page may come from the edit, from a model update or from a competitor’s change.
• Google’s internal data. Google says to be cautious of third-party tools that claim access to internal Google metrics, and recommends Search Console for measuring generative AI visibility (Google Search Central).

Our view: treat every tracker’s numbers as a consistent sample. Their value is the trend on a stable prompt set, not the absolute score.

How should you choose a GEO tool?

Work through these questions in order:

1. Can AI crawlers reach your pages? If you do not know, run a readiness check first; two tools in the table include one. A tracker cannot fix a block; it only reports the absence the block causes. The robots.txt for AI bots reference explains which crawler controls what.
2. Which platforms matter to your buyers? Pick coverage to match, and price the add-ons.
3. How many prompts do you really need? Most single-brand teams can start with 20 to 50 prompts tied to products and buying questions.
4. Do you want this next to your SEO data? If your team lives in Ahrefs or Semrush, their add-ons keep AI and search reporting in one place.
5. Do you need research, or only monitoring? Prompt volume estimates, bot analytics and shopping visibility are mostly found in higher-priced tools.
6. Does it hold up on your own prompts? Trial two tools on the same prompt set for two weeks and compare how each counts mentions and citations.

What to do next

Fix access before you measure: confirm that AI search crawlers can fetch your key pages, then switch on Search Console’s and Bing’s AI reports. Write your prompt set next, because it is the input every tool in the table needs and the part no tool can choose for you. Only then shortlist two trackers and trial them side by side. For the strategy those tools serve, read the generative engine optimization guide; for the same market organized by job rather than by vendor, see AI visibility tools.

Frequently asked questions

What do generative engine optimization tools measure?

Most measure whether AI systems mention or cite your brand for a set of prompts you choose, and how that compares with competitors over time. A smaller group checks whether AI crawlers can reach and read your pages. A few add prompt research, sentiment or bot analytics.

What is the cheapest GEO tool?

Several are free for limited use, including HubSpot's AEO Grader, Ahrefs' free AI visibility checker and AthenaHQ's Essential plan. Among paid prompt trackers we checked in November 2026, entry plans started at about $20 per month (Rankscale Essentials, yearly billing) and $29 per month (Otterly.AI Lite).

Do GEO tools show real ChatGPT search volume?

No tool sees ChatGPT's real user conversations directly. Trackers run their own prompts. Some vendors offer prompt volume estimates from other data sources; treat those as estimates and ask the vendor how they are produced.

Is a GEO tool worth paying for?

It is worth it once you have fixed technical access problems and have a defined set of prompts tied to revenue. Before that, free first-party data from Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools plus a manual prompt set will tell you most of what a paid tracker would.