Over 100 million people now use AI search every day. If your brand doesn’t show up in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews, you’re invisible to a growing segment of your market.
AI visibility tools help you track and improve where your brand appears in these AI-generated answers. But the category has exploded, and every tool claims to be “the platform for AI search.” This guide cuts through the noise with an honest comparison based on real features, real pricing, and what each tool actually does well.
Quick Comparison
| Tool | Best For | AI Engines | Starts At | Does Optimization? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fokal | Founders who want it done | ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews | $49/mo | Yes, full execution |
| Otterly.AI | Teams wanting monitoring + audits | 4-6 engines | $29/mo | Audits only |
| Profound | Enterprise marketing teams | Multiple | Custom | Yes, via agents |
| Peec AI | Clean analytics and sentiment | 7 engines | ~$49/mo | No |
| GrackerAI | B2B SaaS and cybersecurity | Up to 9 engines | $49/mo | Yes, content creation |
| LLMrefs | SEO teams transitioning to GEO | 10+ engines | Free tier | No |
| Semrush | Existing Semrush users | Limited | Free (add-on) | No |
| HubSpot AEO Grader | Quick one-off checks | Limited | Free | No |
How We Evaluated
Every tool was assessed on five criteria:
- Engine coverage: Which AI platforms does it actually monitor?
- Depth of insight: Mentions only, or citations, sentiment, and sources too?
- Actionability: Does it tell you what to fix, or just show a dashboard?
- Pricing transparency: Can you find the price without booking a demo?
- Optimization capability: Monitoring is table stakes. Does it help you improve?
The Tools, Reviewed
1. Fokal
What it is: An AI agent that handles SEO and AI visibility end to end. Not a dashboard you log into and interpret. You tell Fokal what your business does, and it figures out where you should show up, identifies gaps, creates content, fixes technical issues, and runs outreach.
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews
Key strengths:
- Combines monitoring with execution. It doesn’t just tell you “you’re not showing up for this query,” it writes the content that would fix that and queues technical changes
- AI visibility tracking with automated content and outreach workflows
- Technical SEO fixes (schema, robots.txt, sitemaps, indexing) with copy-paste instructions
- Competitive intelligence built in, not bolted on
- Content drafts that match your brand voice, not generic AI output
Limitations:
- Three AI engines currently (more planned)
- Newer platform, smaller user base than established SEO tools
- No free tier (7-day trial available)
Pricing: Starter $49/mo, Pro $199/mo. Annual billing saves 20%.
Best for: Founders and small business owners who don’t want to become SEO experts. If you’d rather have AI visibility handled for you than learn another dashboard, this is the tool.
2. Otterly.AI
What it is: A monitoring platform with GEO auditing capabilities. Recognized as a Gartner Cool Vendor in AI in Marketing (2025). The most established pure-play AI visibility tracker on the market.
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot. Google AI Mode and Gemini available as add-ons.
Key strengths:
- GEO auditing that analyzes 25+ on-page factors across up to 10,000 URLs per month
- Brand Visibility Index and Domain Ranking metrics
- Clean reporting with Google Looker Studio connector
- 50+ country support with multi-language tracking
- Affordable entry point at $29/month
- 4.9 star rating from 250+ reviews
Limitations:
- Monitoring and audits only. Doesn’t create content or execute fixes
- Google AI Mode and Gemini cost extra
- Prompt-based tracking (you define the queries manually)
Pricing: Lite $29/mo (15 prompts), Standard $189/mo (100 prompts), Premium $489/mo (400 prompts). 14-day free trial.
Best for: Marketing teams that have content creators and SEO specialists in-house and need a dedicated monitoring layer. The GEO audit capability makes it more useful than pure trackers.
3. Profound
What it is: An enterprise AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) platform with marketing agents. Profound sits at the premium end of the market, combining prompt volume data, answer engine insights, and autonomous marketing agents.
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and more
Key strengths:
- Prompt volume data showing what millions of people actually ask AI
- Marketing agents for AEO, content, PR, and demand generation
- Agent analytics tracking how AI crawlers interpret your site
- Strong brand presence (hosts the “Zero Click” conference, frequently cited in industry lists)
- Free AEO report available
Limitations:
- Enterprise pricing, not transparent on the website (demo required for most plans)
- Overkill for small businesses or solo founders
- Newer agent features may still be maturing
Pricing: Not publicly listed for full plans. Free AEO report and single agent access available.
Best for: Enterprise marketing teams with budget and headcount. If you have a dedicated AEO or GEO strategist, Profound gives them the data and agents to work with.
4. Peec AI
What it is: An analytics platform built around three clean metrics: Visibility (share of chats mentioning your brand), Position (ranking in AI results), and Sentiment (how AI perceives you).
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok
Key strengths:
- Seven AI engines covered, one of the broadest in the category
- Sentiment analysis is a genuine differentiator. Most tools tell you IF you appear, Peec tells you HOW you appear
- Clean, modern interface
- Unlimited users on all plans
- Source identification (which URLs AI engines cite)
Limitations:
- Analytics only, no optimization or content creation
- Pricing not clearly displayed (Framer-based site makes it hard to find)
- Relatively new, less third-party validation than Otterly or Profound
Pricing: Starter (50 prompts), Pro (150 prompts), Advanced (350 prompts). Exact prices require signup.
Best for: Marketing teams that want broad engine coverage and care about brand sentiment in AI answers, not just presence.
5. GrackerAI
What it is: A combined monitoring and content creation platform with a specific focus on cybersecurity and B2B SaaS companies. Tracks visibility and generates optimized content automatically.
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, DeepSeek, Meta Llama, Grok (up to 9)
Key strengths:
- Nine AI engines, the widest coverage in this list
- Autopilot content creation: thought leadership, listicles, comparison pages
- CMS integrations with WordPress, HubSpot, and Webflow
- GA4 and Google Search Console attribution
- Competitive citation gap analysis
Limitations:
- Cybersecurity and B2B SaaS focus means templates and intelligence may not fit other industries
- Content autopilot quality varies (always review before publishing)
- Smaller company, less market validation
Pricing: Starter $49/mo (50 prompts, 3 articles), Growth $149/mo (150 prompts, 10 articles), Pro $349/mo (400 prompts, 25 articles). 14-day free trial.
Best for: B2B SaaS companies, especially in cybersecurity, that want monitoring and content generation in one tool.
6. LLMrefs
What it is: A generative AI search analytics platform that takes a keyword-based approach (like traditional SEO tools) rather than prompt-based tracking. Founded in London, it bridges the gap between SEO workflows and GEO.
AI engines monitored: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek (10+ engines)
Key strengths:
- Keyword-based tracking with auto-generated prompts from real user conversations
- Ten AI engines, the broadest coverage alongside GrackerAI
- Share of Voice and Position metrics with search volume integration
- Transparent, weighted data without “magic numbers”
- Free tools: AI crawl checker, Reddit threads finder, llms.txt generator
- 20+ countries, 10+ languages
Limitations:
- Analytics only, no optimization or content creation
- Relatively young product (founded May 2025)
- Pricing structure not clearly published
Pricing: “All in One” plan structure. No credit card required to start.
Best for: SEO professionals and agencies transitioning from traditional SEO to AI search visibility. The keyword-based approach feels familiar if you’re coming from Ahrefs or Semrush.
7. Free Options Worth Knowing
Semrush AI Brand Visibility: If you already pay for Semrush, their brand monitoring suite now includes basic AI visibility tracking. Limited in scope compared to dedicated tools, but free for existing users.
HubSpot AEO Grader: A free one-off tool that grades your site’s answer engine optimization. Good for a quick health check, not for ongoing monitoring.
LLMrefs free tools: AI crawl checker and llms.txt generator at no cost. Useful utilities even if you don’t subscribe.
Monitoring vs. Optimization: The Real Decision
The biggest distinction in this category isn’t features or pricing. It’s whether you want a dashboard or a doer.
Most AI visibility tools are dashboards. They show you where you appear (or don’t) and leave the rest to you. That works if you have an SEO team that knows what to do with the data.
A smaller group of tools, Fokal and GrackerAI among them, combine monitoring with execution. They don’t just flag that you’re missing from a ChatGPT answer about “best project management tools.” They create the content, fix the technical issues, and build the citations that get you into that answer.
Choose a monitoring tool if:
- You have in-house SEO expertise
- You want granular control over every optimization decision
- You need to report on AI visibility metrics to stakeholders
Choose an optimization tool if:
- You don’t have a dedicated SEO team
- You want AI visibility improved, not just measured
- You’d rather review and approve work than do it yourself
What Actually Moves the Needle
Tracking is step one. But getting found in AI search requires action. The tools that matter most are the ones that help you:
- Identify gaps: Which queries should mention you but don’t?
- Understand sources: What content do AI engines cite? Can you become a cited source?
- Fix technical barriers: Is your site crawlable by AI engines? Do you have proper schema markup?
- Create citation-worthy content: AI engines recommend brands that have comprehensive, well-structured, frequently-cited content
- Track progress: Are changes actually moving your visibility score?
For a deeper dive on the optimization side, read our guide on generative engine optimization and AI visibility tracking.
Bottom Line
If you’re a founder or small team that wants AI visibility handled, Fokal combines monitoring with full execution at a fraction of agency cost.
If you want the most mature monitoring dashboard with strong auditing, Otterly.AI is the safe pick with a low entry point.
If you’re an enterprise team with budget and headcount, Profound gives you the deepest data and autonomous agents.
If you care most about engine coverage and transparent analytics, LLMrefs and Peec AI both cover 7-10+ engines.
If you’re in B2B SaaS and want monitoring plus auto-generated content, GrackerAI is purpose-built for that.
The AI search landscape is moving fast. Whatever tool you pick, the worst choice is waiting. Brands that show up in AI answers today are building moats that compound over time.