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Best AI visibility tools in 2026
An in-depth look at AI visibility tools: who is cheapest to monitor, who includes Gemini, and who actually hands you a playbook.
Which job are you buying when you shop AI visibility tools?
I keep seeing “best AEO tools” lists that mash monitors, SEO suites, and enterprise platforms into one ranking. That helps nobody. You are buying a job.
You might want a scan this week and a ranked list of what to ship. Someone else wants a cheap daily monitor. A third buyer already pays for an SEO suite and just wants the AI add-on. A fourth needs nine engines and an enterprise contract. Pick the job first. The tool follows.
- Fast scan + playbook: CompeteScan. Free first scan. Starter is $49/mo with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.
- Cheap monitor: Otterly Lite at $29/mo. Four base engines. Gemini is an add-on.
- Already-in-SEO-suite: Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit or Ahrefs Brand Radar.
- Enterprise AEO: Profound Growth or Enterprise, once you need more than ChatGPT.
Which engines actually send the traffic
Shop tools against the engines that send people to websites, not against a vendor’s engine list. Statcounter’s worldwide AI chatbot referral share for August 2026 is the public number I trust for that job.
| Engine | Share |
|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 79.4% |
| Gemini | 10.9% |
| Perplexity | 4.31% |
| Other | 5.4%Copilot 2.79% + Claude 2.57% + DeepSeek 0.02% |
These shares are clicks from AI chatbots onto other sites, not visits to chatgpt.com. ChatGPT still sends about four in five of those referrals. Gemini is second. Perplexity is small as a destination and larger as a referrer because it cites sources in the answer. Other is Copilot, Claude, and DeepSeek added together.
ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity together are about 95 percent of that mix. A tracker that only queries ChatGPT is measuring the majority of clicks and missing the rest of the shortlist. That is why we run those three engines on Free and on Starter.
Source: Statcounter Global Stats, AI chatbot market share (worldwide, August 2026).
AI visibility tools compared
Numbers below come from each vendor’s public pricing page on 2026-09-08. Entry prices link to those pages. We did not run paid trials of Profound, Peec, or Otterly. Peec Starter is $95/mo billed monthly, 50 prompts, 3 models.
| Capability | CompeteScan | Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit | Ahrefs Brand Radar | Profound | Peec | Otterly |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | Free, then $49/mo Starter | $99/mo Base | $129/mo Lite | $99/mo Starter, billed monthly | $95/mo Starter, billed monthly | $29/mo Lite |
| Billing note | Free is one scan. Starter and Pro are monthly. | Base Report is $10/mo and Pro Report is $20/mo. CompeteScan includes the report. | Lite includes Brand Radar and 5 tracked AI prompts. | Starter is billed monthly. Growth is $399/mo billed yearly. | 50 prompts. Choose 3 models. | Monthly list price. Annual Lite shows $25/mo on their page. |
| Engines on entry | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity on Free and Starter | Mentions ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini, and Perplexity | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, AI Overviews, AI Mode, plus Claude. | ChatGPT only on Starter. Growth adds Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. | Choose 3 models | ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot. Gemini, Claude, and AI Mode are add-ons ($9–$439/mo by plan). |
| Prompt cap | 5 on Free, 20 on Starter, 50 on Pro | 25 custom prompts daily. Semrush One Starter 50 / Pro+ 100 / Advanced 200. | 5 tracked AI prompts on Lite. 10 on Standard, 20 on Advanced. | 50 unique prompts on Starter, 100 on Growth ($399/mo billed yearly) | 50 | 15 on Lite, 100 on Standard ($189), 400 on Premium ($489) |
| Cadence | One-shot on Free, weekly on Starter, daily on Pro | Daily prompt tracking | Daily on paid plans | Daily | Not listed on their public pricing page | Daily |
| Playbook | Ranked playbook of on-site, content, and citation fixes. Shareable report included. | Site audit for AI readiness. Scheduled reports are paid add-ons. | Mentions, citations, and cited pages. Built for people already in Ahrefs. | Agents and content tools. Dashboard-first on the public plans. | Recommended actions and gap analysis are listed as product areas | Recommendations and GEO audit. Not a ranked CompeteScan-style playbook. |
| Free path | First scan free, no credit card | No free trial on the AI Visibility Toolkit | Free AI visibility checker preview. | Not listed on their public pricing page | Not listed on their public pricing page | Free trial listed on their pricing page |
Who should skip which tool
Skip Profound Starter if you need Gemini. Their own grid lists ChatGPT only at $99/mo billed monthly. Three-engine coverage starts at Growth, $399/mo billed yearly.
Skip Otterly Lite if Gemini is non-negotiable and you do not want add-ons. Their Lite page is clear: Claude, Google AI Mode, and Gemini are extras.
Skip Semrush Toolkit if you do not already need Semrush for Google. Base is $99/mo, 25 prompts, no trial. Scheduled reports are add-ons: $10/mo for Base Report, $20/mo for Pro Report. We include the report.
Skip Ahrefs Brand Radar as your only tool if you are not in Ahrefs. Lite starts at $129/mo and includes 5 tracked AI prompts. The free checker is a preview, which is useful, but it is not a playbook.
Skip CompeteScan if your only question is “where do we rank on Google.” We do not replace keyword rank tracking. We track whether ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity name you.
What a real scan looks like
I would rather show you a scan we actually ran than a stock screenshot. The Linear sample report and the Coinbase sample report are Pro scans from our engine. You will see share of voice, losing prompts, citations, and the playbook.
That is the bar I use when someone asks for the best AI visibility tools. Can I see mention vs cite, named rivals, and a next action? If the page only sells a dashboard, keep shopping.
If that is the job you have, run the free checker. Five prompts. Three engines. About a minute. First scan free, no credit card. Otterly lists a trial. Profound does not list one on its public pricing page.
FAQ: best AI visibility tools
What are the best AI visibility tools right now?
Are AEO tools the same as AI visibility tools?
Which AI visibility tracker includes Gemini on the cheap plan?
Can I see a real scan before I buy?
Which AI engines should an AI visibility tool cover?
Sources
- Statcounter: AI chatbot market share (worldwide) (as of 2026-08)