Top AI search ranking tools to supercharge your AEO

Top AI search ranking tools to supercharge your AEO

The AI search world means a new set of tools for the digital publishing kit. How will you choose? This guide tells you what to look for, and compares 12 early leaders.

by Sophie Venz

AEO (answer engine optimisation)'s emergence as a tactic to help brands outperform competitors in AI-generated search results has given rise to a new set of tracking and optimisation tools.

As millions of users turn to AI to answer their queries, being cited in these results becomes a powerful advantage. Similar to traditional SEO tools, there are a range of products to help you collect and analyse results to help prepare successful content.

How will you choose the right one? Find one to suit your needs from our guide to 12 early leaders.

New to AI search? Read our detailed guide first →

Cartoon illustration of a man with tan skin and blonde hair standing next to a browser window with a check and a cross on it.


Start creating with Shorthand

It's the fastest way to publish beautifully engaging content marketing, reports, internal comms, and more.

4.7 orange stars lined up in a row with the text G2 rated 4.7/5

What your AEO tool should do

There are four main features to look for in an AI search tracking and optimisation tool. It should measure: 

  • Brand mention frequency: how often your brand is talked about or referenced on digital platforms.
  • Share of voice (SOV): the measure of your brand’s visibility in comparison to its competitors. The metrics used to judge this include advertising impressions, search engine results, and even social media mentions.
  • Citation rate: the measure of how often your brand is mentioned by other brands and websites within a defined period of time. 
  • Content attribution: how easily your content is recognised and attributed to your brand through specific content pieces or design choices. 

The following list of tools considers these four factors (alongside other unique options). Their pricing models are explained to help you choose which AI search tracking tool could suit your needs best.

Cartoon image of a woman with brown skin holding a giant lightbulb plugged into a giant power switch.
Cartoon image of a woman with brown skin holding a giant lightbulb plugged into a giant power switch.

What your AEO tool should do

Cartoon image of a woman with brown skin holding a giant lightbulb plugged into a giant power switch.

There are four main features to look for in an AI search tracking and optimisation tool. It should measure: 

  • Brand mention frequency: how often your brand is talked about or referenced on digital platforms.
  • Share of voice (SOV): the measure of your brand’s visibility in comparison to its competitors. The metrics used to judge this include advertising impressions, search engine results, and even social media mentions.
  • Citation rate: the measure of how often your brand is mentioned by other brands and websites within a defined period of time. 
  • Content attribution: how easily your content is recognised and attributed to your brand through specific content pieces or design choices. 

The following list of tools considers these four factors (alongside other unique options). Their pricing models are explained to help you choose which AI search tracking tool could suit your needs best.

12 top AI search tracking and optimisation tools

While there are many AEO tools available on the market, we have chosen 12 based on their strong G2 ratings at the time of writing, to help you evaluate which one would suit the particular needs of your business most appropriately when considering its features and cost.

Screenshot of the Profound AI search tracking tool's UI.

Image courtesy of Profound

Image courtesy of Profound

Profound

Profound is a startup based in New York City that aims to help brands stay visible in AI-generated responses, whether that’s from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or other AI tools — though some users note it doesn't yet cover all the searches, with Claude and Grok being the two most notable omissions.

Profound rates both brand visibility and topic visibility for customers, and also considers the number of pages indexed, the number of conversions, referrals from AI search, the AI traffic percentage, the share of voice, and the visibility score. It's popular among users, though some note its buggy nature.

Pricing: Profound says it is built for teams of all sizes, but it’s mainly targeted towards enterprises with a global footprint. While it has custom enterprise pricing for larger businesses, those looking to track one single company would look at the Profound Lite offering for US$499 a month.

Screenshot of the Profound AI search tracking tool's UI.

Image courtesy of Profound

Image courtesy of Profound

Profound

Profound is a startup based in New York City that aims to help brands stay visible in AI-generated responses, whether that’s from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, or other AI tools — though some users note it doesn't yet cover all the searches, with Claude and Grok being the two most notable omissions.

Profound rates both brand visibility and topic visibility for customers, and also considers the number of pages indexed, the number of conversions, referrals from AI search, the AI traffic percentage, the share of voice, and the visibility score. It's popular among users, though some note its buggy nature.

Pricing: Profound says it is built for teams of all sizes, but it’s mainly targeted towards enterprises with a global footprint. While it has custom enterprise pricing for larger businesses, those looking to track one single company would look at the Profound Lite offering for US$499 a month.

Peec AI

Peec AI is a Berlin-based startup that targets marketing teams, promising to assist in the tracking and improvement of brand visibility through GEO. Along with monitoring all major AI platforms, it also allows its users to track competitor mentions. 

In addition to benchmarking a business against its competitors, Peec AI helps brands follow and track conversation mentions online, and understand which sources have the most prominent impact, whether that’s X, YouTube, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, or any other.

Pricing: Peec AI offers users a seven-day free trial of its AI tracking tool. After the free trial period ends, there are three different pricing tiers available.

Starter is “ideal for growing startups” at €89 while the next tier up, Peec AI Pro, costs €199 per month.The highest tier plan, Enterprise, starts its customised pricing plans at €499 per month.

A screenshot from Peec AI search tracking tool's user interface.

Image courtesy of Peec AI

Image courtesy of Peec AI

A screenshot from Peec AI search tracking tool's user interface.

Image courtesy of Peec AI

Image courtesy of Peec AI

Peec AI

Peec AI is a Berlin-based startup that targets marketing teams, promising to assist in the tracking and improvement of brand visibility through GEO. Along with monitoring all major AI platforms, it also allows its users to track competitor mentions. 

In addition to benchmarking a business against its competitors, Peec AI helps brands follow and track conversation mentions online, and understand which sources have the most prominent impact, whether that’s X, YouTube, Wikipedia, LinkedIn, or any other.

Pricing: Unlike some competitors, Peec AI offers users a seven-day free trial of its AI tracking tool and the ability to book a demo. After the free trial period ends, there are three different pricing tiers available. 

Starter is “ideal for growing startups” at €89 while the next tier up, Peec AI Pro, costs €199 per month.The highest tier plan, Enterprise, starts its customised pricing plans at €499 per month.

A screenshot from Otterly AI search tracking user interface.

Image courtesy of Otterly AI

Image courtesy of Otterly AI

Otterly AI

Founded in 2024, Otterly AI is an Austrian software company that allows customers to leverage its optimisation insights to improve their visibility. Otterly AI has many features, including a brand visibility index and an AI keyword research tool. 

Users praise its speed to set up and its alerting system, while downsides include its slightly cluttered UI and dashboard. One impressive feature is the offer of a GEO audit, allowing customers to conduct a brand SWOT analysis, discover its primary competitors, and understand a wealth of GEO tactics that they can then implement into their own content creation practices.

Pricing: Otterly AI offers a 14-day free trial of any of its three plans, being Lite US$29, Standard $189 and Premium $489, all of which are paid monthly.

A screenshot from Otterly AI search tracking user interface.

Image courtesy of Otterly AI

Image courtesy of Otterly AI

Otterly AI

Founded in 2024, Otterly AI is an Austrian software company that allows customers to leverage its optimisation insights to improve their visibility. Otterly AI has many features, including a brand visibility index and an AI keyword research tool. 

Users praise its speed to set up and its alerting system, while downsides include its slightly cluttered UI and dashboard. One impressive feature is the offer of a GEO audit, allowing customers to conduct a brand SWOT analysis, discover its primary competitors, and understand a wealth of GEO tactics that they can then implement into their own content creation practices.

Pricing: Otterly AI offers a 14-day free trial of any of its three plans, being Lite US$29, Standard $189 and Premium $489, all of which are paid monthly.

SE Ranking

SE Ranking was founded in 2013, initially targeting SEO needs. Now, the company has branched into AI monitoring, with features such as AI visibility overviews that track brand mention frequency and share of voice.

Users are fond of the new AI tracking tool, though a few, mainly from smaller businesses, note its limited tech support and video tutorial material.

Pricing: Since SE Ranking was first introduced for SEO needs, not all of its plans are tailored towards AI tracking. For these AI inclusions, customers would choose between either the Pro subscription at US$95.40 a month or the Business tier, valued at $207.20 a month. Free trials are available for each of its plans.

A screenshot of SE Ranking AI search tracking tool interface.

Image courtesy of SE Ranking

Image courtesy of SE Ranking

A screenshot of SE Ranking AI search tracking tool interface.

Image courtesy of SE Ranking

Image courtesy of SE Ranking

SE Ranking

SE Ranking was founded in 2013, initially targeting SEO needs. Now, the company has branched into AI monitoring, with features such as AI visibility overviews that track brand mention frequency and share of voice.

Users are fond of the new AI tracking tool, though a few, mainly from smaller businesses, note its limited tech support and video tutorial material.

Pricing: Since SE Ranking was first introduced for SEO needs, not all of its plans are tailored towards AI tracking. For these AI inclusions, customers would choose between either the Pro subscription at US$95.40 a month or the Business tier, valued at $207.20 a month. Free trials are available for each of its plans.

A screenshot of the Scrunch AI GEO tracking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Scrunch AI

Image courtesy of Scrunch AI

Scrunch AI

Built to monitor, analyse and optimise how businesses are found in AI platforms, Scrunch AI is used by major brands such as Dell and Lenovo. It works by analysing how AI interprets your site, and then offers the practical steps that are required to help boost visibility and relevance against your competitors. 

Scrunch AI says its automated recommendations exist to “make sure your brand shows up in the searches that matter most”.

Pricing: Scrunch AI has four different tiers available to its customers paid on a monthly basis: Starter, US$300, Growth at $500, Pro at $1000, and Entreprise, which is a fully customisable solution with individual pricing.

A screenshot of the Scrunch AI GEO tracking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Scrunch AI

Image courtesy of Scrunch AI

Scrunch AI

Built to monitor, analyse and optimise how businesses are found in AI platforms, Scrunch AI is used by major brands such as Dell and Lenovo. It works by analysing how AI interprets your site, and then offers the practical steps that are required to help boost visibility and relevance against your competitors. 

Scrunch AI says its automated recommendations exist to “make sure your brand shows up in the searches that matter most”.

Pricing: Scrunch AI has four different tiers available to its customers paid on a monthly basis: Starter, US$300, Growth at $500, Pro at $1000, and Entreprise, which is a fully customisable solution with individual pricing.

AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ compiles prompt volumes and brand performance into an action centre, allowing businesses to spot AI knowledge gaps and opportunities for improvement. Users praise AthenaHQ’s speedy and helpful support team — particularly important for this fast-developing tool.

Pricing: The monthly cost for each plan is US$295 for the Starter tier, $595 for the Growth option, and a custom pricing model for its Enterprise solution.

A screenshot from AthenaHQ's AEO tracking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of AthenaHQ

Image courtesy of AthenaHQ

A screenshot from AthenaHQ's AEO tracking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of AthenaHQ

Image courtesy of AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ compiles prompt volumes and brand performance into an action centre, allowing businesses to spot AI knowledge gaps and opportunities for improvement. Users praise AthenaHQ’s speedy and helpful support team — particularly important for this fast-developing tool.

Pricing: The monthly cost for each plan is US$295 for the Starter tier, $595 for the Growth option, and a custom pricing model for its Enterprise solution.

A screenshot of Writesonic AI search ranking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Writesonic

Image courtesy of Writesonic

Writesonic

Unlike other AI tracking tools, Writesonic focuses more on helping to write the content to be surfaced on AI search platforms rather than solely analysing what has already been created.

The main criticism users appear to have is the quality of the AI copy it generates, which still requires editing and human oversight. It also includes competitor analysis, detailed web research, and strategic internal link tracking.

Pricing: Writesonic's AI search visibility feature is only available on the Professional plan and above. The Professional plan costs US$249 per month, while the Advanced plan is $399 a month. Its highest tier, Enterprise, is offered with a custom pricing plan to suit the team's needs.

A screenshot of Writesonic AI search ranking tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Writesonic

Image courtesy of Writesonic

Writesonic

Unlike other AI tracking tools, Writesonic focuses more on helping to write the content to be surfaced on AI search platforms rather than solely analysing what has already been created.

The main criticism users appear to have is the quality of the AI copy it generates, which still requires editing and human oversight. It also includes competitor analysis, detailed web research, and strategic internal link tracking.

Pricing: Writesonic's AI search visibility feature is only available on the Professional plan and above. The Professional plan costs US$249 per month, while the Advanced plan is $399 a month. Its highest tier, Enterprise, is offered with a custom pricing plan to suit the team's needs.

Surfer AI

Similarly to Writesonic, Surfer AI is a tool to generate articles geared for AI search performance. And again, some users point out that the AI content it generates can be generic and require editing. Others feel the pricing setup is on the expensive side.

The platform will also track your brand’s visibility across AI chats and generative search models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and AI overviews, and provides weekly content performance maps complete with daily rank detection.

Pricing: The Essential Surfer AI plan is US$99 a month while the Scale plan is $219 per month. The highest tier available at Surfer AI is its Enterprise plan which offers customised pricing. All of Surfer AI’s plans come with a seven-day money back guarantee.

A screenshot of Surfer AI GEO writing tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Surfer AI

Image courtesy of Surfer AI

A screenshot of Surfer AI GEO writing tool user interface.

Image courtesy of Surfer AI

Image courtesy of Surfer AI

Surfer AI

Similarly to Writesonic, Surfer AI is a tool to generate articles geared for AI search performance. And again, some users point out that the AI content it generates can be generic and require editing. Others feel the pricing setup is on the expensive side.

The platform will also track your brand’s visibility across AI chats and generative search models such as ChatGPT, Gemini and AI overviews, and provides weekly content performance maps complete with daily rank detection.

Pricing: The Essential Surfer AI plan is US$99 a month while the Scale plan is $219 per month. The highest tier available at Surfer AI is its Enterprise plan which offers customised pricing. All of Surfer AI’s plans come with a seven-day money back guarantee.

Nightwatch AI search tracking tool user interface screenshot.

Image courtesy of Nightwatch

Image courtesy of Nightwatch

Nightwatch

Nightwatch is a more localised model of SEO tracking, allowing businesses to monitor rankings in specific regions and cities. It has since expanded its offering to include AI-specific tools that monitor GEO as well. Nightwatch's SEO capabilities are popular among reviewers, though its AI tracking is yet to receive much publicly available feedback, reflecting its infancy.

Pricing: Nightwatch offers a 14-day free trial period of its platform. Unlike many of its competitors, Nightwatch doesn’t offer tiered subscriptions. Instead, its platform is valued in terms of how many daily tracked keywords the user desires (with 16 different options promoted on its site). 

For example, the lowest cost price is US$39 a month and provides 250 daily tracked keywords. For 5000 daily tracked keywords, a customer will pay $399 a month, while 10,000 daily tracked keywords would cost $699 a month. At the higher end of the scale, from 20,000 keywords up to 100,000 and above, Nightwatch works on customisable pricing plans.

Nightwatch AI search tracking tool user interface screenshot.

Image courtesy of Nightwatch

Image courtesy of Nightwatch

Nightwatch

Nightwatch is a more localised model of SEO performance tracking, allowing businesses to monitor rankings in specific regions and cities. It has since expanded its offering to include AI-specific tools that monitor GEO as well. Nightwatch's SEO capabilities are popular among reviewers, though its AI tracking is yet to receive much publicly available feedback, reflecting its infancy.

Pricing: Nightwatch offers a 14-day free trial period of its platform. Unlike many of its competitors, Nightwatch doesn’t offer tiered subscriptions. Instead, its platform is valued in terms of how many daily tracked keywords the user desires (with 16 different options promoted on its site). 

For example, the lowest cost price is US$39 a month and provides 250 daily tracked keywords. For 5000 daily tracked keywords, a customer will pay $399 a month, while 10,000 daily tracked keywords would cost $699 a month. At the higher end of the scale, from 20,000 keywords up to 100,000 and above, Nightwatch works on customisable pricing plans.

HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

The HubSpot AI Engine Optimisation Grader (AEO Grader) is a free AI visibility tool. It works by analysing a brand’s AI visibility, sentiment and competitive positioning across AI platforms, and then grading this performance against the competitive landscape. 

The AEO Grader considers a brand’s market position, share of voice, source credibility and more, including all of it into its data rich evaluation. According to one review, it's an accurate tool that does its best in weighing up varying results from different LLM engines, though some industries may benefit from it more than others.

Pricing: Free.

A screenshot from a pdf document with text, two charts, and breakout box sections.

Image courtesy of HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

Image courtesy of HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

A screenshot from a pdf document with text, two charts, and breakout box sections.

Image courtesy of HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

Image courtesy of HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

HubSpot’s AI Engine Optimisation Grader

The HubSpot AI Engine Optimisation Grader (AEO Grader) is a free AI visibility tool. It works by analysing a brand’s AI visibility, sentiment and competitive positioning across AI platforms, and then grading this performance against the competitive landscape. 

The AEO Grader considers a brand’s market position, share of voice, source credibility and more, including all of it into its data rich evaluation. According to one review, it's an accurate tool that does its best in weighing up varying results from different LLM engines, though some industries may benefit from it more than others.

Pricing: Free.

Still image of a digital magazine flipbook page turning.

Image courtesy of Semrush AI Toolkit

Image courtesy of Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush says its AI toolkit works to turn “AI mentions into business wins”. The platform is designed to uncover how AI platforms describe, position and talk about a brand, using its visibility overview tool to help users explore growth opportunities. 

Again, as a tool that was initially created for SEO needs, the AI capabilities of the system are still in progress. One review praised its insight, saying existing Semrush subscribers in particular will find benefits, though other smaller businesses and bloggers might find the pricing prohibitive.

Pricing: Still in its infancy as an AI tracking tool, Semrush only offers a one-tier subscription to the AI Toolkit. This ‘Base’ tier is valued at US$99 a month per domain and is billed annually.

Still image of a digital magazine flipbook page turning.

Image courtesy of Semrush AI Toolkit

Image courtesy of Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush says its AI toolkit works to turn “AI mentions into business wins”. The platform is designed to uncover how AI platforms describe, position and talk about a brand, using its visibility overview tool to help users explore growth opportunities. 

Again, as a tool that was initially created for SEO needs, the AI capabilities of the system are still in progress. One review praised its insight, saying existing Semrush subscribers in particular will find benefits, though other smaller businesses and bloggers might find the pricing prohibitive.

Pricing: Still in its infancy as an AI tracking tool, Semrush only offers a one-tier subscription to the AI Toolkit. This ‘Base’ tier is valued at US$99 a month per domain and is billed annually.

Ahrefs Brand Radar

Ahrefs was founded back in 2010, and has since added capability to help marketers turn SEO into AEO. The Brand Radar looks at impressions, web visibility and share of voice across major AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It not only ranks a business against its competitors on key data points, but tracks the competitive scope available as well. Due to its pricetag, two reviewers suggested it's worthwhile for marketers who are serious about brand monitoring.

Pricing: There are three plans available with Ahrefs, all of which are paid on a monthly cycle. The Lite plan is US$129, the Standard plan is $249, and the Advanced plan is $449.

A screenshot from a pdf document with text, two charts, and breakout box sections.

Image courtesy of Ahrefs Brand Radar

Image courtesy of Ahrefs Brand Radar

A screenshot from a pdf document with text, two charts, and breakout box sections.

Image courtesy of Ahrefs Brand Radar

Image courtesy of Ahrefs Brand Radar

Ahrefs Brand Radar

Ahrefs was founded back in 2010, and now says its innovative tool can help businesses turn SEO into AEO. The Brand Radar looks at impressions, web visibility and share of voice across major AI platforms such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It not only ranks a business against its competitors on key data points, but tracks the competitive scope available as well. Due to its pricetag, two reviewers suggested it's worthwhile for marketers who are serious about brand monitoring.

Pricing: There are three plans available, all of which are paid on a monthly cycle. The Lite plan is US$129, the Standard plan is $249, and the Advanced plan is $449.

Quick recap

  • Choose an AI search engine tracking tool that covers brand mention frequency, share of voice, citation rate, and content attribution.
  • Competitor analysis should also be prioritised, as it can help you find opportunities and gaps to prepare optimised content for.
  • Generative tools that write optimised copy for AI search performance can be useful, particularly for teams with limited resources, but it's important to edit for voice and accuracy prior to publishing.