Best AI Visibility Tools (2026)
An AI visibility tool measures how often your brand is mentioned and cited in AI search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. This page compares the best tools in 2026 on price, features, free plan and metric rigour.
How we chose
- 1Engine coverage— We evaluated the number of engines tracked, prioritising ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews.
- 2Metric rigour— We favoured tools that publish confidence-interval, repeatable metrics over single-run snapshots.
- 3Pricing transparency— Tools with published pricing scored positively; requiring a demo to see pricing was noted as a negative.
- 4Free-to-start— A free plan or a genuine self-serve trial (no credit card required) is a key criterion for fast evaluation.
- 5GEO actions— Does the tool only show you where you stand, or does it tell you how to fix it too?
- 6Disclosure— This list is made by CiteLens. We ranked ourselves #1 and explain our reasoning transparently below.
Ranked tools
This list is made by CiteLens and we ranked ourselves #1. In the interest of transparency, here is our reasoning: CiteLens offers a free plan, a 14-day self-serve trial, a 95% Wilson confidence interval on every score (the only tool in this list that publicly advertises this), dual brand + domain citation tracking, a GEO/crawlability audit and plans from $79/mo — we believe that is the most balanced recommendation.
Best for
Large brands and agencies with dedicated analytics teams and enterprise budgets that need broad model coverage and procurement-grade compliance.
- Prompt Volumes — panel data on what real users ask AI, widely cited as unique.
- Broad coverage: 10+ engines including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews.
- No public pricing — onboarding is sales-led and a demo is required before you can see the product.
- No free plan and no advertised self-serve free trial, so quick validation is hard.
Profound does not publish pricing; access is via a demo / sales call. Third-party sources cite figures from roughly $499/mo up to $2,000+/mo for enterprise contracts, but no authoritative public price exists and there's no free plan. CiteLens, by contrast, is fully self-serve: a free plan, a 14-day trial, and paid plans from $79/mo.
Best for
Marketers, agencies and small teams that want clean dashboards and an affordable, no-credit-card way to start tracking AI search.
- Genuinely affordable entry: a $29/mo Lite plan and a real 14-day no-credit-card trial.
- Clean, intuitive dashboards praised for fast setup and time saved over manual prompt testing.
- Core plans cover 4 engines; reaching Gemini, Google AI Mode or Claude requires paid add-ons.
- Prompt caps (15 on Lite, 100 on Standard, 400 on Premium) can constrain teams tracking many topics.
Otterly.AI publishes its pricing: Lite $29/mo (15 prompts), Standard $189/mo (100 prompts), Premium $489/mo (400 prompts), plus custom Enterprise — all on 4 core engines, with extra engines and prompts as paid add-ons. There's a 14-day free trial but no free-forever plan. CiteLens starts at $79/mo and adds a free plan plus a 95% confidence interval on every score.
Best for
EU marketing teams and agencies that value GDPR data residency, unlimited seats and a clean reporting dashboard.
- EU/GDPR-first architecture with European (Berlin) data residency — appealing to EU buyers.
- Unlimited seats on every plan and a clean, uncluttered dashboard that's easy to read.
- Reviewers describe it as more 'what's happening' than 'how to fix it' — optimization guidance is limited (Actions is beta).
- Standard plans cover only 3 base engines; broader coverage needs paid add-ons.
Peec AI publishes pricing in euros, with separate standard and agency tracks. Recent third-party reviews cite Starter around €89/mo (~25 prompts), Pro around €199/mo, and Enterprise €499+/mo, with extra engines as add-ons; verify current numbers on peec.ai. CiteLens starts at $79/mo, adds a free plan, public API on paid plans, and a 95% confidence interval on every score.
Best for
Mid-market and enterprise brands and agencies that want deep AI-crawler analytics and are betting on an 'agent-ready' web presence.
- Strong AI bot-traffic analytics: which crawlers (GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot) hit which pages.
- Broad, configurable engine coverage and clean filtering by topic, persona, model and region.
- The most repeated critique: optimization is weak — Insights is beta and there's no integrated content editor, so you do the fixing yourself.
- Its flagship Agent Experience Platform is reported to be in limited testing, not broadly available.
Scrunch AI publishes pricing: Starter $250/mo billed annually (~$300 month-to-month), Growth $417/mo annually (~$500), and custom Enterprise, with a 7-day Starter trial and no free plan. CiteLens starts lower at $79/mo, adds a free plan and 14-day trial, and reports a 95% confidence interval plus step-by-step recommendations rather than beta insights.
Best for
Marketing teams already invested in the Semrush ecosystem who want AI visibility data in the same dashboard as their SEO keywords, backlinks and site audits.
- Integrated with the full Semrush SEO suite — AI visibility lives in the same dashboard as keywords, backlinks and site audit.
- Brand Performance covers share of voice, sentiment and narratives with actionable recommendations.
- AI visibility is an add-on ($99/mo) rather than the core focus; effective entry cost is higher than CiteLens's $79/mo, and there is no free-forever plan for the toolkit (only a separate free one-off checker).
- Standalone prompt tracking is capped at up to 25 prompts.
The Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit is $99/month as a standalone add-on, or bundled inside Semrush One from $199/month (as of June 2026 public sources). There is no free trial for the toolkit — Semrush offers a separate free AI Search Visibility Checker as a one-off tool, but that is not the paid toolkit. CiteLens, by contrast, is purpose-built for AI visibility: a free plan, a 14-day trial, and paid plans from $79/mo with a 95% confidence interval on every score.
Feature comparison
| Feature | CiteLens | Profound | Otterly.AI | Peec AI | Scrunch AI | Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brand-mention tracking | ||||||
| Domain-citation tracking | Source-level | Not advertised — verify on semrush.com | ||||
| 95% confidence interval (Wilson) | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised | Not advertised | ||
| GEO / crawlability audit | ||||||
| Step-by-step recommendations | Beta | Beta | ||||
| Free plan | ||||||
| Free trial | 14-day | Demo required | 14-day | 7-day* | 7-day | No free trial |
| Starting paid price | $79/mo | Custom / sales-led | From $29/mo | From €89/mo | From $250/mo | From $99/mo (add-on) |
| Public API + keys | Enterprise only | Agency tier only | Enterprise only | Not advertised | ||
| White-label for agencies | Not advertised | |||||
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot… | 10+ engines | 4 core (+add-ons) | 3 base (+add-ons) | ~8 engines | 5 engines (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity) |
Data compiled from public sources in June 2026. "Not advertised" means a capability isn't publicly promoted, not that it's confirmed absent. Visit each tool's website for the latest information.
How to choose
Small team or freelancer?
If you want a low-commitment start, CiteLens's free plan or Otterly's 14-day no-credit-card trial are both strong entry points. Both offer core brand tracking and competitor benchmarking.
Large brand or agency?
If you need broad engine coverage and enterprise compliance, Profound is worth evaluating — factor in the demo-required onboarding and custom pricing. CiteLens also supports agencies with white-label and a public API.
Prioritising EU data residency?
Peec AI's Berlin-based, GDPR-first architecture satisfies EU procurement requirements. Its unlimited seats on every plan are also noteworthy for large teams.
Already a Semrush subscriber?
The Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit lets you see AI visibility data in the same dashboard as your SEO data. But if AI visibility is your primary need, CiteLens is the lower-cost, purpose-built option.
For more context, see our GEO guide, CiteLens features or the pricing page.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AI visibility tool?
As of 2026, CiteLens stands out with a free plan, 14-day trial, 95% Wilson confidence interval on every score and a built-in GEO audit. Profound is an alternative for large enterprise budgets; Otterly is worth considering for price-conscious teams.
Are there free AI visibility tools?
Yes. CiteLens has a free-forever plan — you can start tracking your brand with a few prompts immediately. Otterly offers a 14-day no-credit-card trial. Profound, Scrunch and the Semrush AI Toolkit do not offer a free-forever plan.
What is the best tool for monitoring AI Overviews?
CiteLens tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews in a single panel with a 95% Wilson confidence interval. Profound also covers AI Overviews across 10+ engines, but requires a sales-led onboarding process.
What is the best AI visibility tool for agencies?
CiteLens is agency-friendly with white-label, multi-workspace and a public API, starting at $79/mo with a free plan. Otterly also targets agencies with unlimited team seats, though it lacks confidence-interval scoring.
Why do confidence intervals matter in AI visibility tools?
AI answers can vary between each run; a single snapshot can be misleading. CiteLens applies a 95% Wilson confidence interval to every score so you can distinguish real movement from random noise. It is the only tool in this list that publicly advertises this capability.
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