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Best AEO tool: prices and who each suits
In this article
There isn't one best AEO tool (answer engine optimisation: getting your product named when people ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity or Google's AI answers). There's a best one for your budget, and for whoever will act on what it finds. Otterly.ai is the cheapest steady read at $29 a month. Scrunch and AthenaHQ cover the most models. Semrush, Ahrefs and SE Ranking are the smallest new bill if you already pay for one of them. Frase puts the tracking and the writing in one tool. Profound now sells to a single brand only through Enterprise, by demo. AfterLaunch suits a company with nobody free to act on what a tracker finds.
Every price here was read off the vendor's own pricing page on 23 October 2026. Prices in this category change often, and Profound dropped its self-serve plans for a single brand between August and October, so check the page before you pay.
- Otterly.ai's Lite plan is $29 a month for 15 prompts, the lowest paid entry on this page. AthenaHQ's Essential plan is free, with 300 credits a month.
- Scrunch asks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews and Meta on every plan, from $300 a month or $250 billed annually.
- Profound's page shows a free 7-day trial and an Enterprise plan sold by demo. There's no self-serve plan for a single brand any more, and an agency plan is listed without a price.
- A tracker measures. Someone still writes the page, fixes the listing and answers the thread, so pick by who that person is.
What an AEO tool measures
Every tool on this page does the same core job. You give it prompts, the questions your customers type into an assistant. It asks them on a schedule, reads the answers and records whether your brand was named, which page got cited and which competitors showed up instead. They differ on how many prompts you get, which models get asked, how often, and what happens to the result once it's in.
The tools side by side
Prices come from each vendor's own page, read on 23 October 2026. Where a page shows two prices, monthly billing comes first.
| Tool | What it measures | Price on its page, 23 Oct 2026 | The one reason to pick it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Otterly.ai | Mentions and citations on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot. Gemini, AI Mode and Claude are paid add-ons | Lite $29 a month for 15 prompts, Standard $189 for 100, Premium $489 for 400. $25, $160 and $422 billed annually | The cheapest steady read |
| Peec AI | Mentions, competitors and sources across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Copilot, Perplexity and Gemini. You pick three models per plan | Starter $95 a month for 50 prompts, Pro $245 for 150, Advanced $495 for 350 | Daily runs across several projects for an SEO team |
| AthenaHQ | Tracking with recommendations. Essential asks five engines, Starter 11 models | Essential free with 300 credits a month, Starter $295 a month | Free to start, the longest model list once you pay |
| Scrunch | Monitoring on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews and Meta | Starter $300 a month or $250 billed annually, Growth $500 or $417. 7-day free trial, no card | Claude and Meta on the entry plan |
| Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit | 25 custom prompts on ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity | $99 a month per domain, billed annually | You already pay for Semrush |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Brand visibility in AI answers, with custom prompt packs from $50 a month | Add-on from $199 a month, on top of an Ahrefs plan from $129 | You already pay for Ahrefs |
| SE Ranking | Rank tracking and audits, with AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT tracking | Core $129 a month or $103.20 billed annually, AI Search add-on $89. 14-day free trial | SEO and AI tracking on one bill |
| Frase | AI citation tracking joined to a content editor. Starter asks ChatGPT and Google AI | Starter $49 a month or $39 billed yearly, for 50 prompts. 7-day free trial, no card | Tracking and writing in one tool |
| Profound | Enterprise AI search analytics across up to nine engines | Free 7-day trial, then Enterprise by demo | An enterprise team with someone who owns AI search |
| AfterLaunch | Weekly AI visibility on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, plus SEO, competitors and channels, ranked into growth moves with a draft in your voice | Free deep scan, 14 days free with no card, then $149 a month | Nobody on the team has time to act on a report |
How to pick
- If the bill decides it, start with Otterly's Lite plan or AthenaHQ's free tier. You give up prompt volume and some models for the saving.
- If you need Claude, Meta or Grok in the read, Scrunch covers the first two on every plan and AthenaHQ's Starter covers all three. Otterly sells Claude as an add-on.
- If you already pay for Semrush, Ahrefs or SE Ranking, turn its AI tracking on for a month first. It's the smallest new spend here.
- If you want the tracker and the writing tool to be the same product, Frase is built that way.
- If you're an enterprise team, Profound sells to you by demo.
- If nobody acts on the report you have now, a cheaper or wider report won't change that. Look at which tool drafts the work.
Where AfterLaunch fits
AfterLaunch runs the same weekly check on ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, and reads your SEO, your competitors and your channels beside it. Then it ranks what to do next as growth moves: the page to write, the listing to fix, the thread worth answering, each with its evidence and a working draft in your voice. You or your AI finishes it, and nothing goes out until you say yes.
It's one plan at $149 a month after 14 free days, and the deep scan costs nothing. If a number to watch is all you want, Otterly or AthenaHQ's free tier costs less. If you'd like the next piece of work drafted too, that's the part AfterLaunch does.
Peec AI alternatives, with current prices →What AEO is, in plain words →What is the best AEO tool for a small team?
For the smallest bill, Otterly.ai's Lite plan at $29 a month or AthenaHQ's free Essential plan, both read on 23 October 2026. For a team already on Semrush, Ahrefs or SE Ranking, the AI add-on to the tool it has. For a team that needs the work drafted as well as measured, AfterLaunch at $149 a month after a 14-day free trial.
Is there a free AEO tool?
AthenaHQ's Essential plan is free with 300 credits a month. Scrunch, Frase and Profound offer 7-day free trials and SE Ranking a 14-day one. AfterLaunch's deep scan is free and needs no card.
How is an AEO tool different from an SEO tool?
An SEO tool reads where your pages rank on a results page. An AEO tool reads the answer an assistant writes and records whether you're named in it. Semrush, Ahrefs and SE Ranking now sell AEO tracking as part of, or on top of, their SEO plans.
How much does an AEO tool cost?
On 23 October 2026 the paid entry prices on this page ran from $29 a month (Otterly.ai Lite) to $300 a month (Scrunch Starter, or $250 billed annually). For a single brand, Profound sells only by demo, at a custom price.
- Otterly.ai, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- Peec AI, plan summary on its own site, read 23 October 2026
- AthenaHQ, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- Scrunch, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- Semrush, AI Visibility Toolkit pricing, read 23 October 2026
- Ahrefs, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- SE Ranking, Subscription plans, read 23 October 2026
- Frase, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- Profound, Pricing, read 23 October 2026
- AfterLaunch, Pricing
The deep scan asks ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Perplexity the questions your customers ask, and shows who they name. Free, no card.
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