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AI Visibility Tools: Peec AI, Otterly, Profound, Semrush and Ahrefs Compared

AI visibility tools

AI visibility tools check whether ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and other AI engines mention or cite your brand. This guide compares five of them on price, prompt limits and the engines they cover, using the vendors’ own pages, and shows how to check for free first.

  • vendor prices read on 9 November
  • mentions vs citations explained
  • a free do-it-yourself method

// note: I have not tested these tools hands-on for this guide. Facts come from the vendors’ own pages and from Google, and prices change often, so check the vendor before you buy.

THE SHORT ANSWER

Which AI Visibility Tool Should You Use?

Most small businesses do not need to pay for one yet. Google says there is nothing special to do to appear in AI Overviews and AI Mode beyond normal SEO, and it reports that traffic in Search Console’s Performance report (Google Search Central). Start with the free method further down, and pay only when you need to track many prompts over time.

  • Small business, paid tracking: Peec AI or OtterlyAI
  • Already pay for Ahrefs: Brand Radar, as an add-on
  • Already pay for Semrush: the AI Visibility Toolkit
  • Large brand or agency: Profound, by quote
  • Just curious: run the prompts yourself, free
do-i-need-one.txt
$ before you pay · example
[1] do customers ask AI engines about your field?
[2] can you check 20 prompts by hand each month?
[3] do you need history, many prompts or competitors?
[4] if no to 3, skip the paid tool
// a tool measures visibility, it does not create it
what they measure

Mentions, Citations and Share of Voice

These tools run a saved list of questions, called prompts, on AI engines and record what comes back. Three measures matter.

// mention

Your brand is named

The AI answer includes your brand or business name in its text, with or without a link. This is the first thing most tools count.

// citation

Your page is a source

The answer lists your URL or domain as a source. A citation can happen without a mention, and a mention without a citation, so a good tool separates them.

// share of voice

You versus competitors

Across your whole prompt list, how often are you named compared with the businesses you compete with. It is a trend to watch, not a ranking.

// AI answers are generated text, so a single check is a sample. Tools repeat prompts for that reason, and so should you.

side by side

AI Visibility Tools Compared

Prices are the vendors’ own list prices in USD, read on 9 November. Where a vendor does not publish a price, the table says so instead of guessing.

Peec AIOtterlyAIAhrefs Brand RadarSemrush AI toolkitProfound
Entry price$95 a month (Starter)$29 or $25 a month (Lite)$50 a month (custom prompts add-on)not stated on its help pagecustom; free 7-day trial
Prompts at entry50155not stated50 in the trial
Engines at entry3 of 6, your choiceChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, CopilotIndex: AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, CopilotAI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, GeminiChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews in the trial
More enginesadd-on models from $30 a monthAI Mode, Gemini, Claude as add-onsClaude on custom promptsnot statedup to 9 on Enterprise
Free way to tryfree trial, length not statedfree trial, length not statedfree AI Visibility Checkernot statedfree 7-day trial
Annual billing15% discount15% discountnot statednot statedannual quotes
Fits bestsmall teams wanting clear pricestight budgetsexisting Ahrefs usersexisting Semrush usersenterprise brands, agencies

// “not stated” means the vendor page I read did not say. Third-party roundups quote different numbers for several of these tools, so confirm on the vendor’s site.

editorial-scores.csvfor small businesses
toolcoverageprice clarityentry costtry firstscore
Peec AI79677.3
OtterlyAI74987.0
Ahrefs Brand Radar96576.8
Semrush AI toolkit74555.3
Profound83275.0

// each criterion is 0 to 10; the score is the average.

HOW I SCORED

The Scores Are Editorial

I scored each tool from its public pages, not from using it. Four equal criteria, from the point of view of a small business: how many engines it covers at entry level, how clear its pricing is, what the cheapest way in costs, and whether you can try it before paying.

That is why Profound scores low here even though it is built for large brands: it publishes no self-serve price, and a small business cannot easily compare it. A score of 5 does not mean a bad tool. It means a poor fit for a small budget.

No provider can pay for a place or a score, and this page has no affiliate links.

the five tools

Peec AI, Otterly, Ahrefs, Semrush and Profound Reviewed

Each review sticks to what the vendor states. I flag anything unclear.

P

Peec AIclearest pricing

Prompt-based tracking, sold in four tiers

$95per month, Starter
Prompts
Starter 50, Pro 150, Advanced 350
Engines
3 chosen from ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini, Naver AI
Countries
Starter 1; Pro and Advanced 3
Seats
unlimited
Higher tiers
Pro $245, Advanced $495
Free trial
yes, length not stated

Peec publishes every self-serve price on one page, which is rare in this category. Starter, Pro and Advanced each let you pick three engines out of six; extra models cost $30, $70 or $140 a month depending on the tier. Perplexity is listed only for Enterprise, so it matters if your customers use that engine. Annual billing is listed at 15% off (Peec AI).

// good to know
  • Clear prices and unlimited seats on every tier
  • 50 prompts at entry is generous for a small business
  • You choose which three engines to track
// watch out for
  • Only three engines at entry; more cost extra
  • Perplexity is Enterprise-only on the pricing page
  • Trial length and card requirements are not stated

// source: peec.ai/pricing

O

OtterlyAIcheapest entry

Low entry price, add-ons for extra engines

$29per month, Lite (page also shows $25)
Prompts
Lite 15, Standard 100, Premium 400
Engines on all plans
ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot
Add-on engines
AI Mode, Gemini, Claude
Higher tiers
Standard $189 or $160; Premium $489 or $422
Extra prompts
+100 for $99 a month (Standard, Premium)
Free trial
yes, length not stated

Otterly has the lowest entry price of the five and includes four engines on every plan. Its pricing page shows two sets of prices for each tier and does not say which is current, which could be monthly versus annual billing but is not explained. Gemini, AI Mode and Claude are paid add-ons, and the add-ons get dearer on bigger plans (OtterlyAI).

// good to know
  • Cheapest way in at about $25 to $29 a month
  • Four engines included on every plan
  • Free trial with no commitment
// watch out for
  • Only 15 prompts on Lite
  • Two different prices shown for each plan
  • Gemini and AI Mode cost extra

// source: otterly.ai/pricing

A

Ahrefs Brand Radarfor Ahrefs users

An add-on to the Ahrefs platform

$50+per month, custom prompts add-on
Visibility Index
from $199 a month
Custom prompts
from $50 a month; tiers of 5, 10, 20 and 83+ prompts
Index engines
AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot
Custom prompts add
Claude
Free
AI Visibility Checker preview; web analytics
Also tracks
AI traffic and AI crawler visits

Ahrefs describes Brand Radar as tracking mentions in answer text and citations of your pages, with competitor benchmarks, sentiment and AI share of voice. The Visibility Index starts at $199 a month and covers 83 prompts a day and 2,500 checks a month, with overage at $0.020 a check. Custom prompt tracking starts at $50 a month. The page also shows a $699 figure for all models without clear context, so confirm the real price with Ahrefs (Ahrefs).

// good to know
  • Widest engine list of the five, including Claude on custom prompts
  • Free checker lets you preview before paying
  • Adds AI traffic and crawler data in one place
// watch out for
  • Sold as add-ons on top of an Ahrefs plan
  • Prompt Tracking is included with paid Ahrefs Lite and above, so total cost is more than the add-on
  • An unexplained $699 figure on the page

// source: ahrefs.com/brand-radar

S

Semrush AI Visibility Toolkitfor Semrush users

Brand performance reports inside Semrush

$99per extra domain slot
Platforms
Google AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini
Reports
Brand Performance, Perception, Narrative Drivers, Questions, Visibility Overview, Competitor and Prompt Research
Default scope
one domain and location
Extra domains
$99 each
Base price
not on the help page
Free trial
not stated

Semrush’s help page describes Share of Voice, brand sentiment and narrative driver reports across four AI platforms. Each AI Visibility subscription adds one brand or domain slot to a shared pool, and extra domain slots cost $99 each. The page does not state the base subscription price, so I cannot confirm it. Some third-party roundups quote $99 a month, but check Semrush itself (Semrush).

// good to know
  • Sentiment and narrative reports, not just counts
  • Fits teams that already live in Semrush
  • Views per platform or all platforms together
// watch out for
  • Base price is not on the page I read
  • One domain and location by default
  • Fewer engines than Ahrefs

// source: semrush.com help

P

Profoundenterprise

Quote-based, with a short free trial

CustomEnterprise, by quote
Free trial
50 prompts run daily for 7 days
Trial engines
ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews
Enterprise engines
up to 9, including Perplexity, AI Mode, Claude, DeepSeek
Enterprise extras
SSO/SAML, SOC 2 compliance, dedicated support
Agency Growth
400 credits a month per client workspace, no price listed
Self-serve price
none published

Profound’s pricing page lists a free trial and a custom Enterprise plan. It mentions a self-serve Agency Growth plan with 400 credits a month per client workspace but shows no price (Profound). It is aimed at larger brands and agencies, so a small business may find the trial useful for a look but not a clear route to a monthly price.

// good to know
  • Up to nine engines on Enterprise
  • SOC 2 and SSO for companies that require them
  • Free 7-day trial to see real output
// watch out for
  • No published paid price to compare
  • The trial runs for 7 days only
  • Likely more than a small business needs

// source: tryprofound.com/pricing

THE FREE METHOD

Check AI Visibility Without Paying

For a small business, a monthly manual check gives most of the insight. It takes an hour and costs nothing.

  • Write 20 prompts your customers would really ask: “best [service] in [city]”, “[your product] vs [competitor]” and problem questions.
  • Run each one in the engines your customers use, in a fresh session.
  • Log the result: were you mentioned, was your page cited, and which competitors appeared.
  • Note the sources the answer cites. Those pages are where AI engines are learning about your field.
  • Repeat monthly and compare. Look at the trend, not one run.

Also open Search Console’s Performance report: Google says AI feature traffic is included in the Web search type there (Google Search Central). For the wider picture of where visits come from, see my guide to data on website traffic.

prompt-log.csv
$ monthly log · example, not real data
[mention] best dentist in Toronto
[cited] invisalign cost explained
[none] emergency dentist near me
[mention] dentist vs orthodontist
// 2 of 4 mentions, 1 citation
before you pay

Questions to Ask Any Vendor

// check these
  • Which engines are in the plan, and which cost extra?
  • How many prompts, and how often are they run?
  • Does it separate mentions from citations?
  • Can I export the data?
  • What happens to price when I add a country or a competitor?
// be careful with
  • Promises to “rank you in ChatGPT”, which nobody controls
  • Scores you cannot trace to real prompts
  • Trials that need a card but do not state their length
  • Pricing that hides engines behind add-ons

// Google also says no special markup or AI text file is needed for AI Overviews and AI Mode. Strong normal SEO is still the base: see my technical SEO guide and affordable SEO software picks.

// how this guide was made

What I Checked and What I Didn’t

I read each vendor’s pricing or help page, and Google’s documentation on AI features, when I wrote this. I did not subscribe to or test any of the five tools, so this is a pricing and feature comparison, not a hands-on test, and the scores are editorial. This page has no affiliate links. Prices, plans and the engines on offer change quickly in this category, so confirm on the vendor’s site before you pay.

faq

AI Visibility Tools FAQ

Short, direct answers to what people ask before choosing a tool.

What are AI visibility tools?

They are tools that run a saved list of prompts on AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, then record whether your brand is mentioned or your pages are cited, and how competitors compare.

Do I need an AI visibility tool?

Not at first. Google says AI Overviews and AI Mode need no special optimisation beyond normal SEO. A manual monthly check of 20 or so prompts is enough for many small businesses, and a paid tool helps once you need history, many prompts or competitor tracking.

Can I track AI visibility for free?

Yes. Run your own prompts and log the results each month, and check Search Console, where Google says AI feature traffic is included under the Web search type. Ahrefs also offers a free AI Visibility Checker preview.

What is the difference between a mention and a citation?

A mention is your brand named in the answer text. A citation is your page listed as a source. One can happen without the other, so look for a tool that reports them separately.

Do AI visibility tools improve my visibility?

No. They measure it. What improves visibility is the same work that helps normal search: useful content, a crawlable and indexable site, and mentions from reputable sources.

Which AI visibility tool is the cheapest?

On the vendors’ pages, OtterlyAI Lite is the cheapest at $29 or $25 a month for 15 prompts, followed by Ahrefs custom prompts from $50 a month as an add-on and Peec AI Starter at $95 for 50 prompts. Profound and Semrush do not publish a clear entry price on the pages I read.

Do I need llms.txt or special markup to appear in AI Overviews?

No. Google says site owners do not need to create AI text files or add special markup or structured data for AI Overviews and AI Mode. The page needs to be indexed and eligible to show a snippet.

How many prompts should I track?

My view is to start with 20 to 50 real customer questions. That is enough to see a pattern without paying for volume you will not use. Peec AI’s Starter covers 50 and OtterlyAI’s Lite covers 15, so check the limit against your list.

sources

Sources Used on This Page

Prices and features come from the vendors and were read on 9 November. Platform guidance comes from Google.

// keep reading

Fix the Basics First

AI engines read the same web that search engines do. Start with the fundamentals in my technical SEO guide, compare WordPress SEO plugins if you run WordPress, and see affordable SEO software for free tools worth using.

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