How we make this list: we compare vendor pricing pages, product documentation and plan limits, and print the month we checked each price. We don’t accept payment for rankings.
QUICK ANSWER
Goodie AI is the best AEO tool in 2026 because it runs the full loop: tracking, prompt research, content agents, technical fixes and revenue attribution in one plan. AthenaHQ ranks second with content agents and a free Essential plan, and Profound is the best enterprise pick, with nine engines and AI Marketer agents.
Key takeaways
2 of 8 tools in this list have a free plan, and the lowest paid start is $29 a month (Otterly.AI Lite) (Nov 2026).
Goodie AI ranks first because every plan includes the action layer, not just monitoring.
AthenaHQ is the only tool here with a free plan, and its Starter tracks 11 models.
Profound adds AI agents that draft marketing work from tracking data on enterprise plans.
Semrush and Writesonic track only three to four engines on entry plans, so check coverage before you buy.
Answer engine optimization, or AEO, is the work of getting AI assistants to name your brand when they answer questions. It needs two things: tracking that shows where you stand, and actions that change the answer. This guide ranks the 8 best AEO tools in 2026 by prompt tracking, recommendations and the actions each tool takes to improve your answers.
Goodie AI runs the whole loop: it monitors where your brand appears in AI answers, diagnoses the gaps, takes action through content and technical fixes, and measures the revenue impact. Every plan includes the optimization layer, so you pay for outcomes, not just a dashboard.
Goodie AI is the most complete AEO platform in this list: tracking, prompt research, content agents, technical fixes and revenue attribution in one plan. The Optimization Hub ranks actions by expected impact. The catch is the price and the limits: $295 a month buys one brand in two countries, and API access waits for Enterprise.
What we like
Core covers 110 prompts across 5 engines with 50 optimization actions a month (Nov 2026).
Every plan includes the full action layer, not just monitoring.
Revenue attribution links AI visibility to visits and sales.
Watch out for
Core costs $295 a month, the joint-highest entry here.
API access is reserved for Enterprise.
Core tracks 1 brand in 2 countries and 2 languages only.
AthenaHQ tracks brand visibility, mentions, citations, sentiment and share of voice across AI engines, then gives you content agents that act on the findings. The free Essential plan covers five engines, while Starter adds six more models and unlimited prompts.
AthenaHQ is built for answer engine optimization: it tracks visibility, then its agents draft content fixes and check claims. The Citation Engine on Enterprise shows which sources win citations and why. The catch is the credit meter: some engines cost five credits per answer, so 3,600 credits a month can run out faster than the number suggests.
What we like
The free Essential plan covers 300 credits across 5 engines (Nov 2026).
Starter tracks 11 models with unlimited prompts and competitors.
Unlimited seats and role-based access come with every plan.
Watch out for
Starter costs $295 a month, a big jump from the free plan.
Credit use is hard to forecast: some engines cost 5 credits per answer.
Profound watches brand mentions, citations and competitor positions across up to nine answer engines, then adds an AI Marketer layer that spots tasks and drafts the work. Agent Analytics connects to your CDN or host to show which pages AI crawlers request and how often.
Profound treats answer engines as the channel to optimize, with prompt tracking, citation data and agents that turn findings into content and fixes. Shopping visibility on enterprise plans tracks products in ChatGPT Shopping answers. The catch is access: there is no self-serve paid plan, and pricing is custom, so a small team cannot simply sign up and start tracking.
What we like
Tracks up to 9 answer engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini (Nov 2026).
Agent Analytics shows how AI crawlers and agents use your site.
Unlimited seats on paid plans, with SSO and SOC 2 compliance.
Watch out for
No public prices; paid plans need a sales conversation.
The free trial runs 50 fixed prompts a day for 7 days only.
Small teams will likely find it priced above their budget.
Scrunch AI tracks brand visibility across AI answers, with prompt management, citation and source data, sentiment analysis and site audits in one platform. Core covers 125 prompts and four LLMs, while Enterprise adds nine models, API access and custom workspaces.
Scrunch AI pairs tracking with site audits and page optimizations, so the same plan that finds a gap can fix the page behind it. Core includes 5 audits a month and 1 page optimization. The catch is the price: $250 a month is the entry point, and API access waits for Enterprise.
What we like
Core covers 125 prompts, 5,000 responses a month and 5 site audits (Nov 2026).
Tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot on Core.
Sentiment analysis and insights come with every plan.
Watch out for
Core costs $250 a month, which is steep for a small team.
API access is limited to Enterprise.
Core allows only 1 brand workspace and 5 user licences.
Peec AI tracks brand mentions and citations in AI answers, then ranks recommended actions so teams know which gaps to close first. Every plan includes unlimited users, and the platform connects to Google Analytics and Search Console to tie AI visibility to site traffic.
Peec AI is built for answer engine work: it tracks prompts, finds citation gaps and ranks recommended actions. Its crawlability audit checks which AI bots your robots.txt allows or blocks. The catch is the model cap: self-serve plans track only three models, and adding a fourth costs extra each month.
What we like
Starter covers 50 prompts with daily tracking and unlimited users (Nov 2026).
Prompt suggestions and fact-checking point to gaps worth fixing.
Looker Studio integration on Advanced supports client reporting.
Watch out for
Self-serve plans track only 3 of 6 models; extra models cost $30 to $140 a month each.
No built-in content creation; it reports gaps but does not draft the fix.
Otterly.AI tracks brand visibility, sentiment and citation sources across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot, with daily refreshes. It adds brand profiling, a prompt research tool and AI search optimization recommendations that point to pages worth fixing.
Otterly.AI is built for answer engine optimization: it tracks prompts, audits pages and gives weekly recommendations on Lite, unlimited on higher plans. The content check flags pages that need work to earn citations. The catch is the prompt cap: Lite covers 15 prompts, and the next tier costs more than six times as much.
What we like
Lite starts at $29 a month with 15 prompts across 4 engines (Nov 2026).
Unlimited team members and unlimited brands and competitors on every plan.
Agency Partner status adds extra prompts and pitch workspaces on Standard and Premium.
Watch out for
Lite tracks only 15 prompts, which runs out fast for a real content plan.
Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode cost extra as add-ons.
Standard jumps to $189 a month, a steep step from Lite.
Free trialFree trial on paid plans (length not stated)
PlatformsWeb, API
Writesonic tracks how AI engines mention your brand, then helps you fix the gaps with AI-written content, optimization and audits in the same subscription. Its Action Center ranks opportunities by visibility and citation impact.
Writesonic is built for answer engine work: it tracks prompts, audits pages and drafts content to win citations. The Action Center ranks each fix by its likely visibility impact. The catch is engine coverage: Starter tracks three engines, and Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and Grok wait for the custom-priced Enterprise plan.
What we like
Starter costs $79 a month billed annually with 50 tracked prompts (Nov 2026).
Every plan includes the AI Article Writer, site audits and GEO tracking.
The free trial needs no credit card.
Watch out for
Starter tracks only ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews; Perplexity waits for Enterprise.
Only 1 user and 1 project on Starter; extra users cost $50 a month each.
Annual billing saves 20%, but you pay 12 months upfront.
Semrush adds AI visibility tracking to its SEO suite through the AI Visibility Toolkit, a $99-a-month-per-domain add-on that tracks 25 prompts a day across ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. It sits next to keyword research, site audits and backlink data in the same account.
Semrush covers answer engine work through its AI Search Site Audit, which checks 100 pages for AI readiness, plus prompt tracking and competitor research. It does not track Claude or Copilot answers. The catch is the add-on math: the Pro plan at $139.95 a month does not include prompt tracking, so AI visibility costs $99 a month per domain on top.
What we like
The AI Visibility Toolkit costs $99 a month per domain with 25 prompts a day (Nov 2026).
The free account gives 10 reports a day across keyword, audit and backlink tools.
Prompt Research draws on a database of 317 million prompts.
Watch out for
The $139.95 Pro SEO plan has no prompt-tracking quota; AI tracking is a separate $99 toolkit.
Perplexity appears only in weekly Brand Performance reports, not daily tracking.
Extra domains cost $99 a month each, and extra users need their own licence.
Sources used: vendor pricing pages, vendor product pages and vendor help pages, checked Nov 2026.
Criterion
Weight
What we looked at
Prompt tracking and recommendations
40%
We ranked by daily prompt tracking, citation data and the quality of recommendations each tool gives.
Actions that improve answers
35%
We weighed content agents, audits and technical fixes, since AEO is about changing answers, not just watching them.
Price and free access
25%
We noted the starting price, free plan and trial, so you can see what AEO costs.
What is the best AEO tool in 2026?
Goodie AI is the best AEO tool for teams that want the full loop: tracking, prompt research, content agents, technical fixes and revenue attribution. AthenaHQ is the best pick with a free plan, and Profound is the best enterprise pick.
What is AEO?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: the work of getting AI assistants like ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini to mention and cite your brand in their answers. It covers tracking prompts, fixing pages and facts, and earning citations.
How much do AEO tools cost?
AEO tools in this list start at $29 a month for Otterly.AI Lite and $79 a month billed annually for Writesonic Starter. Peec AI starts at $95 a month, Scrunch AI at $250 a month, and Goodie AI and AthenaHQ at $295 a month.
Is there a free AEO tool?
Yes, AthenaHQ has a free Essential plan with 300 credits across five engines, and Semrush has a free account with 10 reports a day. Goodie AI, Profound and Scrunch AI offer 7-day free trials instead.
Which AEO tool also writes content?
Goodie AI, AthenaHQ and Writesonic all include content agents or writers that draft fixes and articles. Peec AI, Otterly.AI and Scrunch AI recommend actions but do not write the content.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best AEO tool?
Goodie AI is the best AEO tool for teams that want tracking plus agents that act. AthenaHQ is the best pick with a free plan, and Profound is the best enterprise pick.
What does AEO stand for?
AEO stands for answer engine optimization: optimizing so AI answer engines mention and cite your brand. It is the AI-search version of SEO, focused on answers instead of search result pages.
How is AEO different from SEO?
SEO targets Google result pages, while AEO targets AI answers from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and similar tools. AEO needs clear facts, direct answers and trusted sources, since AI models cite pages that answer questions well.
What is the cheapest AEO tool?
Otterly.AI Lite is the cheapest in this list at $29 a month, or $25 a month billed annually, for 15 prompts across four engines. Writesonic Starter is next at $79 a month billed annually.
Do AEO tools track Perplexity?
Yes, most do: Goodie AI, AthenaHQ, Profound, Scrunch AI and Otterly.AI track Perplexity on their entry plans. Peec AI tracks Perplexity only on Enterprise, and Writesonic only on Enterprise.
Can an AEO tool improve my answers by itself?
Partly: Goodie AI, AthenaHQ and Writesonic include agents that draft content and fixes. You still need to review and publish the work, since no tool can change what AI models say without better pages behind it.
How do I pick an AEO tool?
Match the tool to your budget and your team: pick Otterly.AI or Peec AI for tracking alone, Goodie AI or AthenaHQ if you want agents that act, and Profound if you need enterprise controls.
Final verdict
Pick Goodie AI if you want the full AEO loop with agents that act.
Pick AthenaHQ if you want AEO agents and a free plan to start.
Pick Profound if you need AEO at enterprise scale with nine engines.
Pick Scrunch AI if you want AEO tracking with site audits included.
Pick Peec AI if you want AEO tracking with ranked actions from $95 a month.
Pick Otterly.AI if you want low-cost AEO tracking from $29 a month.
Pick Writesonic if you want AEO tracking plus AI writing and audits.
Pick Semrush if you want AEO data inside a full SEO suite.
Compare the 10 best AI search visibility tools in 2026 by price, free plan and best fit. See where Profound and Peec AI win, their limits, and which to pick.
Our 2026 shortlist of the 8 best ChatGPT rank tracking tools, with real starting prices, free plan details, pros, cons and a clear pick for each use case.
