The 11 best AI visibility tools in 2026, compared on what the cheapest plan includes

Before you pay for any of them, find out whether you have a problem worth measuring. Get a free visibility check: we run your buyer questions through all seven engines and send you the results engine by engine, including which businesses get named instead of you.

The comparison table

Every tool in this category says it tracks "AI search". What that means at the price on the homepage varies a lot. This table shows the cheapest paid plan for each tool, and what arrives with it without add-ons.

How we ranked them

We ranked on four things, in this order of weight, because they're what decide whether a small team or an agency gets a true picture for its money:

1. How many of seven engines the cheapest paid plan covers, without add-ons: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. Those are the engines we measure for clients, and within them we weighted Claude, Grok and AI Mode because they're the three most often missing at entry. Engines outside the seven, such as Copilot, DeepSeek, Meta AI, Mistral and Naver, aren't scored: we don't measure them, so we can't say how much they matter to UAE buyers. If your buyers live in Microsoft tools, give Copilot coverage extra weight yourself (AthenaHQ, Ahrefs, Otterly, Peec and Scrunch include it). Be aware that these seven are exactly the engines Cituna tracks, which is part of why we use it. In our own measurement the engines behaved very differently (Perplexity drew on 23 of 25 outside sources, ChatGPT on 3), so a partial set gives you a partial answer.
2. Google Search Console joined in, because it turns "we're not cited for this question" into "this question already brings us impressions on Google, and the AI answer names our competitors".
3. Entry price.
4. Prompts for the money, as a tiebreaker.

We didn't score accuracy or data quality. Doing that properly means running identical questions through every tool at the same time and checking each reported citation by hand, and any score produced without that would be invented. Every figure here comes from the vendor's own pricing or help pages, listed in Sources. Where a vendor doesn't publish something, the table says so.

The 11 tools, one by one

1. Cituna: best overall for all seven engines on a small budget

From $39/month · 3-day trial

Why it's first: Cituna and AthenaHQ are the only tools whose cheapest paid plan covers all seven engines with Search Console joined in, and Cituna's costs $256 a month less. All seven are checked daily. Search Console integration is on every plan, as are weekly reports, white-label reports and fix recommendations. The $39 Starter includes API and MCP read access, so you can pull results into your own reporting or ask an AI assistant about them. Pro at $119 adds three brands, 30 prompts, alerts, competitor tracking and auto-generated fixes; Max at $399 covers ten brands and 90 prompts.

Where it's weaker: 10 prompts on Starter is the smallest allowance in this table; Otterly gives 15 for $10 less and SE Visible gives 200 for $99. There's no free plan, only a three-day trial that needs a card, where AthenaHQ has a free tier. It doesn't track Copilot, DeepSeek or Meta AI, which AthenaHQ's paid plan does. And competitor tracking starts on Pro, not Starter.

Best for: small teams and agencies with a focused set of buying questions (most small businesses have 10 to 30) that want every major engine measured on one modest budget line, with Search Console alongside. For an agency, the Max plan ($399 a month) covers ten brands and 90 prompts, which is the tier Cituna itself labels for agencies. Its pricing page also lists support for more than 50 languages but doesn't name Arabic there, so a UAE business tracking Arabic questions should try a few in the trial before committing. For how UAE businesses show up in these engines today, see our UAE AI visibility report. cituna.com/pricing

If you'd rather see your own results before choosing any tool, get a free visibility check and we'll send you the engine-by-engine picture for your buyer questions.

2. AthenaHQ: best free plan, and the widest engine list

Free plan · Starter $295/month ($245 billed annually)

The free Essential plan gives you 300 credits across five engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot), which is the most generous way to see real data before spending anything. Starter lists eleven engines, including all seven of ours plus Copilot, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, and ticks Search Console integration. Weaker: the jump from free to $295 has nothing in between, credits rather than prompts make costs harder to predict, the API is a paid add-on with no published price, and the free plan's card doesn't list Search Console. Best for: teams that want to see real data for free first, or whose buyers use Copilot, DeepSeek, Meta AI or Mistral as well as the seven engines we score. athenahq.ai/plans

3. Ahrefs Brand Radar: best if you already pay for Ahrefs

Custom prompts from $50/month, or included in paid Ahrefs plans

Custom prompts are included in every paid Ahrefs plan (5, 10 or 20 a day on Lite, Standard and Advanced), or you can buy checks standalone from $50 a month for 2,500. Coverage is broad: AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, with Claude available on custom prompts. The AI Visibility Index starts at $199 a month. Weaker: Grok isn't named, Claude uses eight checks per update, and the Brand Radar page doesn't say whether its data is in the API or whether Search Console is joined to it. Best for: teams already on a paid Ahrefs plan who want AI tracking without another subscription. ahrefs.com/brand-radar

4. SE Ranking: best all-in-one SEO suite with AI tracking

Core $129/month ($103.20 annually) · 14-day trial, no card

The Core plan tracks 100 prompts a day on five engines and includes Search Console integration, API credits and MCP access, inside a full SEO platform. An AI Search add-on adds more prompts from $89 a month. Weaker: no Claude and no Grok, and the pricing page gives a count of engines rather than naming them (the product page names AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity). Best for: a team that wants rank tracking, audits and AI prompt tracking in one SEO platform, and can do without Claude and Grok. seranking.com/subscription.html

5. SE Visible: most prompts for the money

Basic $99/month ($79 annually) · 10-day trial

SE Ranking's stand-alone AI visibility product gives 200 prompts across ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, Perplexity and AI Overviews on its Basic plan, the most prompts per dollar among plans that count by prompt. Weaker: Claude is listed as "will be added soon", Grok isn't covered, Search Console isn't mentioned, and the tier that includes the API isn't stated. Best for: tracking a long list of buyer questions for under $100 a month on five engines. visible.seranking.com

6. Cognizo: if you want content produced too

Growth $499/month

Growth tracks 150 prompts on five engines you choose from six (including Grok), includes MCP and API access, and bundles eight AI-optimised articles a month. Pro at $999 raises that to 350 prompts and 20 articles. Judge it against a content contractor rather than a $39 dashboard. Weaker: Claude and AI Mode are Enterprise-only, there's no published trial, and Search Console isn't listed. Best for: a business that wants monthly articles bundled with the tracking and would otherwise pay a content contractor. cognizo.ai/pricing

7. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: for teams already on Semrush

$99/month (per Semrush's help centre)

The toolkit's help-centre page lists $99 a month with 25 prompts; the main pricing page sells bundles, the cheapest with AI prompt tracking being Semrush One Starter at $199 a month with 50 prompts and MCP. Weaker: Semrush doesn't publish a per-engine list (Claude and Grok aren't named), the toolkit has no free trial, Search Console arrives through a $10 add-on, and the API is on the Advanced plan only. Best for: teams whose SEO work already runs through Semrush. semrush.com help centre

8. Peec AI: best if you want to pick your own engines

Starter $95/month

Starter gives 50 daily prompts on any three of ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini and Naver, with more engines as $30 add-ons, and MCP access from the first plan. Pro is $245 and Advanced $495. Weaker: three engines at a time is thin coverage for the price, Claude and Grok are Enterprise-only, the API starts on Pro, and Search Console isn't listed. Best for: a team that knows exactly which three engines its buyers use and wants to choose them. peec.ai/pricing

9. Otterly.AI: cheapest way in

Lite $29/month ($25 annually)

The lowest entry price in the table: 15 prompts tracked daily on ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot. Weaker: Claude, Gemini and AI Mode are paid add-ons (Claude alone is $29 a month on Lite), so the price doubles quickly once you add engines; Grok isn't offered; Search Console isn't listed (there's a Looker Studio connector from Standard); and the API and MCP start on Standard at $189. Best for: the lowest monthly spend on ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, before any add-ons. otterly.ai/pricing Already on Otterly and paying for add-ons? See Otterly alternatives, priced with the engines you need.

10. Scrunch: enterprise-leaning, with a smaller entry plan

Core $250/month · 7-day trial

Core covers 125 prompts on ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews and Copilot, which suits a buyer audience that lives in Microsoft tools. Weaker: Claude, Grok, AI Mode, the API and MCP are all Enterprise-only, and Search Console isn't listed. Best for: buyers who work in Microsoft tools, where Copilot coverage matters more than Claude or Grok. scrunch.com/pricing

11. Profound: for enterprise budgets

Custom pricing · 7-day trial

Profound now offers brands a seven-day trial (50 fixed prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews) and a custom-priced Enterprise plan that tracks up to nine engines including Claude and AI Mode. Its self-serve Agency Growth plan is priced per client workspace (400 credits a month each); the pricing page, read 25 September 2026, shows no dollar price for it. Weaker: no published self-serve price for brands, Grok isn't named on any tier, trial prompts can't be customised, and the API is Enterprise-only. Best for: large brands with a budget for a sales-led contract, and agencies that want a separate client workspace per client. tryprofound.com/pricing Looking for something you can buy without a sales call? See Profound alternatives with a published price.

What changed since our last check

This guide replaces our earlier nine-platform comparison, last checked on 11 September 2026. Re-reading every pricing page on 24 September changed a lot:

• Profound no longer lists its $99 Starter or $399 Growth plans for brands; it now shows a free trial and custom Enterprise pricing.
• Scrunch replaced its $300 Starter (350 prompts, Claude included) with Core at $250 (125 prompts, four engines, no Claude).
• Peec AI now publishes prices, from $95 a month.
• SE Ranking and SE Visible now publish prices; we've listed them separately because they're separate products.
• Cognizo added a $999 Pro plan and bundled articles into Growth; its Done-for-You plan no longer shows a price.
• Cituna added Google AI Mode (seven engines on every plan) and moved API and MCP access down to Starter. Our earlier page said its API was limited to the top plan; that's no longer true.
• Semrush is new to the comparison.

If you'd rather have someone do the tracking and the fixing, that's our AI search visibility service.

Questions people ask

Sources

Every figure above comes from these pages, each opened and read on 24 September 2026. Spotted something out of date? Email hello@highstreetagency.com and we'll correct it and note the change. Vendors can ask us to correct their own rows.

• cituna.com/pricing (Cituna's page read again on 25 September 2026)
• athenahq.ai/plans
• ahrefs.com/brand-radar and ahrefs.com/pricing
• seranking.com/subscription.html and seranking.com/ai-visibility-tracker.html
• visible.seranking.com
• otterly.ai/pricing
• peec.ai/pricing
• semrush.com/kb/1493-ai-visibility-toolkit and semrush.com/pricing
• scrunch.com/pricing
• cognizo.ai/pricing
• tryprofound.com/pricing (read again 25 September 2026 for the agency plan)

Drafted with AI assistance from our own research and the vendor pages linked above, and reviewed by the High Street team before publishing. Prices, features and policies change; check the linked source before you act.