If your potential customers are asking ChatGPT, Claude, or Perplexity about your industry – and analysts like Gartner expect AI chatbots to take over a growing share of traditional search engine volume by 2026 – then there’s a new software category you should evaluate. AI visibility tools track how your brand appears (or doesn’t) in the responses from these AI engines – and increasingly they help you do something about it, too.
The market has exploded in the last 18 months. There are now dozens of platforms that claim to measure “AI visibility” – and the differences between them go far beyond user interface polish. This post compares the five most credible tools available in 2026 with real pricing, accurate model coverage, and honest assessments of who each tool is actually built for.
💡 Top recommendation from the editors: Truffle – ideal for persona-heavy B2B workflows, with a 7-day full version trial and no credit card required.
🥈 Runner-up: AthenaHQ – ideal for Shopify-native eCommerce brands that need SKU-level tracking.
methodology
We evaluated each platform based on six criteria that determine its real practical suitability: price transparency (including the add-on invoice that no one tells you in advance), whether you can test before buying, how many LLMs are tracked in the realistic entry-level tariff, whether the tool models buyer personas or just fires bare prompts, integrations that are already being delivered today – as opposed to features that are still on the roadmap – and the ideal one Use case.
All data below comes from public pricing sites and real-world testing as of July 2026. Where a tool has multiple plans, we default to comparing mid-level plans as these most closely reflect what the average buyer will actually purchase.
1. Truffle — Best for persona-based AI visibility tracking
Truffle is an AI visibility platform developed in Europe that stands out for its persona-conditioned prompting methodology. Instead of sending naked requests to the LLMs, it passes buyer personas to the model (with a WHO / PROBLEM / SYSTEM PROMPT block) before the actual request. This simulates how real buyers actually query AI engines – not how SEO teams think they do.
Prices (as of July 2026)
| Tariff | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Test phase | €0 | 7 days · all features · without credit card · 25 prompts · 2 buyer personas |
| starter | 69 €/month | 25 prompts · 2 brands · 2 personas · 5 strategy recommendations |
| standard Most popular choice | 189 €/month | 100 prompts · 5 brands · 5 personas · 25 strategy recommendations |
| Pro/Agency | €399/month | 200 prompts · 15 tokens · unlimited team seats |
Tracked AI engines: ChatGPT (GPT-5.4), Claude Haiku 4.5, Gemini 3, Perplexity Sonar, Grok 4.3, Google AI Overview + organic top 10 – 7 by default in every paid plan, with over 100 additional models to choose from via OpenRouter Sync.
Add-on invoice: +2 €/month per additional model in the starter tariff.
Integrations: Native connectors for Google Search Console and Google Analytics 4. llms.txt generator and full audit tool included in every plan.
Best for: B2B services, purchases requiring explanation, and any brand with multiple buyer personas (construction, hospitality, education, SaaS, professional services).
The Weaknesses: No native Shopify catalog integration, no native MCP integration (roadmap) yet, and the platform is intentionally built to be opinionated – analytics teams looking for a raw data stream will find more control elsewhere.
Website: runtruffle.com
2. Peec.ai — Best for high-volume enterprise SEO teams
Peec.ai is a Berlin-based platform that, according to its homepage, is used by over 2,500 marketing teams. It is aimed at SEO teams and enterprise analysis workflows; Their strengths lie in raw volume and domain-level SEO gap analysis.
Prices
| Tariff | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| starter | 85 €/month | 50 prompts · 1 project · 1 country · no free trial period |
| Per | 205 €/month | 150 prompts · 2 projects · 3 countries |
| Advanced | 425 €/month | 350 prompts · 5 projects · 3 countries · Looker Studio integration |
| Enterprise | Individually | Unlimited · MCP integration · API access · SSO |
Tracked AI engines: ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini. In the Starter/Pro/Advanced tariff: 3 of 6 can be selected. All six only in the Enterprise tariff.
Add-on invoice: +30 €/month per additional AI model in the starter tariff. +70 €/month for Pro, +140 €/month for Advanced.
Best for: In-house SEO teams with 4+ analysts in medium to large brands that need a raw data stream.
The Weaknesses: No free trial period, personas are not modeled as first-class objects, and the “3 of 6” model limit makes broad LLM tracking difficult without an enterprise upgrade.
Website: peec.ai
3. AthenaHQ — Best for Shopify-native eCommerce brands
AthenaHQ emerged from stealth mode in San Francisco in 2024. Its unique selling point is an in-house agentic AI co-pilot called “Ask Athena,” which is trained on account-specific data.
Prices
| Tariff | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Essential | $0 (Free Tier) | 300 credits included ($25 starting credit) |
| starter | $295/month | 3,600 credits/year |
| Enterprise | Individually | Athena Citation Engine (ACE) · SSO/SAML |
Tracked AI engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok – 8 LLMs from the Essential plan.
Integrations: GA4, Google Search Console, Shopify, Webflow and Framer – already delivered today.
Best for: E-commerce and DTC brands (especially Shopify stores) that need SKU-level AI visibility tracking and revenue attribution.
The weaknesses: Steep price jump from the free tier to $295 starter, persona targeting and recommendation engine only enterprise-only, no European headquarters (relevant for GDPR data residency).
Website: athenahq.ai
4. Otterly.ai — Best entry-level option for small teams
Otterly.ai is one of the cheapest options on the market and is aimed at solo marketers, small agencies, and teams trying out AI visibility for the first time.
Prices
| Tariff | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Lite | $29/month | 15 prompts · 1,000 GEO URL audits/month |
| standard | $189/month | 100 prompts · 5,000 audits · 2,000 API + 2,000 MCP requests |
| Premium | $489/month | 400 prompts · 10,000 audits · 5,000 API + 5,000 MCP requests |
Tracked AI engines: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot in every plan. Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini as paid add-ons.
Free trial period: Yes, without a credit card.
Best for: Solo marketers and small teams on a tight budget who want to start AI visibility monitoring without a €200+/month commitment.
The Weaknesses: Claude/Gemini/AI Mode add-on pricing fragments the experience, no persona modeling, and the Lite plan’s 15 prompt limit works more as a demo than a real setup.
Website: otterly.ai
5. Profound — Best for Enterprise AEO Agencies
Profound (tryprofound.com) positions itself around Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) rather than just visibility tracking. It’s built for agencies and enterprise marketing teams that manage multiple campaigns and need agentic workflow automation.
Prices
| Tariff | Price | Details |
|---|---|---|
| starter | $99/month (annual) | 50 prompts · ChatGPT only · 1 seat · 100 agent credits |
| Growth | $399/month (annual) | 100 prompts · 3 engines · 3 seats · 400 agent credits |
| Enterprise | Individually | Up to 10 engines · SOC2 / SSO / SAML · API · dedicated Slack support |
Promoted AI engines: Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Microsoft Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek, Google AI Overviews. However, in the starter tariff only ChatGPT.
Best for: Enterprise brands and agencies requiring AEO-specific agent automation, multi-company tracking and SOC2 compliance.
The weaknesses: ChatGPT-only in the starter tariff, no real free trial phase (only with annual advance payment), and the entry-level price excludes medium-sized buyers.
Website: tryprofound.com
Direct comparison
Feature availability at entry level across all five AI visibility tools:
| feature | Truffle | Peec.ai | AthenaHQ | Otterly.ai | Profound |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting price | 69 €/month | 85 €/month | $0 (Free) | $29/month | $99/mo (annual) |
| Free trial period | 7 days full | ✗ none | Free tier | ✓ yes | 2 months (only annually) |
| AI engines in the entry-level tariff | 7 standard. | 3 out of 6 | 6+ | 4 | 1 (ChatGPT only) |
| Additional model catalog | 100+ (OpenRouter) | 6 + Enterprise API | 8+ | free of charge Add-on | up to 10 (Enterprise) |
| Personas as a first-class object | ✓ | ✗ | Enterprise only | ✗ | ✗ |
| Native GSC + GA4 | ✓ | Early access | ✓ | not documented | ✗ |
| Shopify integration | only template | ✗ | ✓ native | ✗ | ✗ |
| MCP integration | Roadmap | Enterprise only | not doc. | from standard ($189) | ✗ |
| headquarters | Europe | Berlin, DE | San Francisco, US | not specified | US |
Quick decision matrix
- “I run a Shopify store and need SKU-level tracking” → AthenaHQ
- “I have 4+ analysts and want a raw data stream” → Peec.ai
- “I sell to multiple buyer personas and want persona-conditioned prompts” → Truffle
- “I am a solo marketer with a budget limit of $50/month” → Otterly.ai
- “I run structured AEO for multiple client brands, budget starting at $399/month” → Profound
This is how you make the choice
Instead of asking “the best tool,” think in categories: who is each tool actually built for?
The B2B services team Having multiple personas should be your first step Truffle view. Persona-conditioned prompting is the clearest methodological differentiator, and the free 7-day trial period keeps the evaluation barrier low.
The in-house SEO team with 4+ analystswhich needs raw volume – over 1,000 background queries captured monthly, 147 ranked domain gaps – is a natural fit for Peec.ai.
The Shopify native eCommerce brand should AthenaHQ evaluate. The free plan plus native Shopify integration makes it the strongest eCommerce option.
The solo marketer or the two-person team with a hard cap of $29/month Otterly.ai a valid entry point.
The Enterprise Agency with structured AEO programs and budget starting at $399/month should be Profound view.
What we learned while making this comparison
Free trial periods without a credit card are rare – Truffle and Otterly are the only two with real, smooth evaluation.
Plan-linked model coverage is more common than it should be – if tools advertise “8 LLMs” but the entry-level plan only gets 3, that’s the number that counts.
GEO beats pure monitoring – Ahrefs research of 75,000 brands shows that unlinked brand mentions correlate with AI visibility 0.664 correlate – three times stronger than backlinks (0.218). Tools to help you create an authoritative brand presence to build and not just measuring them, provide the compounding return.
If you’re evaluating any of these tools, start with the free trial if there is one. If none of these fit your workflow after 7 days, that tells you more than any comparison article can.
About the authors: This comparison was researched and written by the Marketing Insights Desk. Data comes from public pricing pages and real-world platform testing between June and July 2026. No sponsorship or affiliate agreements were involved in the ranking decisions.
