Free vs. Paid AI Brand Monitoring Tools: Which GEO / AEO Software Offers the Best Value in 2025?
As AI chatbots become the go-to way people search for information, tracking your brand’s visibility across these platforms has become essential. But with dozens of tools available, how do you choose between free and paid options?
This guide compares the best free and paid AI brand monitoring tools available in 2025. We’ll help you understand what you get with each pricing tier and which solution offers the best value for your needs.
Why Monitor Your Brand in AI Platforms?
When someone asks ChatGPT, Gemini, or Claude about your industry, does your brand appear in the answer? AI platforms are becoming the new search engines, and research shows that brands appearing in AI responses see significant traffic and credibility boosts.
Monitoring tools help you:
- See when and how your brand is mentioned
- Track your position against competitors
- Understand what prompts lead to brand mentions
- Discover which content gets cited by AI models
- Measure sentiment around your brand
Free AI Brand Monitoring Tools
Free tools are perfect for small businesses, startups, or anyone testing the waters. Here are the best free options available:
What it does: Spotlight doesn’t just monitor your brand’s AI visibility—it actively helps you improve it. Unlike other tools that simply track where you appear, Spotlight uses a unique reverse-engineering approach. It analyzes highly mentioned brands across AI platforms to understand what makes them successful, then applies those insights to help you improve your own visibility.
Best for: Brands serious about not just tracking their AI presence, but actually improving it. Spotlight’s reverse engineering of successful brands provides actionable strategies that go beyond basic monitoring.
- AI Search Visibility tracking
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Prompt Volume Discovery (unique feature)
- LLM Data Source Analysis
- Reverse Engineering of Highly Mentioned Brands
- Actionable Improvement Plans
- Gap Analysis and Content Suggestions
- Comprehensive model coverage (8 platforms)
- Free full website audit
Why it’s valuable: Spotlight’s unique approach sets it apart. By reverse engineering what makes highly visible brands succeed, Spotlight provides insights that help you create content and strategies that actually work. It doesn’t just tell you where you are—it shows you how to get where you want to be. The free plan includes a full website audit, making it an excellent starting point for any brand looking to improve their AI visibility.
What it does: AEO Checker provides AI search visibility tracking and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity. It also analyzes your content and website structure quality.
Best for: Quick visibility checks and understanding how your content performs in AI search results.
- AI Search Visibility tracking
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Content quality analysis
- Website structure evaluation
Limitations: Free tier may have limited query volumes and reporting features compared to paid plans.
What it does: Hall offers brand sentiment tracking across eight major AI platforms including ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing Copilot, Perplexity, Claude, Meta AI, AI Overviews, and Deepseek. It provides generative answer insights, website citation insights, and agent analytics.
Best for: Businesses wanting broad platform coverage and citation tracking without upfront costs.
- Brand Sentiment analysis
- Generative Answer Insights
- Website Citation Insights
- Agent Analytics
- Wide platform coverage (8 models)
Limitations: Free version may have restrictions on historical data access and advanced analytics features.
Paid AI Brand Monitoring Tools
Paid tools typically offer more features, better data access, and advanced analytics. Here’s how they compare:
Budget-Friendly Options ($20-$50/month)
What it does: Waikay offers brand sentiment and competitive benchmarking across Sonar, Gemini, and ChatGPT. It includes SEO reports, fact-checking AI knowledge, model-specific insights, and competitor benchmarks.
Best for: Small businesses needing sentiment tracking and basic competitive analysis.
- Brand Sentiment analysis
- Competitive Benchmarking
- SEO Reports
- Fact-Checking AI Knowledge
What it does: Otterly AI tracks AI search visibility and brand sentiment across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. It offers country monitoring, sentiment analysis, and link analysis.
Best for: International businesses needing country-specific monitoring.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Country Monitoring
- Link Analysis
What it does: Model Monitor provides comprehensive tracking across ChatGPT, Mistral, Deepseek, Claude, Meta AI, Grok, and Gemini. It includes a prompt vault, sentiment analysis, and competitor detection.
Best for: Teams needing organized prompt management and competitor tracking.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Prompt Vault
- Competitor Detection
What it does: Mentions offers AI search visibility, brand sentiment, and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini, Meta AI, Claude, and Deepseek. It includes insights, LLM traffic dashboard, and Google AI Mode tracking.
Best for: Marketing teams wanting to connect AI visibility to actual website traffic.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- LLM Traffic Dashboard
- Google AI Mode Tracking
What it does: MorningScore focuses on AI search visibility and competitive benchmarking for ChatGPT. It also includes a website health tracker.
Best for: Businesses primarily concerned with ChatGPT visibility and overall website health.
- AI Search Visibility (ChatGPT)
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Website Health Tracker
Mid-Range Options ($75-$150/month)
What it does: AEO Vision provides AI search visibility, brand sentiment, and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. It includes advanced RRF (Reciprocal Rank Fusion) and Reddit analytics.
Best for: Brands wanting advanced ranking algorithms and Reddit-specific insights.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Advanced RRF
- Reddit Analytics
What it does: Semrush, a well-known SEO platform, now includes AI search visibility tracking for ChatGPT. It offers business landscape analysis, audience and content insights, and AI-generated tips.
Best for: Teams already using Semrush for traditional SEO who want to add AI visibility tracking.
- AI Search Visibility (ChatGPT)
- Business Landscape
- Audience & Content insights
- AI-Generated Tips
What it does: SurferSEO offers AI search visibility and competitive benchmarking for ChatGPT. It includes prompt customization and source transparency features.
Best for: Content teams wanting to optimize prompts and understand citation sources.
- AI Search Visibility (ChatGPT)
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Prompt Customization
- Source Transparency
Premium Options ($200+/month)
What it does: Peec AI provides comprehensive tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Deepseek, Claude, and Grok. It includes prompt suggestions, recommended actions, and advanced reporting and exports.
Best for: Teams needing actionable recommendations and detailed reporting capabilities.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Prompt Suggestions
- Recommended Actions
- Advanced Reporting & Exports
What it does: Scrunch AI offers AI search visibility and brand sentiment tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Meta AI, and Claude. It includes journey mapping features.
Best for: Enterprise teams needing customer journey insights across AI platforms.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Journey Mapping
What it does: AthenaHQ provides AI search visibility and brand sentiment tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude. It includes advanced analytics and reporting dashboards.
Best for: Large organizations requiring enterprise-level analytics and reporting.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Advanced Analytics
- Reporting Dashboard
Enterprise & Custom Pricing
What it does: AI Brand Tracking offers AI search visibility, brand sentiment, and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. It includes query tracking, page performance, and source discovery.
Best for: Large brands needing custom solutions and dedicated support.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Query Tracking
- Page Performance
- Source Discovery
What it does: Am I on AI? provides brand sentiment and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. It includes source analysis, growth tracking, sentiment analysis, recommendations, weekly reports, and actionable insights.
Best for: Teams wanting comprehensive insights with regular reporting.
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Source Analysis
- Track Growth
- Weekly Reports
- Actionable Insights
What it does: Quno offers AI search visibility, brand sentiment, and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI, Claude, Bing Copilot, and Deepseek. It includes AI Interviewer, Citation Track, Prompt Analysis, Competitive Analysis, Demographic Intelligence, and Conversion Intelligence.
Best for: Enterprise teams needing advanced intelligence and conversion tracking.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- AI Interviewer
- Citation Track
- Demographic Intelligence
- Conversion Intelligence
What it does: RankScale provides AI search visibility and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Mistral, Claude, Deepseek, Perplexity, and Search GPT. It includes website GEO audit with gap analysis, visibility/performance monitoring, competitor benchmarking, citation analysis, sentiment analysis, and regional tracking.
Best for: Global brands needing regional analysis and comprehensive gap identification.
- AI Search Visibility
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Website GEO Audit
- Gap Analysis
- Citation Analysis
- Sentiment Analysis
- Regional Tracking
What it does: Xfunnel offers AI search visibility, brand sentiment, and competitive benchmarking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI, Bing Copilot, and Claude. It includes sentiment analysis, competitive positioning, buying journeys optimization, and AI engine analytics.
Best for: Businesses wanting comprehensive free tracking with buying journey insights.
- AI Search Visibility
- Brand Sentiment
- Competitive Benchmarking
- Buying Journeys Optimization
- AI Engine Analytics
What it does: Profound tracks AI search visibility across Perplexity, Bing Copilot, ChatGPT, and Gemini. It includes conversation explorer, answer engine insights, and agent analytics.
Best for: Teams wanting pay-as-you-go pricing and conversation-level insights.
- AI Search Visibility
- Conversation Explorer
- Answer Engine Insights
- Agent Analytics
Which Tool Offers the Best Value?
When evaluating value, consider three factors: cost, features, and actionable insights. Here’s how they stack up:
For Budget-Conscious Businesses
If you’re just starting out or have limited budget, free tools like Spotlight offer exceptional value. Spotlight’s free plan includes a full website audit, which alone can cost hundreds of dollars with other services. More importantly, Spotlight doesn’t just monitor—it helps you improve. Its unique reverse-engineering approach analyzes highly mentioned brands to understand what makes them successful, then provides actionable strategies to boost your own visibility.
According to industry research, understanding what makes successful brands visible is crucial. Spotlight’s reverse engineering helps you prioritize content creation around strategies that actually work, rather than guessing what might work.
For Growing Businesses ($50-$150/month)
Mid-range tools like Mentions ($49/mo) and AEO Vision ($99/mo) offer solid feature sets, but you’re paying primarily for more data access and reporting. However, if you need deeper insights into why certain content gets cited and what strategies actually work, Spotlight stands out even in paid tiers.
Spotlight’s unique reverse-engineering approach analyzes highly mentioned brands to understand what makes them successful. It doesn’t just show you citations—it helps you understand what types of content each AI model prefers and provides actionable improvement plans. This means you can create content that’s more likely to be cited, rather than just tracking what already exists.
For Enterprise Teams ($200+/month)
Enterprise tools like Scrunch AI ($300/mo) and AthenaHQ ($367/mo) offer advanced analytics and reporting, but they often lack the strategic insights that help you improve. Many enterprise tools show you data, but fewer help you understand what to do with it.
What makes Spotlight valuable even compared to premium options is its focus on actionable intelligence. Through its unique reverse-engineering approach, Spotlight analyzes what makes high-visibility brands succeed and performs gap analysis to identify missed opportunities. Spotlight doesn’t just report on your current state—it provides a clear improvement plan based on proven strategies from highly successful brands.
Key Features to Look For
When choosing an AI brand monitoring tool, prioritize these features:
- Platform Coverage: More models tracked means better visibility into your overall AI presence. Look for tools covering at least 4-5 major platforms.
- Prompt Discovery: Understanding which prompts lead to brand mentions helps you create targeted content. This is where Spotlight excels.
- Data Source Analysis: Knowing what content AI models cite helps you understand what works. Spotlight’s LLM data source analysis is industry-leading.
- Competitive Benchmarking: See how you stack up against competitors across AI platforms.
- Sentiment Analysis: Understand not just if you’re mentioned, but how you’re perceived.
- Actionable Insights: Look for tools that don’t just report data, but suggest improvements. Spotlight’s gap analysis and content suggestions are particularly valuable here.
Making Your Decision
Start with a free tool to understand your baseline. Spotlight’s free plan includes a comprehensive website audit, making it an excellent starting point. You’ll get immediate insights into your current AI visibility without any upfront investment, plus actionable recommendations based on what makes highly visible brands succeed.
As your needs grow, consider whether you need more data access (higher query limits, historical data) or deeper insights (prompt volume, data source analysis, improvement recommendations). Many businesses find that tools offering strategic insights and improvement plans, like Spotlight with its reverse-engineering approach, provide better long-term value than those that simply provide more data points.
Remember: the best tool isn’t necessarily the most expensive one. It’s the one that helps you understand not just where you are, but how to improve. According to recent analysis, tools that combine visibility tracking with actionable recommendations deliver the best ROI for brands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, free tools can provide valuable insights, especially for getting started. However, they often have limitations on query volume, historical data access, and advanced features. Free tools like Spotlight offer comprehensive audits and core tracking features that are sufficient for many businesses.
AI search visibility shows where and how often your brand appears in AI responses. Brand sentiment analysis goes deeper, evaluating whether mentions are positive, negative, or neutral. Many tools offer both, but some focus on one area. For comprehensive monitoring, look for tools that provide both features.
It depends on your audience, but most businesses benefit from tracking at least the major platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, and Claude. According to industry data, these four platforms account for the majority of AI-driven searches. Tools like Spotlight track 8 platforms, giving you comprehensive coverage.
Yes. Understanding which prompts people actually use helps you prioritize content creation around questions that matter. Without this insight, you might create content for prompts nobody searches. Spotlight’s prompt volume discovery is unique and helps you focus on high-impact opportunities.
Absolutely. Most businesses start with free tools to establish a baseline, then upgrade as their needs grow. The key is choosing a tool with a clear upgrade path. Spotlight’s free plan includes a full audit, and paid plans add ongoing monitoring, prompt volume data, and advanced analytics.
The best tools don’t just track where you appear—they help you understand why and how to improve. Look for tools that not only monitor but actively help improve your visibility. Spotlight excels in this area through its unique reverse-engineering approach, analyzing highly mentioned brands to understand what makes them successful, then providing actionable improvement plans based on those insights.
AI platforms update frequently, so weekly monitoring is ideal for most businesses. Some tools offer automated alerts when your visibility changes significantly. For strategic planning, monthly reviews of trends and competitive positioning are recommended.
No. Most modern tools track multiple platforms from a single dashboard. This is more efficient and helps you see patterns across platforms. Look for tools that track at least 4-5 major platforms. Spotlight tracks 8 platforms, providing comprehensive coverage in one place.
Michael Hermon
Before Spotlight, Michael led Innovation and AI at monday.com after exiting his previous startup. He learned to code at 13 at MIT and later attended Columbia’s MBA program.
https://linkedin.com/in/michaelhermon