The Best AI Visibility Tracking Tools in 2026 (Honest Reviews)

Key takeaways

• AthenaHQ names the widest engine list of the nine tools reviewed here, 8 of our core 8 engines plus 3 more, on its $295 a month Starter plan.
• Keyword.com is the cheapest way to track seven engines, from $9.80 a month, but does not explain how many credits one prompt check across several engines actually costs.
• Four of the nine tools we reviewed are not in the Automate Basics directory: Keyword.com, LLM Pulse, Nightwatch and ZipTie.
• Six of the nine name a Google Search Console connection on their own pages, one of them only from a higher plan, checked 29 September 2026.
• Nightwatch's own marketing pages disagree with each other on which fifth engine is included on its entry plan, a gap worth knowing before you buy.

If you would rather have the gaps a tracker finds turned into a written fix, start a 3-day Cituna trial at cituna.com; a card is required.

This guide looks at tracking depth only: what each tool records, how often it refreshes, how it meters your usage, and whether it keeps history or lets you export it. For the broader buyer's shortlist across all ten directory tools, see the 10 best AI visibility tools in 2026; if you are not sure a paid tracker is worth it yet, our guide to checking this yourself for free is a good place to start.

What does "tracking depth" actually mean?

Two tools can both say they track AI visibility and still tell you very different things. Tracking depth comes down to a few questions worth checking before you buy, and we asked all nine of them below.

Does it separate mentions from citations? A mention is your brand named in an answer; a citation is your URL linked as a source, which matters more if you want the click. Some vendors report both, others report one number and call it visibility.

Does it record position and sentiment, not only presence? Being named third and described unfavourably is a different result from being named first and praised, even though both count as a mention in a simple count.

How often does it refresh, and how is usage metered? Weekly tracking on 50 prompts looks cheaper than daily tracking on 10 prompts until you work out how many real buyer questions each plan actually covers in a month.

Does it keep history, and can you export it? A tool that only shows this week's snapshot cannot tell you whether last month's fix worked.

How did we review these tools?

We did not buy or run any of these nine tools. On 29 September 2026 we read every vendor's own pricing page, product pages, documentation and trial terms, and compared them against the same checklist: which engines are named on the entry plan, how often results refresh, how usage is metered, whether history and exports are available, and whether a Google Search Console connection is named.

Where a vendor's own pages disagreed with each other, such as Nightwatch naming a different fifth engine on different pages, we say so rather than guessing. The Strength and Limit lines in each entry below are that honest comparison, not a hands-on test of any dashboard.

How do these 9 AI visibility tracking tools compare in 2026?

Prices checked 29 September 2026.

How this list works: we ordered these nine tools by how many of ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Microsoft Copilot each one's entry plan names, most first, ties broken by the lower published monthly price. LLM Pulse and Nightwatch price in euros, which we have not converted, so their ranking against similarly priced dollar plans is approximate. Five of the nine are in the Automate Basics directory and four (Keyword.com, LLM Pulse, Nightwatch and ZipTie) are not, all read from each vendor's own pricing, product and documentation pages on 29 September 2026.

Which AI visibility tracking tools are worth paying for in 2026?

1. AthenaHQ (best for the widest engine list of the nine)

AthenaHQ records prompt and response analysis, sources and competitor insights across its tracked engines, metered in credits where one credit equals one AI response.

Price: Starter is $295 a month, or $245 billed annually; Essential is free with 300 credits (checked 29 September 2026, AthenaHQ plans). Engines: 8 of the 8 this page tracks, plus DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, all on the $295 Starter plan; the widest named list of the nine tools here. Strength: A genuinely free plan to try the product, and a stated Google Analytics and Search Console integration on its own plans page. Limit: No refresh cadence or history and export detail is published, and the jump from the free plan to $295 a month is steep. Pick it if: you want the widest engine list of the nine on a flat monthly plan instead of managing usage credits.

See AthenaHQ in our directory or Cituna vs AthenaHQ.

2. Keyword.com (best for the cheapest way to track seven engines)

Keyword.com's AI Visibility plan tracks citation analysis, brand sentiment and competitor tracking across nine named engines, metered in AI credits rather than a flat prompt count.

Price: AI Visibility starts at $9.80 a month for 20 credits, or $7.83 billed annually (checked 29 September 2026, Keyword.com pricing). Engines: 7 of the 8 this page tracks, all but Grok, plus DeepSeek and Mistral named across its AI product pages. Strength: The cheapest way here to track seven engines, with a Google Search Console connection on every paid plan and a 14-day trial with no card. Limit: How many credits one prompt check across several engines actually consumes is not spelled out on its pricing or FAQ pages. Pick it if: budget matters most and you want the widest engine list for under $10 a month. Keyword.com is not in the Automate Basics directory.

3. Cituna (best for tracking plus a written fix for each gap)

Cituna checks seven AI engines every day: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. Its main difference from the rest of this list is what comes after the check: it writes the fix for each gap it finds and publishes articles.

Price: Starter is $39 a month, Pro is $119 and Max is $399 (checked 29 September 2026). Engines: 7; Cituna does not track Microsoft Copilot. Strength: It writes the fix for each gap it finds and publishes the articles, instead of stopping at a report, and Google Search Console and MCP are included. Limit: The 3-day free trial needs a card, and Microsoft Copilot is not tracked. See what a 3-day Cituna trial includes at cituna.com; a card is required. Pick it if: you want tracking and a written fix in one plan rather than a dashboard you still have to act on yourself.

See Cituna in our directory.

4. ZipTie (best for Search Console data next to your AI visibility numbers)

ZipTie prices itself by usage: you choose the prompts, engines and refresh schedule you want, and pay for that exact combination instead of a fixed tier.

Price: Starter presets begin from $42.75 a month, fully customisable by the prompts and engines chosen (checked 29 September 2026, ZipTie pricing). Engines: 6 of the 8 this page tracks: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot and Gemini, plus Bing AI Overview; Claude and Grok are not tracked at any price. Strength: A native Google Search Console overlay showing impressions, clicks, CTR and position alongside the AI visibility numbers, plus published API rate limits. Limit: Claude and Grok are not tracked at all, and API or MCP access always costs an extra $10 a month rather than being bundled into a tier. Pick it if: you want to pay only for the prompts and engines you actually use and see Search Console data in the same view. ZipTie is not in the Automate Basics directory.

5. Ahrefs Brand Radar (best for daily tracking on six engines with no setup)

Brand Radar reports brand mentions, citations and an AI share of voice score, refreshed daily across every tracked platform, metered by the number of checks rather than a flat prompt count.

Price: Custom Prompts Basic is $50 a month for 2,500 checks (checked 29 September 2026, Ahrefs Brand Radar). Engines: 6 of the 8 this page tracks, all but Claude and Grok; full Claude coverage sits on a separate tier priced near $699 a month. Strength: Daily refresh on every tracked platform, plus a genuinely free, unlimited-use AI visibility checker with no signup for a quick one-time snapshot. Limit: No history or export detail beyond the dashboard is published, no trial or discount is offered, and Search Console is not named on Brand Radar's own pages. Pick it if: you want daily tracking on the main engines without setting up your own prompt list, and Claude is not essential.

See Ahrefs Brand Radar in our directory or Cituna vs Ahrefs Brand Radar.

6. LLM Pulse (best for agencies wanting white-label reports)

LLM Pulse tracks brand mentions, citations, sentiment and share of voice weekly by default, though daily and monthly tracking are also available, and it pulls real queries from Google Search Console into the prompts you track.

Price: Starter is €49 a month, or €40.83 billed annually (checked 29 September 2026, LLM Pulse pricing). Engines: 5 of the 8 this page tracks: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode; Claude, Copilot and Grok each cost extra from €8 a month. Strength: A Google Search Console connection from the Growth plan up, white-label agency dashboards, and a free llms.txt generator with no account required. Limit: Weekly refresh is the default rather than daily, and full API access needs the €299 a month Scale plan. Pick it if: you run an agency and want white-label reports with Search Console data pulled straight into your prompt list. LLM Pulse is not in the Automate Basics directory.

7. SE Visible (best for prompt volume on the same five engines)

SE Visible collects AI answers through each platform's own browser interface rather than an API, reporting visibility, sentiment and the domains each engine cites most, refreshed daily.

Price: Basic is $99 a month, or $79 billed annually (checked 29 September 2026, SE Visible). Engines: 5 of the 8 this page tracks: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews; Claude is announced as coming soon. Strength: 200 prompts across three projects on the entry plan, all refreshed daily, with an API that covers most of the platform. Limit: No Search Console connection is named, no agency white-labelling is offered, and Claude is still not live. Pick it if: you want daily coverage and prompt volume on the five main engines today.

See SE Visible in our directory or Cituna vs SE Visible.

8. Otterly.AI (best for a cheap monitor that includes Copilot)

Otterly Lite tracks a Brand Visibility Index, domain ranking and link citation analysis daily across four engines, with unlimited team members on every plan.

Price: Lite is $29 a month, or $25 billed annually (checked 29 September 2026, Otterly pricing). Engines: 4 of the 8 this page tracks: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot; Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode cost extra on every plan. Strength: Copilot tracked from the entry plan, which several tools on this page do not offer at any price, plus unlimited seats. Limit: No Search Console connection is named, and three of the eight engines this page tracks are paid add-ons even on Lite. Pick it if: Copilot matters to your buyers and you want the cheapest entry price that includes it.

See Otterly.AI in our directory or Cituna vs Otterly.AI.

9. Nightwatch (best for Claude tracked from the entry plan)

Nightwatch reports a visibility percentage, average position, sentiment and citation attribution across its tracked engines, refreshed daily, metered in AI prompts plus a separate monthly AI answers allowance.

Price: Starter is €99 a month, or €79 billed annually (checked 29 September 2026, Nightwatch pricing). Engines: 4 confirmed on Starter: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity. Nightwatch's own pages disagree on the fifth, naming Google AI Overviews on its pricing page and Microsoft Copilot on its AI tracking pages, so we count only the four both pages agree on. Strength: Claude tracked from the entry plan, all six of its tools (including AI tracking) on every plan, and a named Google Search Console connection. Limit: Its own marketing pages contradict each other on which fifth engine is included, and API or MCP access needs the €159 to €199 a month Professional plan. Pick it if: Claude matters most to you and you can live with Nightwatch's unclear fifth engine. Nightwatch is not in the Automate Basics directory.

Which AI visibility tracking tool should you choose?

If engine count matters most, AthenaHQ tracks the widest list of the nine and Keyword.com is the cheapest way to track seven, though Keyword.com meters usage in credits and ZipTie prices itself by usage too. If you want a flat monthly plan instead, AthenaHQ and Cituna each cover seven or more engines and both go past reporting: Cituna writes the fix for each gap and publishes articles, and AthenaHQ's Starter includes a content optimisation agent.

Agencies that need white-label reports should look at LLM Pulse or Nightwatch's Professional plan, and Ahrefs customers already have Brand Radar bundled into a plan they likely pay for. If you want Search Console data next to your AI numbers without a flat monthly fee, ZipTie's usage-based pricing does that. None of these tools replace reading a few real AI answers yourself before you buy; see how to track your brand's visibility in ChatGPT for a manual method first.

If you would rather have the gaps a tracker finds turned into a written fix and a published article instead of another dashboard to check, see Cituna's plans at cituna.com.