Tracking how often ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews mention your brand is fast becoming a board-level metric. The tooling market is two years old and uneven. This is our honest take after testing the main contenders with our own clients.
Full-stack AEO platforms
Tools like Profound, Otterly.AI, and Athena run prompt panels across the major assistants and report citation rates, share-of-voice, and competitor benchmarks. Pricing typically $200–$1,500/mo. Strong dashboards, useful for agencies and larger in-house teams. Overkill for most small businesses.
Lightweight trackers
Tools like AthenaHQ, Peec, and a handful of newer entrants offer the core tracking (prompt panel, weekly citation check, basic dashboard) for $50–$150/mo. This is the right starting point for most service businesses.
DIY
If you're technical, build a weekly cron that fires 30–50 prompts at each assistant via API or browser automation, parses the citations, and logs them to a spreadsheet or database. Sufficient for tracking a single brand and trivially cheaper. Falls down when you need historical trend lines or competitor benchmarking.
- Pick 30–50 buyer-intent prompts.
- Fire weekly across at least three assistants.
- Log citations and competitor mentions.
- Review monthly with content team.
Frequently asked questions
Which assistant should I track first?
Perplexity (easiest to win) and Google AI Overviews (largest traffic impact). ChatGPT next.
How many prompts in a panel?
30–50 is enough for a small business. Larger brands track 100–500.
How often should I check?
Weekly for active programs; monthly for steady-state.