Best AEO Tools and Trackers for 2026, With Pricing

Short answer: the best AEO tools in 2026 are Profound and Peec AI for broad, daily tracking, Mentions and LLMrefs for wide engine coverage on a small budget, Semrush and Ahrefs Brand Radar if you already pay for those suites, and Shoptank, Peec AI or Meridian if you sell on Shopify.

AEO (answer engine optimization) tools track whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and other assistants mention or cite your brand, who they name instead, and which sources they lean on. This guide compares 17 of them on the four things that decide the purchase: engines tracked, starting price, cost per tracked query, and whether the tool actually connects to your store. Pricing was checked on each vendor's own pricing page in October 2026.

Key takeaways

• AEO tracking software is a rank tracker for AI answers. It runs your buyer questions through AI assistants on a schedule and records whether you are named, cited, or skipped.
• Engine coverage varies a lot. HubSpot AEO covers 3 engines, Mentions covers 8, AthenaHQ lists 11 on its paid plan, and Profound offers up to 9 on Enterprise. Shoptank covers 2 (ChatGPT and Claude).
• Entry prices run from free to about $300 a month, and enterprise plans are usually custom. Compare cost per tracked query and check cadence, not the sticker price.
• Only a few tools connect to Shopify. Shoptank, Meridian and the two Visibly apps are Shopify apps, Peec AI can pull a product catalog from Shopify, and AthenaHQ and AirOps list a Shopify integration. The rest track any URL.

On this page

• What is AEO tracking software?
• The 17 AEO tools compared
• Which AEO tracking tools integrate with Shopify (or Magento)?
• The tools, one by one
• How to choose an AEO tool
• AEO tools for retail and ecommerce brands
• Free AEO tools

What is AEO tracking software?

AEO tracking software sends a fixed set of prompts, the questions your buyers ask, to one or more AI assistants on a schedule. It then records whether your brand appears in each answer, where it appears, which competitors are named, and which web pages the answer cited. Over time that gives you a visibility score per engine and per prompt. The better tools also tell you what to change: which sources to get onto, which pages to fix, and which product data is missing.

SEO tools measure your position in a list of links. AEO tools measure whether you are inside the answer itself. Several SEO suites, including Semrush, Ahrefs, SE Ranking and Surfer, now sell AI tracking alongside their classic rank tracking.

The 17 AEO tools compared

Pricing verified October 2026 on each vendor's own pricing page or Shopify App Store listing. Monthly billing unless noted. *Semrush, SE Ranking and Surfer showed prices in EUR from our location, so USD prices may differ. Engine lists are as published by each vendor and some engines cost extra.

Which AEO tracking tools integrate with Shopify (or Magento)?

Most AEO tools do not integrate with any store platform. They track a domain: you give them a URL and a list of prompts, and they check whether that brand or URL appears in AI answers. That works for any Shopify, Magento or custom store, but the tool does not know your products, variants or collections. Here is what each tool actually offers, based on the vendors' own pages in October 2026.

Real Shopify apps (install in your store)

• Shoptank is listed on the Shopify App Store. It is catalog-aware, so it builds tracked queries from your products, shows which sources each answer cited and which brands were named instead, and drafts fixes to product data and content.
• Meridian is listed on the Shopify App Store and advertises product-level visibility tracking, citation tracking and recommendations.
• Visibly AI (by Afluo) and Visibly (by what. AG) are separate Shopify apps. Both are newer, launched in 2026, with small prompt allowances.

Catalog or CMS integrations (not a Shopify app)

• Peec AI lists product catalog upload, fetched from Shopify or uploaded as a CSV, plus SKU-level visibility tracking in its AI Shopping features.
• AthenaHQ lists a Shopify and Webflow integration on its Starter and Enterprise plans.
• AirOps lists Shopify among its integrations, aimed at publishing content changes.

URL-only trackers

Profound, Otterly.AI, Mentions, LLMrefs, Rankscale, SE Ranking, Semrush, Ahrefs Brand Radar, Scrunch, HubSpot AEO and Surfer track your domain without a store integration. They work fine for Shopify and Magento stores at the brand level.

Magento and Adobe Commerce

We did not find a Magento or Adobe Commerce integration listed on any of these vendors' pages. For a Magento store, pick a URL-based tracker for brand visibility, and handle product data yourself through structured data and your product feeds. For more on the Shopify side, see Shopify AI search optimization.

The tools, one by one

1. Shoptank: best AEO tracker for Shopify stores

Shoptank tracks how a store shows up when shoppers ask ChatGPT and Claude what to buy. Because it installs as a Shopify app, it works from your catalog: it suggests buyer queries from your products, shows the sources each answer cited and who was named instead of you, and drafts the fixes. It also connects to Claude through an MCP connector, so you can query your data in chat (setup guide). Plans: Free at $0 for 3 tracked queries checked monthly, no card; Starter $29/mo for 30 queries and 120 checks a month; Growth $99/mo for 150 queries, 600 checks, 3 domains and API; Scale $299/mo for 500 queries; Agency $799/mo for 2,000 queries with white-label. Annual billing saves 20%. Limitation: it tracks two engines today, fewer than Mentions, Profound or AthenaHQ, and the Starter plan checks each query about four times a month rather than daily. See Shoptank pricing.

2. Profound

Profound is an enterprise AI visibility platform. Its Enterprise plan tracks up to 9 answer engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, DeepSeek, Claude, Google AI Overviews and Exa, with daily tracking, SSO and SOC 2. Its pricing page now lists only a free 7-day trial (50 prompts, ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews) and custom Enterprise pricing, so pricing is not published. Best if you need many engines and have an enterprise budget. Compare: Shoptank vs Profound.

3. Peec AI

Peec AI is a clean, daily-refresh tracker popular with marketing teams. Every plan lets you choose 3 models from a list that includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Claude, Perplexity, Grok and DeepSeek, with extra models as paid add-ons. Starter is $95/mo for 50 prompts ($80/mo billed yearly), Pro $245/mo for 150, Advanced $495/mo for 350. It is one of the few general trackers with a Shopify catalog fetch and SKU-level tracking. Compare: Shoptank vs Peec.

4. Otterly.AI

Otterly.AI has one of the lowest entry prices: Lite is $29/mo for 15 prompts, Standard $189/mo for 100, Premium $489/mo for 400, with about 15% off yearly. The base plans cover ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot. Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode are paid add-ons, so check the total if you need them. Compare: Shoptank vs Otterly.

5. Mentions

Mentions tracks 8 engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Gemini, DeepSeek, Google AI Overview and Llama. Starter is $49/mo for 25 prompts on 3 engines, Pro $99/mo for 50 prompts on all engines, Business $199/mo for 100 prompts, and Agency $399/mo for 300 prompts plus white-label and custom domains. A strong pick for agencies that need broad coverage.

6. LLMrefs

LLMrefs tracks keywords rather than single prompts, and aggregates many conversations per keyword. Its one plan is $79/mo (marked limited-time) for 500 tracked prompts across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek, with a 7-day trial. It is the lowest cost per tracked prompt in this list if that offer holds.

7. Rankscale

Rankscale is credit-based. Essentials is $17/mo billed yearly, Pro $99/mo for 1,200 credits, Pro+ $229/mo, Growth $385/mo and Enterprise $780/mo. Coverage includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, DeepSeek, Mistral and Copilot, and plans include page audits. Credits make it hard to compare per query, so model your usage first.

8. SE Ranking

SE Ranking adds AI tracking to its rank tracker through an AI Search add-on, which also unlocks its SE Visible dashboard. The add-on covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. From our location the page showed the Core plan at EUR 109/mo plus the add-on at EUR 79/mo, so this suits teams already using SE Ranking more than buyers who only want AEO.

9. AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ lists the widest model set we found on a self-serve plan: 11 models on Starter, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Claude, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral. A free Essential plan comes with starter credits; Starter is $295/mo for 3,600 credits; Enterprise is custom. It lists a Shopify and Webflow integration on paid plans. Credits vary by engine, so cost per query depends on your mix.

10. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit

Semrush tracks your brand in ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Gemini and Perplexity, and is good at explaining how AI describes your brand versus competitors. From our location the pricing page showed its SEO + AI search plans from EUR 190/mo (EUR 158.40/mo billed yearly) with 50 prompts tracked daily. Best for teams already on Semrush. Compare: Shoptank vs Semrush.

11. Ahrefs Brand Radar

Brand Radar draws on a database of hundreds of millions of prompts, so you can research any brand, not just your own. Its AI Visibility Index is $199/mo and custom prompt tracking starts at $50/mo. It covers AI Overviews, AI Mode, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini and ChatGPT, and Claude is now available for custom prompts. Best for competitive research. Compare: Shoptank vs Ahrefs Brand Radar.

12. Scrunch

Scrunch targets larger brands. Starter is $300/mo month to month or $250/mo yearly, for 350 custom prompts and 1,000 industry prompts, and Growth is $500/mo or $417/mo yearly. It tracks ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, and Meta, and adds agent traffic monitoring. Compare: Shoptank vs Scrunch.

13. HubSpot AEO

HubSpot AEO is still in beta. It costs $50/mo or $45/mo billed yearly, includes 25 prompts, and tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. It turns visibility into a task list connected to your HubSpot data, which makes sense if your team already runs on HubSpot.

14. Surfer

Surfer is a content optimization tool with AI tracking built into its plans. It tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews and Gemini. From our location the AI Search Analytics plan showed at EUR 82/mo billed yearly for 50 prompts refreshed daily, and the Standard plan includes 25 prompts refreshed weekly. Best for writers who want one tool for Google and AI.

15. AirOps

AirOps is a content workflow platform that turns AI visibility insights into published changes across many pages. It has a free Solo tier; Pro and Enterprise pricing is not published and is based on task volume. Pro monitors 7+ answer engines, and Shopify appears in its integrations list. Expect a real setup effort.

16. Meridian

Meridian is a GEO platform with a Shopify app. Its site lists tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Google Search, with product-level tracking. The App Store listing shows it as free to install, and paid plan pricing is not published on its site. It has no App Store reviews yet.

17. Visibly

Two different Shopify apps use the name. Visibly AI by Afluo has a free plan with 5 prompts, Starter at $79/mo for 50 prompts and Pro at $199/mo for 100 prompts, and tracks ChatGPT and Gemini. Visibly by what. AG has a free plan with 5 prompts and Pro at $9.90/mo for 20 prompts, naming ChatGPT and Perplexity as examples. Both launched in 2026, so expect a young feature set.

How to choose an AEO tool

• Engines. Track where your buyers ask. ChatGPT is the minimum. If your audience uses Perplexity, Gemini or Copilot, choose a tool that covers them, and check whether those engines are included or cost extra.
• Cadence. AI answers change from run to run, so more checks give a steadier reading. Peec AI, Mentions and Profound refresh daily. Shoptank Starter checks each query about four times a month, and Growth allows up to daily on your priority queries.
• Cost per tracked query. Divide the monthly price by tracked queries. On entry plans: LLMrefs about $0.16 (limited-time offer), Visibly by what. AG about $0.50, Scrunch about $0.86, Shoptank about $0.97, Visibly AI about $1.58, Peec AI about $1.90, Otterly.AI about $1.93, Mentions about $1.96 and HubSpot AEO about $2.00. Then factor in cadence and engines. The full breakdown is in AI visibility tool cost per tracked query.
• Fixes, not just dashboards. A score tells you that you are missing. You also need to know why: which sources the answer cited, who was named instead, and what to change. Prefer tools that show cited sources and suggest the fix.

Looking for GEO tools more broadly? See our GEO tools page.

AEO tools for retail and ecommerce brands

Retail brands have a different problem from SaaS brands. Shoppers ask product questions ("best running shoes for flat feet", "gift for a coffee lover under $50"), and assistants answer with specific products, often pulled from merchant feeds, reviews and roundup articles. That means three things matter more for retail:

• Product-level tracking, not only brand mentions. Shoptank, Meridian and Peec AI (with its SKU-level tracking) work at this level.
• Catalog awareness, so the tool can trace a missing recommendation back to thin product data, missing attributes or weak categories.
• Source visibility, so you can see which review sites, listicles and forums the assistant trusts in your category and get onto them.

Large multi-brand retailers with enterprise budgets often add Profound or Scrunch for engine breadth. For a deeper look, read AEO for ecommerce.

Free AEO tools

• Shoptank Free: 3 tracked queries checked monthly, ChatGPT and Claude, no card.
• HubSpot AI Search Grader: a free one-off check across ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, no account needed.
• AthenaHQ Essential: free plan with starter credits.
• AirOps Solo: free tier for content workflows.
• Visibly and Visibly AI: free Shopify plans with 5 prompts each.
• Free trials: Profound (7 days), Peec AI, LLMrefs (7 days) and Rankscale (7 days) let you test before paying.

Free plans are good for a first reading. For decisions, you want enough tracked queries and enough checks to see a trend.

Bottom line

If you want the broadest engine coverage, look at Mentions, AthenaHQ or Profound. If you want daily data at a fair price, Peec AI or Otterly.AI. If you already pay for Semrush, Ahrefs or HubSpot, start with their AI add-ons. If you sell on Shopify and want tracking tied to your catalog with the fixes drafted, start with Shoptank, and accept that it covers ChatGPT and Claude only today.

Check your AI visibility free: see whether ChatGPT and Claude recommend your store, which sources they cite, and who they name instead.