Best HubSpot AI Search Grader alternatives (2026)

HubSpot's AI Search Grader is a free, one-time score of how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini describe your brand. For another free look, try the TrendlyAI, Ahrefs or Semrush checkers. For tracking over time, pick a paid tracker: TrendlyAI from $19/mo, Otterly.AI from $29/mo, or HubSpot's own AEO tool at $50/mo.

Key takeaways🔗

• HubSpot's AI Search Grader is free with no account, but you fill in a short form to see the full report. It is a single snapshot, not ongoing tracking.

• It asks GPT-5.4 mini, Perplexity and Gemini how they describe your brand from training data, and scores you out of 100 across five dimensions.

• It does not show whether AI engines recommend you when buyers ask category questions like "best CRM for a small agency." Category-prompt checkers and trackers do.

• Free alternatives: TrendlyAI's check, Ahrefs' AI Visibility Checker and Semrush's AI Search Visibility Checker.

• Paid alternatives start at $19/mo. We build TrendlyAI, so weigh that. All prices were checked on vendor sites in October 2026.

What is HubSpot's AI Search Grader?🔗

HubSpot's AI Search Grader is a free, one-time check of how AI engines represent your brand, based on what they learned in training. HubSpot's grader page describes it as "a free, one-time check" with "no account required."

You enter your company name, location, industry and product or service. The tool sends that to GPT-5.4 mini (OpenAI), Perplexity and Gemini and asks each model how it characterizes your brand. It then scores you out of 100 across five dimensions:

• Sentiment (up to 40 points): the tone AI uses to describe you.

• Presence quality (up to 20 points): how much depth and detail AI has about you.

• Brand recognition (up to 20 points): how widely AI knows your brand.

• Share of voice (up to 10 points): where you rank against competitors at the time of the check.

• Market competition (up to 10 points): whether AI frames you as a leader, challenger or niche player.

HubSpot says results are ready in under two minutes. You complete a short form to see the full report with a breakdown and written interpretation. It accepts any brand name, so you can also grade a competitor.

Why look for an alternative to the HubSpot grader?🔗

People look for an alternative to the HubSpot grader because it answers one question well, "how does AI describe my brand right now?", and stops there.

1. It is a one-time snapshot. AI answers change from run to run and week to week. One score cannot tell you whether you are improving. HubSpot says so itself and points you to its paid HubSpot AEO tool for tracking.

2. It measures brand perception, not category recommendations. The grader asks each model about your brand. Buyers usually ask about the category: "best payroll software for restaurants." Whether AI names you in that answer, and which competitors it names instead, is a different test. Our explainer on what AI share of voice means covers the difference.

3. It covers three engines. GPT-5.4 mini, Perplexity and Gemini. It does not cover Claude, Copilot or Google AI Overviews.

4. It does not tell you what to fix. You get scores and an interpretation, not a draft page or a list of the prompts where you lose.

If a single snapshot is all you need, the grader is a good free tool and you may not need anything else. For a wider look at free tools, see our guide to the best free AI visibility checkers.

HubSpot AI Search Grader alternatives compared🔗

This table compares the main alternatives on price, engines and what you get. Prices are monthly in USD from each vendor's own site, as of October 2026.

Which HubSpot AI Search Grader alternatives are worth a look?🔗

These are the tools I would shortlist, with our own product first. We build TrendlyAI, so weigh that.

1. TrendlyAI🔗

TrendlyAI checks whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews name your brand or its competitors when buyers ask category questions. It finds gaps where a competitor is recommended and you are not, then drafts a fix: a comparison page, an FAQ page with schema, a Reddit answer, an llms.txt file, a best-of list or a product page rewrite. Later scans detect when a fix wins a citation.

• Free check: trendlyai.com/check runs 5 prompts on ChatGPT and Perplexity in about 30 seconds, with no signup.

• Solo, $19/mo ($16/mo yearly): 1 brand, 25 prompts, 2 competitors, 10 fix drafts a month, white-label PDF reports.

• Pro, $49/mo ($39/mo yearly): 3 brands, 25 prompts each, 5 competitors per brand, unlimited fix drafts.

• Agency, $149/mo ($124/mo yearly): 10 client brands, 25 prompts each, 25 pitch audits a month.

There is a 7-day free trial with no credit card. Compared with the HubSpot grader, TrendlyAI tests category prompts, adds Claude and Google AI Overviews, tracks weekly and drafts fixes.

Weak points, stated plainly: TrendlyAI tracks only 4 engines, with no Gemini, Grok, Copilot or Google AI Mode, so it misses Gemini, which the HubSpot grader covers. Scans are weekly with 1 sample per prompt. There is no prompt-volume data and no free plan, only the free check and a trial. It is a young product from a small team with few public reviews. TrendlyAI tracks its own domain and publishes its own score, which is low.

2. HubSpot AEO🔗

HubSpot AEO is HubSpot's paid tracking tool and the step its grader points you to. Per its product page, it costs $50/mo, includes 25 prompts and tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. You can buy more prompts at any time. There is a free trial with 25 prompts and no credit card, and HubSpot says no HubSpot subscription is required. It is also included in Marketing Hub Pro and Enterprise. The product page labels it Beta.

Best for teams already on HubSpot who want the same three engines tracked over time. It does not cover Claude, Copilot or Google AI Overviews.

3. Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker🔗

Ahrefs' free AI Visibility Checker shows how your brand appears in ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot and Google AI Overviews, with no signup. Ahrefs says it uses "search-backed prompts," real questions derived from what people search for, from its Brand Radar database. The free report is a limited preview that shows total AI mentions and more.

Best for a free second opinion across five engines. It is a lookup in Ahrefs' data, not a run of prompts you write.

4. Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker🔗

Semrush's AI Search Visibility Checker is free to use three times a day without an account, per its FAQ. It covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews, and shows an AI Visibility Score, brand mentions, a per-platform breakdown, the pages that drive the most AI citations and topics where you appear. The paid AI Visibility Toolkit is $99/mo with 25 tracked prompts and no free trial, per Semrush's knowledge base.

Best for teams that want a free score with cited pages, or that already use Semrush. See our Semrush AI Toolkit alternatives guide for the paid side.

5. Otterly.AI🔗

Otterly.AI starts at $29/mo (Lite, 15 prompts), then $189/mo (Standard, 100 prompts) and $489/mo (Premium, 400 prompts), per its pricing page. Yearly billing is 15% less. Every plan tracks ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot daily, with unlimited team members. Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude are paid add-ons. There is a free trial.

Best for low-cost daily tracking. Lite's 15 prompts are fewer than most paid tools.

6. Rank Prompt🔗

Rank Prompt tracks six engines on every plan: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode (with AI Overviews), Claude, Gemini and Grok. Plans are $49, $89, $149 and $299 per month ($39, $71, $119 and $239 billed yearly), metered in credits, per its pricing page. Note that the page leads with the yearly prices. There is a free plan with 10 credits a month, which runs one full report on ChatGPT, Claude and Google AI Mode with no card.

Best for teams that want Gemini and Grok, or a free plan that goes beyond a one-time check. Our Rank Prompt alternatives guide covers its trade-offs.

7. LLMrefs🔗

LLMrefs' All in One plan is $79/mo, labeled "limited time only," with 500 prompts and access to all its listed AI engines, per its pricing page. There is a free account and a 7-day free trial. You give it SEO keywords and it generates the prompts, rather than tracking exact questions you write.

Best for SEO teams that want many engines and prompts for a flat fee.

How do you choose between a free checker and a paid tracker?🔗

Use a free checker to find out if you have a problem, and a paid tracker once you are working to fix it.

• You want a quick score to share with your boss: HubSpot's grader, Ahrefs or Semrush.

• You want to see real category answers and which competitors are named: the TrendlyAI free check.

• You are on HubSpot and want the same three engines tracked: HubSpot AEO.

• You want daily data at a low price: Otterly.AI.

• You need Gemini and Grok: Rank Prompt or LLMrefs.

• You want each gap turned into a draft page or post: TrendlyAI.

Free scores also vary between tools, because each one asks different prompts on different engines. Our explainer on the AI visibility score covers how to read them. For the wider topic, start at our GEO hub.

Frequently asked questions🔗

Is HubSpot's AI Search Grader free?🔗

Yes. HubSpot says there is no cost to run the AI Search Grader and no account required. You enter your brand details and complete a short form to see the full report, which is ready in under two minutes.

Which AI engines does HubSpot's AI Search Grader check?🔗

As of October 2026, it checks GPT-5.4 mini (OpenAI), Perplexity and Gemini, and asks each how it characterizes your brand based on training data. It does not check Claude, Copilot or Google AI Overviews.

Can HubSpot's AI Search Grader track my brand over time?🔗

No. It is a one-time snapshot. HubSpot sells ongoing tracking separately as HubSpot AEO, at $50/mo for 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini. Other trackers such as TrendlyAI, Otterly.AI and Rank Prompt also track over time.

What is the best free alternative to HubSpot's AI Search Grader?🔗

It depends on what you want to see. TrendlyAI's free check shows real ChatGPT and Perplexity answers to category prompts in about 30 seconds. Ahrefs covers five engines from its prompt database. Semrush gives a free score with cited pages, three times a day.

Do I need HubSpot to use HubSpot AEO?🔗

No. HubSpot's product page says no HubSpot subscription is required for HubSpot AEO at $50/mo. It is also included in Marketing Hub Pro and Enterprise.

Related reading🔗

• Best free AI visibility checkers

• Best AEO tools

• Best affordable AI visibility tools