Last updated: July 2026
The best AI visibility tool depends on your team. Choose Profound for enterprise-depth prompt data and up to ~10 engines, Peec AI for EU/GDPR-conscious agencies, and Otterly.AI for low-cost monitoring by solo marketers and small agencies. If you want to act on what you find — not just measure it — TrendlyAI adds content generation from $19/month.
These four tools all answer the same question: when someone asks an AI engine about your category, does your brand get mentioned and cited? They differ sharply on price, engine coverage, and whether they stop at monitoring or also help you fix the gaps.
Key takeaways🔗
- Profound is the enterprise pick: its standout "Prompt Volumes" dataset and up to ~10 engines are powerful, but pricing starts at $99/month and the platform has a steep learning curve.
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Peec AI is a Berlin-based, EU/GDPR-friendly monitoring dashboard with unlimited seats, priced in euros from ~€89/month — clean, but monitoring-only.
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Otterly.AI is the low-cost entry point at $29/month, with strong agency features (unlimited team members, Looker Studio, API) and 50+ country coverage.
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All three are monitoring-first. None of them writes the content that closes the gaps they surface — you bring a separate content workflow.
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TrendlyAI is the value pick for teams that want to track and act: it covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews on every plan and generates content to win citations, from $19/month.
Why AI visibility tracking matters now🔗
AI answer engines have become a primary place buyers research. ChatGPT reached 900 million weekly active users in early 2026, up from 400 million a year earlier (TechCrunch), and Perplexity handled about 780 million queries in a single month (Search Engine Land). On Google, roughly 18% of US searches produced an AI Overview in March 2025, rising to about 60% for question-style queries (Pew Research).
In an AI answer, only one to three brands usually get named. A tracker tells you whether you are one of them, who is winning instead, and which sources the engine cited. That is the job all four tools do — the rest of this guide is about which one fits you. For the wider field, see our ranked list of the best AI search visibility tools.
Profound vs Peec vs Otterly vs TrendlyAI: comparison table🔗
Figures reflect publicly available information as of July 2026. Pricing changes often — verify on each vendor's site before buying.
| Profound | Peec AI | Otterly.AI | TrendlyAI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Enterprises & large brands | EU/GDPR-conscious agencies | Solo marketers & small agencies | Teams that want to track and act |
| Starting price | $99/mo (Starter) | ~€89/mo (Starter) | $29/mo (Lite) | $19/mo (Solo) |
| Entry-tier engines | ChatGPT only | ~3 of 6 (self-serve) | 4 (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot) | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews |
| Max engines | Up to ~10 (Enterprise) | 6 via add-ons/Enterprise | 4 base + Gemini/AI Mode/Claude add-ons | 3 majors, all plans |
| Content generation | Content agents (human-in-loop) | No — monitoring only | No — monitoring & audits | Yes — generates content to win citations |
| Standout feature | Prompt Volumes (real user-query panel) | EU data residency, unlimited seats | Agency reporting, 50+ countries | Close-the-loop content at low price |
| Learning curve | Steep (4–8 week ramp cited) | Light | Light | Light |
| Free option | No free trial confirmed | 7-day trial, no free tier | 14-day trial, no card | Free AI visibility check |
What is Profound?🔗
Profound (tryprofound.com) is an enterprise Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) / GEO platform that tracks how brands appear in AI answers — mentions, citations, sentiment, and competitive presence — across major assistants. Its most distinctive feature is Prompt Volumes, a dataset of what real users actually ask AI, which reviewers describe as AI-era keyword research. It also offers Agent Analytics (how AI crawlers reach your site) and content agents that draft AEO copy.
Profound is built for large teams: enterprise security (SOC 2, SSO/SAML), named customers like Ramp, and broad engine coverage — Perplexity, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek, and Google AI Overviews — though full coverage is gated to the Enterprise tier. The trade-off is price and complexity: the Starter tier ($99/month) tracks ChatGPT only with 50 prompts, and multiple reviews describe a 4–8 week ramp to fluency. Our deeper writeup covers the best Profound alternatives for small teams.
What is Peec AI?🔗
Peec AI (peec.ai) is an AI-search analytics platform founded in 2025 and based in Berlin. It runs brand- and topic-specific prompts daily across AI engines, then reports whether and how your brand is mentioned, which competitors appear, sentiment, position in the answer, and which sources the AI cites. It is a focused monitoring tool — it tells you what is happening, but it does not generate or optimize content for you.
Peec AI's clearest differentiator is EU data residency, which matters to GDPR-sensitive buyers, plus unlimited user seats on every plan. Self-serve plans track a limited pool — commonly ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, and Copilot — with broader access via add-ons or Enterprise. Pricing is in euros (from ~€89/month) with a 7-day trial and no free tier. See the full Peec AI alternative comparison for details.
What is Otterly.AI?🔗
Otterly.AI (otterly.ai) is a self-serve AI-search-visibility monitoring platform built around three pillars: prompt research, AI search analytics with a Brand Visibility Index, and content auditing for AI-readiness. It is positioned as a low-friction, transparently priced entry point for solo marketers, SMBs, and small agencies.
Otterly's base tiers include four engines — ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot — with daily tracking, unlimited team members, and integrations like a Google Looker Studio connector and API/MCP access on higher tiers. Two caveats: Gemini, Google AI Mode, and Claude are paid add-ons, and there is a large gap between the Lite ($29/month, 15 prompts) and Standard ($189/month) tiers with no mid-tier. Our Otterly.AI alternative guide walks through the details.
Pricing compared🔗
Entry price is where these tools separate most:
- TrendlyAI — $19/month (Solo). Lowest entry point; 25 prompts; three major engines and content generation included.
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Otterly.AI — $29/month (Lite). 15 prompts, four base engines; agency features scale up at $189/month.
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Peec AI — ~€89/month (Starter). Euro pricing; unlimited seats; monitoring only.
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Profound — $99/month (Starter). ChatGPT-only at entry; real engine breadth lives in Growth ($399/month) and Enterprise.
The pattern: Profound and Peec AI are priced for funded teams and agencies; Otterly.AI and TrendlyAI are priced for individuals and small teams. If budget is the deciding factor, the choice is usually between the last two.
Engine coverage compared🔗
More engines is not automatically better — coverage only helps if your buyers use those engines. Most B2B research happens on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, which is why TrendlyAI includes exactly those three on every plan.
- Profound has the widest ceiling (~10 engines) but gates it to Enterprise; entry tracks ChatGPT only.
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Peec AI covers up to six, with self-serve limited to about three unless you add on.
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Otterly.AI ships four base engines and sells Gemini, AI Mode, and Claude as add-ons.
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TrendlyAI keeps it to the three highest-traffic engines on all plans, without add-on math.
Which should you buy?🔗
There is no universal winner. Match the tool to your situation:
- You are an enterprise or large brand that needs prompt-volume research, ~10 engines, and SOC 2/SSO: buy Profound. Budget for a multi-week ramp.
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You are an EU or GDPR-conscious agency that wants a clean monitoring dashboard with data residency and unlimited seats: buy Peec AI.
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You are a solo marketer or small agency that wants cheap monitoring, multi-country coverage, and Looker Studio reporting: buy Otterly.AI.
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You want to track and act on ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews without enterprise pricing: buy TrendlyAI, which also generates the content to close the gaps it finds.
Where TrendlyAI is — and isn't — the best fit🔗
To be even-handed: TrendlyAI is not the right tool for everyone. If you need ten engines, Grok and Meta AI coverage, or a real-user prompt-volume panel, Profound is the stronger platform. If EU data residency is a hard requirement, Peec AI is the safer choice. If you live inside Looker Studio and need 50+ country breakdowns, Otterly.AI's agency tooling is more mature.
Where TrendlyAI wins is the combination the other three lack: the three highest-traffic engines in every plan, the lowest entry price ($19/month), and content generation built in — so measuring a gap and fixing it happen in one place rather than two. If your problem is "I can see I'm invisible in AI answers, now what?", that is the gap TrendlyAI is built to close.
How we compared these tools🔗
We based this comparison on each vendor's public pricing and feature pages as of July 2026, cross-checked against hands-on notes from our individual reviews of Profound, Peec AI, and Otterly.AI. Pricing and engine coverage in this category change frequently, so treat the numbers as a starting point and confirm current details on each site. Want to see where you stand before you buy anything? See which AI engines mention your brand — free check →
Frequently asked questions🔗
What is the best AI visibility tool overall?🔗
There is no single best tool — it depends on your team. Profound wins on enterprise depth, Peec AI on EU data residency, Otterly.AI on low-cost agency reporting, and TrendlyAI on value plus built-in content generation. Start from your budget and which engines your buyers actually use.
Which is the cheapest of the four?🔗
TrendlyAI is the lowest entry point at $19/month, followed by Otterly.AI at $29/month. Peec AI (~€89/month) and Profound ($99/month) are priced for agencies and enterprises. Only TrendlyAI and Otterly.AI offer a free check or trial without a card.
Do Profound, Peec, and Otterly generate content?🔗
Mostly no. Peec AI and Otterly.AI are monitoring-first and leave the fixing to you; Profound offers content agents that are largely human-in-the-loop. TrendlyAI is the one that both tracks your AI visibility and generates content to improve it.
Which tool covers the most AI engines?🔗
Profound has the widest ceiling at around ten engines, but only on its Enterprise tier — its entry plan tracks ChatGPT alone. If you mainly need ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, most tools cover those, and TrendlyAI includes all three on every plan.
Is Profound worth it for a small business?🔗
Usually not. Profound is built for enterprises: the entry tier tracks only ChatGPT, real breadth requires higher tiers, and reviewers cite a 4–8 week ramp. Small businesses are typically better served by Otterly.AI or TrendlyAI. See our Profound alternative guide for the full reasoning.