Last Updated on August 23, 2025 by Alex Birkett
Search is changing.
Yeah, yeah, we all know that AI is shaking things up.
I mean, life changes all the time, right? “No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it’s not the same river and he’s not the same man.”
SEO ain’t dead yet, but GEO (generative engine optimization) is all the rage.
It’s no longer merely about ranking #1 for a keyword. It’s about being a ubiquitous brand, to the point where AI models (ChatGPT, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.) recommend YOU as the obvious choice.
Well, this also begets a different set of tools and a different way of tracking success. Enter: generative engine optimization (GEO) software.
I’ve tried ‘em all (I run an organic growth agency). To help you choose a GEO platform, I’ll review each of the best GEO tools here and describe what they are best at.
The 8 Best Generative Engine Optimization Tools
- Peec AI
- Goodie AI
- Profound
- Ahrefs
- Semrush
- Athena
- XFunnel
- Geostar
Generative Engine Optimization Software Comparison
| Product | Starter Price | Value Proposition | Key Features |
| Peec AI | €89/mo (25 prompts) | Competitive intel + multi-model visibility radar | Multi-engine tracking, competitor benchmarking, citation/source targeting |
| Goodie AI | Free audit; contact | All-in-one AI search monitoring + optimization | Unified dashboard, AI-specific recs, brand alerts + sentiment |
| Profound | $499/mo (Lite) | Enterprise command center for AI visibility | Multi-engine SOV tracking, agent analytics, convo explorer, strategist support |
| Ahrefs | $199/mo per index | SEO powerhouse + GEO add-ons | AI keyword tools, Brand Radar, AI references, deep backlink/content data |
| Semrush | $99/mo per domain | SEO suite with AI visibility baked in | Cross-platform tracking, AI insights, enterprise AIO with sentiment + SOV |
| AthenaHQ | $270–295/mo (Lite) | Fastest, deepest GEO platform w/ predictive insights | 3M+ response catalog, Action Center, full-stack GEO dashboards |
| XFunnel | Unavailable (custom pricing) | Funnel-focused AI visibility + buyer journey optimization | Journey mapping, query insights by intent, playbooks + expert support |
| Geostar | $299/mo | Hybrid model: platform + managed services | Visibility tracker, crawler analytics, managed GEO services (custom outreach) |
1. Peec AI
Best for: Competitive intelligence and all-around multi-model visibility tracking
Unique features:
- Tracks how your brand and competitors surface across multiple AI systems (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.)
- Benchmarking dashboard to compare your AI visibility against direct competitors
- Actionable insights into where and why AI models are (or aren’t) citing your content
Peec AI is built for marketers who don’t just want to know if they’re showing up in AI answers, but how they stack up against competitors and why there may be brand visibility gaps. Its multi-model approach means you can see which platforms favor your brand, where you’re invisible, and what competitors are doing differently.
Think of it like a visibility radar for the generative search ecosystem — especially useful if you’re in a crowded space where everyone’s fighting for the same few citations.
I find their citation and source data to be very useful, clean, and easy to act on. I can quickly identify which pages are most commonly cited against a prompt, and then I can see whether or not my brand is included on the page. This gives my outreach team an incredible target URL list (especially when triangulated against classic SEO data).
Starting Price: Free trial available; paid plans start at €89 a month for up to 25 prompts tracked
2. Goodie AI
Best for: Brands that want all-in-one monitoring and optimization across AI search engines
Unique features:
- Unified dashboard that shows how your brand is appearing (or not) across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and others
- Content recommendations specifically tuned for AI engines, not just traditional SEO
- Brand mention alerts and sentiment analysis so you can track how you’re being talked about in generative results
Goodie AI is kind of like the Swiss Army knife of GEO. Instead of cobbling together visibility trackers, keyword tools, and sentiment monitors, Goodie bundles it all in one platform. It’s especially handy for in-house marketers who don’t want to run five tools just to figure out if their brand shows up in ChatGPT.
You get a clean, consolidated view of your presence in the AI search ecosystem, plus concrete next steps to improve it – which is one of the areas that Goodie excels. They bring you from insights to action with their AI visibility hub, complete with action steps for on-page LLM optimization as well as citation and page gaps to increase your coverage and probability of being mentioned.
Starting Price: Free, one-time audit; contact for pricing
3. Profound
Best for: Enterprise and upper mid-market teams that want full-stack control over AI search visibility, with strategic, white-glove support built in.
Unique features:
- Tracks your brand’s “share of voice” in AI-generated answers—across platforms like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and more
- Offers deep “Agent Analytics”: see how AI crawlers access and interpret your content, measure attribution from AI-driven traffic, and optimize for indexing efficiency
- Includes “Conversation Explorer” for real-time insight into what users are asking AI, plus ChatGPT Shopping visibility for product-centric brands
Profound isn’t the tool for casually checking your AI visibility. It’s the command center for brands that treat AI search as mission-critical. You get comprehensive tracking of brand citations, citation sources, AI crawler behavior, and even product positioning in ChatGPT Shopping.
Toss in live prompt trending and a dedicated strategist or Copilot to guide your moves, and suddenly your GEO program stops feeling like guesswork.
Downsides are obviously the high price point, and I also humbly think that the interface is a bit noisy and there are superfluous features. I really like their clustering approach to prompt tracking, as well as their sentiment scoring and message analysis. I find prompt volume to be somewhat useless at this stage, as well as the recommended actions (which are mostly “write a generic listicle).
Overall, though, it’s obvious why Profound is winning the market. They’re innovating fast, powerful and feature rich, and adapting the quickest of any GEO platform I know.
Starting Price:
- Profound Lite starts at $499/month, ideal for startups, agencies, and e‑commerce teams experimenting with AI visibility
- Enterprise plans (with custom limits, multisite support, SSO, strategist access, expanded AI platform coverage) are available via demo and custom pricing
4. Ahrefs
Best for: SEO pros who want traditional SEO muscle plus emerging AI visibility tools — all under one roof.
Unique features:
- Proprietary AI-infused keyword research and content optimization tools like AI Keyword Suggestions, AI Content Helper, and AI translations in 40+ languages
- Brand Radar and AI References features for tracking your brand’s visibility and mentions across AI responses like ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, and Perplexity
- Deep backlink, keyword, and content analytics inherited from its hallmark tools: Site Explorer, Content Explorer, Keywords Explorer, backed by one of the largest backlink indexes in the industry
Ahrefs is the gold standard for SEO software, and having already weaved in many AI SEO features, it’s not surprising that they are riding the GEO wave.
They do have a different take on AI visibility than the other tools on this list as well.
Most teams already love it for its backlink raw power and content tools. Now, it also helps you show up in AI-generated answers, measure where AI cites your brand, and optimize content for both humans and bots. Whether you want keyword ideas that anticipate user intent, multilingual reach with AI-powered localization, or visibility tracking across AI assistants and overviews, Ahrefs is packing both old-school SEO and next-gen GEO in one toolbox.
One thing I (and many in the market) don’t like about Ahrefs’ GEO feature set is the price. At $199/mo per index, it adds a ton of additional overhead to most programs (especially those who work at agencies and with many clients).
Starting Price: $199/mo per index (no trial or freemium version)
5. Semrush
Best for: Marketing teams that want to bridge traditional SEO and AI visibility
Unique features:
- Cross‑platform AI visibility tracking, including share of voice, brand sentiment, prompt rankings in AI-generated responses, and even prompt-level benchmarking across LLMs
- Strategic recommendations powered by LLM insights—the toolkit doesn’t just report; it advises on content positioning, messaging tweaks, and AI search strategy improvements
- Enterprise-grade AIO (AI Optimization) platform offers real-time control over brand presence in AI answers across generative engines, complete with alerting, sentiment analysis, and share-of-voice trending
Semrush couldn’t let Ahrefs have all the GEO fun. As the reigning king and queen of the SEO world, these two, of course, are going to move into the AI visibility and brand mention tracking space.
Semrush, for what it’s worth, has always been very feature rich, and that’s somewhat true of their AI visibility tools as well.
Their AI SEO Toolkit is basically your GEO power-up inside the SEO ecosystem you already use.
If you’re already using Semrush for keyword research, audits, or backlink tracking, this extension lets you monitor how and where AI systems like Google’s AI Overviews and ChatGPT mention your brand. It moves the game from tracking rankings to commanding presence in the AI-generated narrative, by measuring how AI describes you, how you compare to competitors, and what AI prompts you’re ranking for.
Starting Price:
- AI SEO Toolkit features are priced as an add-on at $99/mo per domain
- Enterprise AIO is a full custom-tier solution. Pricing is available via enterprise demo and tailored quotes
6. AthenaHQ
Best for: Brands and enterprise teams that want the fastest, most comprehensive GEO (Generative Engine Optimization) super-tool
Unique features:
- Real-time visibility tracking and a 3‑million‑response catalog that maps citations to over 300,000 unique sites—making it arguably the fastest GEO platform out there
- Action Center delivers razor‑sharp, actionable recommendations across formats—text, image, video—for AI visibility improvements.
- Full-stack GEO dashboards including content gaps, sentiment analysis, prompt triggers, SOV metrics, competitor benchmarking, and AI‑powered optimization agents
AthenaHQ is basically your GEO command center—credited with Y Combinator roots and technical chops from former Google Search and DeepMind leadership
It lets teams monitor how and where their brand surfaces across AI search engines in real time, then gives you the exact moves you need to stay prominent. Their massive catalog of actual AI responses powers predictive insights, meaning your next strategy isn’t guesswork—it’s a calculated play.
Starting Price:
- Lite (Starter) plan starts at around $270–295/month for foundational GEO coverage
- Growth runs approximately $545–900/month, with advanced features like GA4 integration, partner outreach, and deeper AI‑agent workflows
- Enterprise plans begin at $2,000+/month, offering things like SSO, white-glove CRO support, custom credits, and multi-team scalability
7. XFunnel
Best for: Brands that want to map their entire AI search journey—from awareness to conversion—and act on it.
Unique features:
- Buying Journey Analysis dashboard shows where you win (or fall off) in AI visibility across the funnel—from awareness-stage prompts to decision-stage comparisons
- Research-driven query insights that surface real customer questions by intent, region, product, and persona—perfect for tailoring AI-friendly content
- Action-focused optimization playbooks + expert support, so you’re not just staring at dashboards—you’re actually running experiments that lift AI visibility 20–40%+
Xfunnel isn’t your average visibility tracker—it’s the full-on AI search GPS with strategy baked in. It pulls in real buyer questions and compares how often you’re cited at every stage of the AI-powered journey. Then it hands you structured playbooks (and even optional expert calls) so you’re not just measuring your presence—you’re improving it. Especially compelling is its clarity on where your brand gets lost between awareness, consideration, and decision phases in AI responses, which turns AI search optimization from guesswork into a high-ROI funnel tactic
Starting Price:
- There’s a free plan that gives you a one time audit
- Enterprise-level pricing—with custom onboarding, multi-channel experimentation, and weekly expert strategy sessions—is available via demo.
8. Geostar
Best for: Brands that want deep AI visibility tracking with technical insights and hands-on managed support.
Unique features:
- Visibility Tracker: Monitors how AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity cite your brand and content
- Impressions Manager & Crawler Analytics: Shows how AI agents perceive your content, plus how AI crawlers index your site and which pages they favor
- Managed Services Arm: Offers full-blown managed GEO strategies—custom content optimization, AI citation outreach, dedicated account management, and monthly strategy sessions
Geostar delivers more than just dashboards. It brings a hybrid model where tech meets execution. Their self-service platform gives you granular insights into AI citation behavior and crawler interactions. But if you’re strapped for time or need strategic bandwidth, their managed services team steps in with custom playbooks, citation outreach, and ongoing campaign execution. Think of it as getting a GEO agency built right into the software.
I believe Geostar also offers a content writer to take action based on the source citation tracking, but I haven’t tried it yet.
Starting Price:
- The self‑service platform starts around $299/month for core AI visibility tracking
- Full-service (managed) options are available via custom quote—these include strategy execution, content creation support, and a dedicated account manager
- Free audit available
How to Choose Generative Engine Optimization Software
Alright, let’s cut through the noise. There are dozens of GEO tools popping up right now, most every week (you should see my LinkedIn DMs!). Each of them seem to have an angle, yet most also feel quite…similar.
What I’m saying is it’s getting hard to choose the right GEO tool given the massive gold rush right now. Here’s what I’d look for:
1. Visibility Breadth & Depth (Where + How You’re Measured)
If a tool can’t tell you how you show up across multiple AI engines—ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini—it’s basically giving you a keyhole view of a stadium.
Breadth means two things:
- Cross-platform coverage: Not just one model, but the whole generative ecosystem.
- Depth of insight: Are they just saying “yep, you show up,” or are they actually showing where, how often, and in what context (positive, negative, competitor-heavy, etc.)? Can you analyze composite scores and break it down by topics, tags, and prompts? Can you see why you’re being mentioned or referred to in a positive or negative light?
This is where the richest insights are derived and how you can actually take action to move the needle in AI search.
2. Actionability (Recommendations, Not Just Reports)
Cool, your brand showed up 18% less in Perplexity this week. Now what?
The best tools don’t just dump stats, they tell you what lever to pull next: update structured data, build topic coverage in X, target this cluster of prompts, fix these crawl gaps, get your brand mentioned in these URLs, etc.
If the tool doesn’t shorten the path between “insight” and “execution,” you’ll end up with another shiny dashboard your team ignores by week two. Of course, it’s unwise and unrealistic to expect a tool to do EVERYTHING for you (I mean, come on, what’s the job of a strategist anyway?). But it should give you enough support to go from data to decision somewhat easily.
3. Fit for Your Operating Model
This one’s underrated. Do you need DIY dashboards because you’ve got a full in-house SEO/content team who wants to experiment? Or do you need managed services baked in (like Geostar or Profound) because you don’t have the bandwidth to operationalize every recommendation?
Your answer here will make or break ROI. The wrong fit means you’ll either drown in dashboards or pay for white-glove services you don’t use.
I’d also incorporate the price of the tool here. If you’re an agency, some of the above tools and their business models are very difficult to make work at scale. Sure, they’re feature rich, but at the expense of either killing margins or killing deals because you have to raise prices.
At the same time, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend running with a fly by night tool just because it’s cheap.
Conclusion
The world isn’t as it once was when I first began in digital marketing.
Search was simple: keywords, backlinks, traffic.
AI search – and the AI search algorithm, AI search platforms, and visibility metrics associated with them, is the new frontier.
Will Google Search Console eventually have better AI data and visibility monitoring? Will there be the AI search version of Google Search Console? Who knows! It’s all very new.
Not that traditional search engines are dead or irrelevant; not even close. Traditional search engines are used constantly in real time responses generated by answer engines.
Anyway, it still helps to have a GEO tool that can help you figure out your AI visibility metrics. If your boss isn’t asking you “why aren’t we showing up in ChatGPT” yet, they will be soon.
Go grab one of these cutting edge visibility monitoring platforms and play around with it. It’s fun.