The Cheapest AI Visibility Tracker in 2026: Real Costs for Startups
What it actually costs to track whether ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews cite your startup: entry prices for Otterly, Semrush, Peec AI and Profound, the monthly math for pay-per-check, and when a subscription is the cheaper pick.
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The cheapest AI visibility tracker depends on how often you check. For a startup tracking 25 buyer prompts once a month across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, pay-per-check (AuditAE) costs about $8.25/month. If you need the same prompts checked every day, a subscription is the better deal: Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit tracks 25 prompts daily for $99/month, and Otterly.ai Lite starts at $29/month for 15 prompts.
Most "best AI visibility tool" roundups compare features. This one only compares what you'll pay, because for a startup that is usually the deciding question.
Entry prices, side by side
Prices come from each vendor's own pricing, comparison and help pages, checked October 2026.
| Tool | Entry price | Pricing model | Good fit for a startup? |
|---|---|---|---|
| AuditAE | 5–12¢ per engine check, $5 free credit | Pay per check | Yes, if you check monthly or in bursts |
| Otterly.ai | $29/month (Lite, 15 prompts) | Subscription | Yes, if you want a daily dashboard |
| Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit | $99/month per domain, 25 prompts | Subscription | Only if you already pay for Semrush |
| Peec AI | $95/month (Starter, 50 prompts on 3 engines you choose) | Subscription | Yes, if you want daily tracking on three engines |
| Profound | Free trial, then custom Enterprise pricing | Enterprise contract | Rarely |
| HubSpot AI Search Grader | Free | One-off snapshot | As a first look only |
The monthly math
AuditAE prices each check by engine: Perplexity 5¢, ChatGPT 7¢, Google AI Overviews 9¢, Gemini 12¢. One prompt across all four engines is 33¢. Here's what that means for a typical startup set of 25 prompts:
| How often you check | Checks per month | Pay-per-check cost | Cheapest subscription for 25 prompts |
|---|---|---|---|
| Once a month | 25 prompts × 1 | ~$8.25 | $95 (Peec AI Starter) |
| Every week | 25 prompts × ~4.3 | ~$35 | $95 (Peec AI Starter) |
| Every day | 25 prompts × ~30 | ~$250 | $95 (Peec AI Starter) |
You can cut the pay-per-check number further by skipping engines: Perplexity and ChatGPT alone are 12¢ per prompt, so 25 prompts a month is $3.
The crossover sits a little under three checks a week: $95 buys about 11 runs of 25 prompts at 33¢. Checking less often than that, pay-per-check is cheaper. More often, a subscription is. Neither subscription is an exact match for four engines, though: Peec Starter tracks three engines you choose, and Semrush's prompt tracking covers ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini, with no Perplexity. Otterly Lite costs less at $29, but it covers 15 prompts and charges $9/month extra for Gemini. Compare what each plan actually includes (prompt limits, engines and extra domains) before assuming the entry price is what you'll pay. For the cheapest subscription in the table, the Otterly.ai alternative comparison lays out what each Otterly plan includes next to pay-per-check.
What "cheap" should still include
A low price is no use if the tracker misses the engines your buyers use. Before you pick, check that it covers:
- All four major engines. Google AI Overviews and Gemini often cite different sources from ChatGPT and Perplexity. Some entry tiers leave engines out or sell them as add-ons: Gemini is $9/month extra on Otterly Lite.
- Mentions and citations separately. Being named in the answer and being linked as a source are different results. Here's why the difference matters.
- Competitors. Knowing who gets cited instead of you is what tells you what to fix.
- Your own prompts. Tools that only track a preset keyword list miss the questions your buyers actually ask.
Our pick for startups
Start pay-per-check. Run your 10–25 most important buyer questions once, see where you stand, fix the biggest gaps, then check again in a month. That's the cheapest way to learn whether AI search is sending you buyers, and the $5 free credit covers about 15 prompts on all four engines.
If you later find you need a daily dashboard, move to a subscription then. You'll know which prompts matter by that point, so you won't overpay for prompts you don't need.
For a longer comparison on features as well as price, see the best AI search tracking tools or Profound vs Peec AI. Or see the full AuditAE rate card, or run a free citation check now: one buyer question, four engines, no signup.
FAQ
For monthly or occasional checks, a pay-per-check tool like AuditAE is cheapest: 5–12¢ per engine check, about $8.25 for 25 prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and AI Overviews, plus $5 free credit on signup. For daily tracking, a subscription is cheaper: Otterly.ai Lite starts at $29/month for 15 prompts, and Peec AI's Starter plan tracks 50 prompts daily on three engines for $95/month.
HubSpot's AI Search Grader is free but gives a one-off snapshot rather than tracking over time. AuditAE gives $5 of free credit with no card, which covers about 15 prompts checked across all four major engines.
When you check the same prompts often. At 33¢ per prompt across four engines, 25 prompts checked daily costs around $250/month pay-per-check, so a subscription such as Semrush's $99/month AI Visibility Toolkit (25 prompts, updated daily) is cheaper at that cadence. Monthly or weekly checks are cheaper pay-per-check.
Run the citation report on your own brand.
See which prompts cite you on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews — the first one’s free, no card.
Aaron is the founder of AuditAE. He has run AI-visibility audits for SEO agencies and in-house brand teams, and writes about how generative answer engines are reshaping the practice of search marketing.
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