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.
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, the cheapest subscription, Otterly.ai Lite at $29/month, is the better deal.
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 published pricing page, checked September 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) | 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 | €89/month (Starter) | Subscription | Mid-market budget |
| Profound | $99/month (Starter, ChatGPT only) | Subscription + 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Once a month | 25 prompts × 1 | ~$8.25 | $29 (Otterly Lite) |
| Every week | 25 prompts × ~4.3 | ~$35 | $29 (Otterly Lite) |
| Every day | 25 prompts × ~30 | ~$250 | $29 (Otterly Lite) |
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 around weekly. Checking less often than that, pay-per-check is cheaper. More often, a subscription is. Compare what each plan actually includes (prompt limits, engines and extra domains) before assuming the entry price is what you'll pay.
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 only cover one or two engines.
- 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 the first run.
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, the cheapest subscription is Otterly.ai Lite at $29/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 $29–$99/month subscription is cheaper at that cadence. Monthly or weekly checks are cheaper pay-per-check.
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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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.