The best AEO tools in 2026 do more than show where AI leaves you out: they help you win those questions back. Rankli asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini your customers' questions, writes and publishes an article for each one you are losing, and asks again after it goes live.
Every tool here measures something. Fewer write the answer, and fewer again list publishing it to your site. This guide compares nine of them on the part that decides whether anything changes: what happens after a tool finds a question you are losing. Every fact about another vendor was read off that vendor's own page, on the date stated.
What to judge an AEO tool on
A report that says you are losing a question is the start of the work, not the end. Judge each tool on seven things:
- Which assistants it asks. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity each answer differently.
- How many questions, and how often. Enough questions to cover what your customers ask, on a regular schedule.
- Whether it shows who wins. The business named instead of you, question by question.
- Whether it writes the answer. A page aimed at each question you are losing.
- Whether it publishes. Straight to your site, or back to you as a draft.
- Whether it asks again. The same questions after the page goes live, so you see before and after.
- Whether the price is on the page. A plan you can buy with a card, or a demo first.
The best AEO tools in 2026, compared
Facts about the other tools were read on September 27, 2026, except Surfer, read on September 4, 2026. "Not listed" means their pages did not state it on that date.
First, what each tool does after it finds a question you are losing, and whether it asks that question again after publishing:
| Tool | Next step | Asks again |
|---|---|---|
| Rankli | Writes an article for the question and publishes it to your site | Yes, 7 and 14 days after it goes live |
| Profound | AI Marketer writes content on credits | Not listed |
| Peec AI | Their AI-instructions page says it does not write or publish content | Not listed |
| Otterly.AI | Writing and publishing not listed | Not listed |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Finds content gaps; writing pages not listed | Not listed |
| AIclicks | AI-optimized articles on every plan | Not listed |
| Writesonic | An AI Article Writer on every plan | Not listed |
| AirOps | Content production, priced in tasks | Not listed |
| Surfer | Documents written in their editor | Not listed |
Then which assistants each one asks, and the price its own page lists:
| Tool | Assistants | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Rankli | ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini on every plan; Perplexity on Scale and Agency | On Rankli's pricing page, with a 7-day free trial |
| Profound | ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews on the Trial; up to 9 on Enterprise | Free Trial; Enterprise custom-priced |
| Peec AI | 3 of your choice below Enterprise; Claude and Perplexity on Enterprise or as paid extras | Starter $95/month, Pro $245, Advanced $495 |
| Otterly.AI | Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot; Gemini and Claude as paid add-ons | Not printed in their help center |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, AI Overviews, AI Mode and Claude | Custom Prompts from $50/month |
| AIclicks | 3, 4 or 6 of 11 engines, by plan | Starter $59/month, Pro $189, Business $499 |
| Writesonic | ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews below Enterprise | Starter $79/month, billed annually |
| AirOps | ChatGPT on Solo; 7+ on Pro | Priced on task volume |
| Surfer | Not stated on their pricing page | Discovery $49/month, billed yearly |
Each tool, in detail
1. Rankli
Rankli runs the whole loop. Every week it asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini the questions your customers ask, with Perplexity added on Scale and Agency. It shows each question where AI recommends someone else, who it picks instead, and which pages each answer cites.
Then it acts on what it found. Rankli writes an article aimed at each question you are losing and checks every draft against fifteen rules. It publishes to WordPress, Webflow, Shopify, Wix, Ghost, Notion, Framer, a Next.js blog or a webhook. 7 and 14 days after each article goes live, it asks that article's questions again and shows before and after on the article. Beside the loop, a Fix list shows what stops AI reading your site.
Every plan's price and limits are on the pricing page. Every plan starts with a 7-day free trial. A card starts it, and your first analysis runs when the trial starts.
Best for: teams that want the questions they lose answered, published and checked, on a self-serve plan.
2. Profound
Profound's pricing page, read on September 27, 2026, lists ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews on its Trial. Its Enterprise plan lists up to 9 answer engines, with Claude, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot among them. The Trial runs 50 prompts daily for 7 days, from a recommended set that cannot be edited.
Profound's Answer Engine Insights show how your brand and competitors appear in AI platforms, with citations, sentiment and ranking. Its AI Marketer researches and writes content on credits, and their content-teams page says it creates net new content. Publishing to your CMS is not listed on their pricing page, where WordPress appears as a traffic-analytics integration. Re-asking a question after a page goes live is not listed on the pages we read.
Their pricing page lists the Trial as free and Enterprise as custom-priced through a demo. Rankli vs Profound sets the two side by side.
Best for: enterprises buying through a demo, with AI Marketer agents on credits.
3. Peec AI
Peec AI's pricing page, read on September 27, 2026, lets you choose 3 models on Starter, Pro and Advanced, from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI. Claude and Perplexity are listed on Enterprise and as paid extra models. Peec AI lists 50 prompts on Starter, 150 on Pro and 350 on Advanced, tracked daily.
Its gap analysis lists the sources that name competitors and not you, by domain and URL, with ranked recommended actions. Their AI-instructions page states that Peec AI does not write or publish content itself. Visibility impact and lift analysis are listed for the brand rather than per page.
Their AI-instructions page lists Starter at $95 a month, Pro at $245 and Advanced at $495. Their pricing page shows a "Start free trial" button without stating the length. Rankli vs Peec AI has the full table.
Best for: marketing teams who want daily visibility analytics and will write the pages themselves.
4. Otterly.AI
Otterly.AI's help center, read on September 27, 2026, lists Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot on every plan. Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude are paid add-ons. Otterly.AI lists 15 search prompts on Lite, 100 on Standard and 400 on Premium, with Enterprise custom.
Their help center lists a free trial with no payment details, and states neither its length nor the prices. Writing, publishing and re-asking after a page goes live are not listed on the help-center page we read.
Best for: price-first teams who want monitoring and add engines one at a time.
5. Ahrefs Brand Radar
The Ahrefs Brand Radar page, read on September 27, 2026, lists Custom Prompts across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and Claude. Ahrefs lists 5 custom prompts on Lite, 10 on Standard and 20 on Advanced, checked daily, with larger packages sold by checks. Its AI Visibility Index covers 449M prompts.
Brand Radar benchmarks your brand against competitors in AI answers, and shows the fanout queries behind a prompt to find content gaps. Writing pages for tracked prompts is not listed on the Brand Radar page, and the Ahrefs menu lists an AI Content Helper that improves content. Publishing and re-asking are not listed on the pages we read.
Their pages list Custom Prompts from $50 a month and the AI Visibility Index at $199 a month. Ahrefs Lite, which includes 5 tracked prompts, is listed at $129 a month.
Best for: teams already on Ahrefs who want AI visibility beside their SEO data.
6. AIclicks
AIclicks' pricing page, read on September 27, 2026, lets you choose 3 engines on Starter, 4 on Pro and 6 on Business, from 11 that include ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews. AIclicks lists 30 tracked prompts on Starter, 150 on Pro and 300 on Business, run daily.
Their pricing page lists AI-optimized articles on every plan: 5 a month on Starter, 15 on Pro and 30 on Business. CMS is listed under integrations on every plan, without naming which ones. Whether articles are aimed at the prompts you are losing is not stated on their pricing page, and neither is re-asking after an article goes live.
Their pricing page lists Starter at $59 a month, Pro at $189 and Business at $499, with a 3-day free trial on Starter and Pro and no credit card required. Rankli vs AIclicks compares the two plan by plan.
Best for: small teams who want tracking and a few articles on one low-priced plan.
7. Writesonic
Writesonic's pricing page, read on September 27, 2026, lists ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews on Starter, Basic and Growth, and all 10 AI platforms on Enterprise. Writesonic lists 50 prompts on Starter, 100 on Basic and 200 on Growth, tracked daily, under the headline "Find which prompts recommend your competitors instead of you."
Their pricing page lists an AI Article Writer on every plan, with 15 articles a month on Starter, 25 on Basic and 50 on Growth. WordPress is listed among their integrations. Re-asking a prompt after an article goes live is not listed on their pricing page.
Their pricing page lists Starter at $79 a month billed annually, Basic at $199 and Growth at $399. It also reads "Start free. No credit card needed."
Best for: teams who want tracking, site audits and an article writer on one annual plan.
8. AirOps
AirOps' pricing page, read on September 27, 2026, lists ChatGPT insights on Solo and insights across 7+ answer engines on Pro. AirOps lists competitor analysis, citation and source analysis, and owned and external opportunities on every plan.
Their pricing page lists content production on tasks: 35,000 a month on Solo and 100,000 on Pro. Solo lists basic CMS integrations, and Pro lists CMS, SEO, AEO, social and project integrations. Re-asking a question after a page goes live is not listed on the pages we read.
Their pricing page lists Solo and Pro as "Start for free" with no monthly price, and Enterprise as custom, with pricing based on task volume. Their FAQ describes a 14-day free trial with no payment details until it ends.
Best for: teams that want a content platform and a strategy team for AI search, priced on task volume.
9. Surfer
Surfer's pricing page, read on September 4, 2026, lists AI prompt tracking on several plans. Surfer lists Standard at $99 a month billed yearly for 25 AI prompts tracked weekly, and Peace of Mind at $299 for 100 tracked daily. Discovery, at $49 a month billed yearly, lists creating or optimizing 120 documents a month, written in their editor.
Which AI assistants are asked, and publishing to a CMS, are not stated on their pricing page. Neither is re-asking a prompt after a page goes live. Every plan on their page carries a "Start for Free" button.
Best for: teams who already write and want each page optimized.
Which AEO tool fits which team
- You want the questions you lose answered, published and checked: Rankli.
- You want daily analytics and will write the pages yourself: Peec AI.
- You buy through a demo and want an enterprise plan: Profound.
- You already pay for Ahrefs: Ahrefs Brand Radar.
- You want tracking plus a handful of articles at a low price: AIclicks.
- You want tracking, audits and a writer on an annual plan: Writesonic.
- You want a content platform priced on tasks: AirOps.
- You already write and want each page optimized: Surfer.
If you want to see where you stand before choosing anything, Rankli's free AI check shows whether AI can read your site, with no account needed.
How this comparison was made
Every fact about another tool comes from that vendor's own page, read on the date stated, and is phrased as what their page lists. A fact their pages did not state is marked "not listed", which describes those pages on that date and nothing more. Every Rankli fact is a limit, rule or price in the running product. The comparison hub has a full table for each tool, with links to the pages we read.
Questions
What is the best AEO tool in 2026?
The best AEO tool turns a lost question into a published answer and checks the result. Rankli asks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini your customers' questions, publishes an article for each one you are losing, and asks again 7 and 14 days after it goes live.
Is an AI visibility tracker an AEO tool?
Yes. A tracker is one kind of AEO tool, and it shows how AI answers name you. Rankli tracks too, then writes and publishes the answers and asks the questions again.
Which AEO tools ask Claude?
Rankli asks Claude on every plan. Of the others, Ahrefs Brand Radar lists Claude in its Custom Prompts, AIclicks lists it among the engines you can choose, and Profound, Peec AI and Otterly.AI list it on Enterprise or as a paid extra.
Is there a free AEO tool?
Rankli's free AI check shows whether AI can read your site, with no account needed. For tracking, every tool here lists a free start of some kind, and every Rankli plan starts with a 7-day free trial.
How much do AEO tools cost?
Prices run from free trials to custom enterprise pricing, and each price above is dated. Rankli's plans and prices are on its pricing page, billed monthly, with a 7-day free trial on every plan.