7 Best AEO Tracking Tools for B2B SaaS (2026 Comparison)

By Gen Furukawa | SuperMarketers.ai

You can't optimize what you can't measure. And for most B2B SaaS companies, AI visibility is a complete black box.

Traditional SEO tools track Google rankings. But answer engine optimization requires tracking something entirely different: whether AI engines mention your brand, cite your content, and recommend your product when buyers ask questions.

The AEO tracking tool market has exploded in the past 18 months. I've tested them all. Here are the 7 best options for B2B SaaS companies in 2026, with honest assessments of what each does well and where they fall short.

Why Do You Need Dedicated AEO Tracking Tools?

Dedicated AEO tracking tools are essential because traditional SEO platforms don't monitor AI engine outputs. Only 8-12% of Google's top-ranking pages overlap with ChatGPT's cited sources, meaning your Google rankings tell you almost nothing about your AI visibility (Seer Interactive, 2025).

Your SEO dashboard might show you ranking #1 for "best project management software." But when a buyer asks ChatGPT the same question, your brand might not appear at all.

AEO tracking tools solve this by:

• Monitoring AI engine responses for your brand mentions
• Tracking citation rates across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews
• Measuring share of voice in AI-generated responses
• Identifying which queries trigger your brand and which don't
• Benchmarking against competitors

Without these tools, you're optimizing blind.

Quick Comparison Table

1. Profound — Best Overall for B2B SaaS

Profound is the most comprehensive AEO tracking platform, offering real-time monitoring across all major AI engines, competitive share-of-voice analysis, and citation attribution. It's the tool I recommend for Series A-B SaaS companies serious about building systematic AI visibility.

Price: Starting at $500/month (custom enterprise pricing available)

What it does well:

Profound tracks your brand mentions and citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Google AI Overviews simultaneously. The competitive intelligence features are best-in-class—you can see exactly how often competitors get cited for your target queries and identify gaps.

The citation attribution feature traces which specific pages on your site are being cited, so you know which content is working and which isn't.

Key features:

• Real-time AI response monitoring across 5+ engines
• Competitive share of voice benchmarking
• Citation source attribution
• Query intent mapping
• Historical trend analysis
• API access for custom dashboards

Limitations: Expensive for early-stage companies. The interface has a learning curve. Requires 2-3 weeks of data before insights become actionable.

Best for: B2B SaaS companies with $3M+ ARR that need enterprise-grade AI visibility tracking and competitive intelligence.

2. Semrush AI Toolkit — Best for Existing Semrush Users

Semrush AI Toolkit extends the Semrush platform with AI visibility tracking, making it the easiest option for marketing teams already using Semrush for SEO. It tracks brand presence in ChatGPT, Gemini, and AI Overviews with direct integration into existing keyword and competitive analysis workflows.

Price: $249/month add-on to Semrush Business plan

What it does well:

The seamless integration with Semrush's existing tools is the killer feature. You can see your traditional Google rankings alongside AI citation data in one dashboard. The AI Overview tracking is particularly strong—it shows which of your pages appear in Google's AI-generated summaries.

Key features:

• AI Overview monitoring and tracking
• ChatGPT and Gemini brand mention tracking
• Integration with existing Semrush keyword data
• Content gap analysis (SEO vs. AEO)
• Automated reporting

Limitations: Requires an existing Semrush Business subscription ($449/month minimum). AI engine coverage is narrower than Profound. Citation-level attribution is less granular.

Best for: Marketing teams already using Semrush who want to add AEO tracking without adopting a new platform.

3. Otterly.AI — Best Citation Tracking Accuracy

Otterly.AI specializes in precise citation tracking, monitoring exactly when and how AI engines cite your content. It offers the most granular citation-level data of any tool on this list, making it ideal for content teams that need to understand which specific passages are getting extracted.

Price: Starting at $99/month

What it does well:

Otterly's citation accuracy is remarkable. It doesn't just tell you "ChatGPT mentioned your brand"—it shows you the exact response, the specific passage from your site that was cited, and the context in which it appeared. This level of detail is invaluable for optimizing content structure.

Key features:

• Passage-level citation tracking
• Response context analysis
• Citation frequency trending
• Content performance scoring
• Alert system for new citations or lost citations

Limitations: Competitive analysis is limited compared to Profound. The UI is functional but not polished. Reporting customization is basic.

Best for: Content-focused SaaS teams that want to understand exactly which content passages drive AI citations and optimize accordingly.

4. SE Ranking — Best Value for Budget-Conscious Teams

SE Ranking offers solid AEO tracking features at the most accessible price point, making it the best choice for early-stage SaaS companies that need AI visibility data without enterprise pricing. It covers AI Overviews and ChatGPT with straightforward monitoring and reporting.

Price: Starting at $65/month (AEO features included in Pro plan)

What it does well:

SE Ranking packs surprising depth at its price point. The AI Overview tracking is on par with more expensive tools, and the ChatGPT monitoring covers the basics—brand mentions, citation tracking, and competitor comparison.

The keyword clustering feature is useful for building topical authority strategies. It groups related queries and shows which ones trigger AI responses with citations.

Key features:

• AI Overview tracking and monitoring
• ChatGPT brand mention detection
• Keyword clustering for AEO strategy
• Basic competitive comparison
• Automated weekly reports
• Content optimization suggestions

Limitations: Lacks Perplexity and Gemini tracking. Competitive intelligence is shallow. No citation-level attribution. Data freshness can lag 24-48 hours.

Best for: Early-stage B2B SaaS companies ($1-3M ARR) that need AEO fundamentals at a reasonable price.

5. Ahrefs Brand Radar — Best for Backlink-Focused Teams

Ahrefs Brand Radar combines AI brand mention tracking with Ahrefs' industry-leading backlink data, revealing the relationship between entity authority signals and AI citations. It's the best tool for understanding how your link profile influences AI visibility.

Price: $199/month add-on to Ahrefs Advanced plan

What it does well:

The unique value of Brand Radar is the correlation analysis between backlink profiles and AI citation rates. It shows how earned media mentions and backlinks from authoritative sources translate into AI visibility—a connection most other tools miss entirely.

Given that 48% of AI citations come from earned media sources (Profound, 2025), understanding this relationship is critical.

Key features:

• AI brand mention monitoring (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews)
• Backlink-to-citation correlation analysis
• Earned media impact scoring
• Competitor brand mention comparison
• Integration with Ahrefs Site Explorer and Content Explorer

Limitations: Requires Ahrefs Advanced subscription ($449/month). The AI tracking features are newer and less mature than dedicated AEO tools. Limited query-level analysis.

Best for: B2B SaaS teams with existing Ahrefs subscriptions who want to understand the entity authority → AI citation pipeline.

6. HubSpot AEO Grader — Best Free Tool for Quick Audits

HubSpot AEO Grader is a free tool that analyzes individual pages for AEO readiness, scoring content structure, schema markup, answer density, and extractability. It doesn't track live AI citations, but it's the best starting point for teams evaluating their content's AI optimization potential.

Price: Free

What it does well:

Enter a URL and get an instant AEO readiness score with specific recommendations. The tool evaluates answer-first structure, paragraph length, heading optimization, schema presence, and content self-containment. It's not a monitoring tool—it's a diagnostic tool.

For teams just starting with AEO, this is the perfect entry point. Run your top 20 pages through it, prioritize the lowest-scoring pages, and start optimizing.

Key features:

• Instant page-level AEO scoring
• Content structure analysis
• Schema markup detection
• Paragraph length and density metrics
• Specific optimization recommendations
• Shareable reports

Limitations: Analyzes individual pages, not ongoing monitoring. No competitive data. No actual AI citation tracking. Limited to on-page factors.

Best for: Any B2B SaaS team starting their AEO journey that wants a free diagnostic before investing in paid tools.

7. Cairrot — Best for Content Optimization

Cairrot focuses on the content optimization side of AEO, analyzing your content against AI citation patterns and providing specific rewrite suggestions to improve extractability. It's the best tool for content teams that want AI-guided content improvement.

Price: Starting at $149/month

What it does well:

Cairrot's AI-powered content editor is genuinely useful. It analyzes your draft or published content against known citation patterns—paragraph length, answer density, self-containment, statistical density—and provides line-by-line suggestions.

The "Citation Probability Score" estimates how likely each section is to be extracted and cited by AI engines. It's not perfect, but it's the best predictive metric I've seen.

Key features:

• AI-powered content optimization editor
• Citation Probability Scoring per section
• Before/after comparison analysis
• Content template library for high-citation formats
• ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini monitoring
• Team collaboration features

Limitations: Monitoring features are less robust than Profound or Otterly. The optimization suggestions can be overly prescriptive. Pricing increases steeply with team size.

Best for: B2B SaaS content teams that produce 10+ pieces per month and want to optimize each piece for maximum AI citation potential.

How Should You Choose the Right AEO Tool?

Choose your AEO tool based on three factors: your current tech stack (do you already use Semrush or Ahrefs?), your budget, and whether you need monitoring (tracking citations) or optimization (improving content). Most B2B SaaS companies need both, starting with optimization and adding monitoring as they scale.

My recommendation by stage:

Just starting AEO ($0-100/month): Start with HubSpot AEO Grader (free) to audit your content. Add SE Ranking ($65/month) when you're ready for basic monitoring.

Scaling AEO ($100-300/month): Otterly.AI ($99/month) for citation tracking plus Cairrot ($149/month) for content optimization. This combination covers both sides.

Serious about AEO ($500+/month): Profound ($500/month) for comprehensive monitoring and competitive intelligence. This is what we use at SuperMarketers for our B2B SaaS clients.

Already in Semrush/Ahrefs ecosystem: Add the AI toolkit from your existing provider. The workflow integration saves significant time even if the features are slightly less deep than dedicated tools.

What Metrics Should You Track With AEO Tools?

The essential AEO metrics to track are citation rate (percentage of target queries where your brand is cited), share of voice (your citations vs. competitors), citation source pages (which of your pages get cited most), and query coverage (how many relevant queries trigger your brand).

Track these weekly:

1. Citation rate — Your brand cited / total queries tracked
2. Share of voice — Your citations / total citations in category
3. New query appearances — Queries where you weren't cited before
4. Lost citations — Queries where you were cited but aren't anymore
5. Content performance — Which pages drive the most citations

Don't obsess over daily fluctuations. AI engine outputs are non-deterministic—the same query can produce different results on different days. Weekly trends are what matter.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much should a B2B SaaS company budget for AEO tools?

B2B SaaS companies should budget $150-500/month for AEO tracking tools, depending on company stage and needs. Early-stage companies can start with free tools like HubSpot AEO Grader plus SE Ranking ($65/month). Growth-stage companies ($3M+ ARR) should invest in comprehensive platforms like Profound ($500/month) for competitive intelligence.

Can I use Google Search Console for AEO tracking?

Google Search Console only tracks traditional search performance and AI Overview appearances—it doesn't monitor ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Gemini citations. Since only 8-12% of Google top results overlap with ChatGPT citations, GSC gives you a tiny fraction of the AI visibility picture. You need dedicated AEO tools for comprehensive tracking.

How often should I check AEO tracking dashboards?

Check AEO tracking dashboards weekly for trend analysis and monthly for strategic reviews. Daily checks are counterproductive because AI engine outputs are non-deterministic—the same query produces different results each time. Weekly aggregates smooth out variance and reveal meaningful trends in citation rates and share of voice.

Do AEO tracking tools work for tracking competitor AI visibility?

Yes, most AEO tracking tools include competitive monitoring features. Profound and Semrush AI Toolkit offer the strongest competitive analysis, showing which competitors get cited for your target queries and their share of voice trends. This competitive data is essential for identifying content gaps and optimization opportunities.

What's the difference between brand mention tracking and citation tracking?

Brand mention tracking detects when AI engines name your brand in a response. Citation tracking goes deeper—it identifies when AI engines specifically link to or attribute information to your content. Citation tracking is more valuable because it shows which content pages drive AI visibility, enabling precise E-E-A-T optimization at the page level.