9 Free AEO and AI Visibility Tools (2026)

Answer Engine Optimization is exploding, and so is the number of tools charging for it. The good news: you can learn a lot before paying anything. Below are nine tools that offer genuinely free access, a free tier, or a free check, plus exactly what you get and where the free ride ends.

Comparison table

Verified July 2026. Confirm current terms on each vendor's site.

The free tools, ranked by usefulness

1. SEO AEO Specialist free audit (€0, up to 50 pages)

SEO AEO Specialist crawls up to 50 pages of your site for free and returns both AEO and classic SEO issues in one pass. Unlike a one-time brand-perception snapshot, this looks at your actual pages: structure, answer-readiness, schema, and the fixes you need to get cited. It is the most actionable free offer here because it points at what to change, not just where you rank.

Best for: Anyone who wants a concrete to-do list for free.

Limit: 50 pages on the free tier; full reports and monitoring are paid.

2. HubSpot AI Search Grader (free, unlimited)

Enter your company details and get a brand-perception score out of 100 across five dimensions, spanning ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini. No account, no card, unlimited runs, and you can grade competitors too.

Best for: A fast, free read on how AI sees your brand.

Limit: One-time snapshots, no page-level fixes or ongoing tracking.

3. Otterly.AI free tier

Otterly's free tier covers basic mention tracking across its four core engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini). It is a genuine free plan, not just a trial, though prompt volume is small and Gemini/AI Mode are paid add-ons even on paid plans.

Best for: Ongoing but light monitoring at zero cost.

Limit: Very limited prompts; upgrades start at $29 a month.

4. Google Search Console (free forever)

Not an AEO tool per se, but free and essential. It shows how Google indexes and surfaces your pages, which increasingly feeds AI Overviews. Use it alongside a dedicated AEO check.

Best for: Everyone. It is free and foundational.

Limit: No direct AI-citation tracking.

5. Semrush AI Toolkit (free tools and trial paths)

Semrush offers free standalone tools and trial access, though the full AI Visibility Toolkit is a $99-a-month add-on requiring a paid Semrush plan. Useful for a taste before you commit.

Best for: Existing Semrush users testing AEO features.

Limit: Real functionality is paid and stacks on top of a Semrush subscription.

6. Scrunch AI (7-day trial)

No permanent free tier, but a 7-day trial lets you explore its agency-focused monitoring across four engines before paying $250 a month.

Best for: Agencies evaluating before buying.

Limit: Trial only.

7. AthenaHQ (first month 67% off)

Not free, but the first-month discount ($95 versus $295) is effectively a cheap trial of broad multi-engine coverage. Just remember it resets to full price in month two.

Best for: Testing wide engine coverage cheaply for one month.

Limit: Not free, and pricing jumps sharply.

8. Profound (demo only)

No free tier. You can request a demo, and Starter is $99 a month for ChatGPT-only tracking. Worth knowing about, but there is no free path in.

Best for: Enterprises planning a paid rollout.

Limit: No free access.

9. Peec AI (no free tier)

Peec is paid-only from around €89 a month. Included here for completeness so you know not to expect a free plan.

Best for: Mid-market teams ready to pay.

Limit: No free tier at all.

How to use free tools together

Start with SEO AEO Specialist's free audit to get a page-level fix list, run HubSpot's Grader for a brand-perception baseline, and keep Google Search Console open for indexing health. That combination costs nothing and covers both sides of AEO: how AI sees you, and what on your site is holding you back.

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