13 Free AEO Trackers to Monitor Your AI Search Visibility (2026)
Technical Implementation
Tanuj Sarva
21/08/2026
Free AEO Trackers
What are the best free AEO trackers to see how ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews talk about your brand? The top free picks in 2026 are HubSpot's AI Search Grader, Semrush's AI Search Visibility Checker, and Google Search Console paired with GA4. Together they let you check your AI visibility, watch brand mentions, and track AI referral traffic without spending a dollar.
Want the deeper paid platforms too? See our full guide to the 19 best AEO tracking tools for a side-by-side of premium options.
AI search is now too big to ignore: ChatGPT handles billions of prompts every week, and Google AI Overviews show up on a large and growing share of searches. If AI engines answer questions about your market, you need to know whether they mention you. Free trackers are the smartest place to start.
Free Tracker | Best For | What It Tracks | Free? |
|---|---|---|---|
HubSpot AI Search Grader | Your first check | Mentions and sentiment | Free snapshot |
Semrush AI Visibility Checker | Quick benchmark | AI visibility score | Free snapshot |
Google Search Console | Every website | Queries feeding AI | Always free |
Google Analytics 4 | Proving AI traffic | AI referral visits | Always free |
Otterly.ai | Ongoing monitoring | Mentions and citations | 7-day trial |
Manual prompt testing | Zero budget | Citations you see | Always free |
I'm Tanuj Sarva, founder of Web of Picasso, an AEO agency that has optimized AI search visibility for 150+ brands over the past 5 years. Before paid AEO tools even existed, my team tracked citations by hand, and I still test every new free tool the week it launches.
On average, we lift client AI citations by around 400%, and a lot of that work starts with free trackers. For one D2C client, we ran a 90-day plan using only free tools before spending on anything paid, and that free data alone uncovered three quick wins. Here are the 13 free AEO trackers I actually trust in 2026, grouped by how you will use them.
Free AI Visibility Checkers (Instant, No Cost)
These tools give you a one-time snapshot of how AI engines see your brand. Run them first to get a baseline in minutes.
1. HubSpot AI Search Grader
Free plan: Free one-time report, no account needed.
Best for: Your very first AI visibility check.
What it tracks: Brand mentions, sentiment, and share of voice versus rivals.
Website: hubspot.com
You enter your brand and email, and HubSpot shows how ChatGPT and other engines describe you. It is the easiest free starting point for any business new to AEO.
2. Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker
Free plan: Free quick audit, no cost.
Best for: A fast, data-backed benchmark.
What it tracks: An AI visibility score from 0 to 100 across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google AI Mode.
Website: semrush.com
The score is built from a database of more than 26 million prompts and answers, so it is stronger than a guess. Use it to see where you stand before you pay for any tool.
3. Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker
Free plan: Free one-time check.
Best for: Teams already using Ahrefs.
What it tracks: How often your brand shows up in AI answers.
Website: ahrefs.com
It is a simple snapshot, not full monitoring. Still, it is a handy free second opinion next to Semrush and HubSpot.
4. Mangools AI Search Grader
Free plan: Free grade, no card.
Best for: Beginners and small sites.
What it tracks: A simple grade of your AI search presence.
Website: mangools.com
Mangools keeps things friendly and easy to read. It is a good pick if the bigger tools feel like too much at once.
Free Plans From Dedicated AEO Trackers
These tools are built only for AI search tracking. Most are paid, but their free tiers and trials let you monitor real mentions before you buy.
5. Otterly.ai
Free plan: 7-day free trial, 50 prompts, no card.
Best for: Trying ongoing monitoring for a week.
What it tracks: Mentions and links across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, and Copilot.
Website: otterly.ai
Be honest with yourself here: this is a trial, and paid plans then start near $29 a month. Even so, a week of real tracking data is worth a lot when you are deciding what to buy.
6. Rankscale.ai
Free plan: Free credits to start.
Best for: Testing content before you publish.
What it tracks: How GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity answer your prompts.
Website: rankscale.ai
You can test one prompt across several AI models at once. That makes it great for checking a page before it goes live.
7. Peec AI
Free plan: Free trial.
Best for: European and multilingual brands.
What it tracks: Mentions across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and DeepSeek.
Website: peec.ai
Peec is clean and simple, with strong support for non-English markets. The trial is short, so plan your test prompts before you start.
8. Metricus Forager
Free plan: Free, with no card and no time limit.
Best for: Small teams that want free ongoing checks.
What it tracks: Brand mentions in AI answers over time.
Website: metricusapp.com
Truly free ongoing tools are rare, which makes Forager worth a look. Expect fewer features than paid tools, but the price is hard to beat.
Free Google and Microsoft Tools for AI Visibility
You already own some of the best free trackers. These platforms show the traffic and queries that feed AI answers.
9. Google Search Console
Free plan: Always free.
Best for: Every website.
What it tracks: The search queries and pages that feed Google AI Overviews.
Website: search.google.com
Clicks from AI Overviews blend into your organic numbers, so you cannot split them out perfectly. But the query data still tells you which questions to answer for AI.
10. Google Analytics 4 (GA4)
Free plan: Always free.
Best for: Proving AI traffic to your team.
What it tracks: Referral visits from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Gemini, and Copilot.
Website: analytics.google.com
Perplexity links are always clickable, so that traffic shows up cleanly. Add a custom channel that matches sources like chatgpt.com and perplexity.ai to keep AI visits in one place.
11. Bing Webmaster Tools
Free plan: Always free.
Best for: Microsoft Copilot visibility.
What it tracks: How Bing sees your pages, which then feeds Copilot.
Website: bing.com/webmasters
Copilot leans on the Bing index, so this free tool matters more than most people think. Set it up once and check it monthly.
12. Google Alerts
Free plan: Always free.
Best for: Simple brand-mention watching.
What it tracks: New web pages that mention your brand.
Website: google.com/alerts
AI engines often cite fresh web pages, so a mention today can become an AI citation tomorrow. Alerts email you the moment a new mention appears.
The Free DIY Method
13. Manual Prompt Tracking
Free plan: Always free.
Best for: Full control on a zero budget.
What it tracks: The exact answers and citations you see yourself.
What you need: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and a spreadsheet.
Pick 10 to 15 buyer questions and ask each AI engine the same set every month. Log which brands get named, and you will spot trends long before a paid tool pays for itself.
How to Build a Free AEO Tracking Stack
You do not need one perfect tool. You need a simple routine that mixes a few free ones.
Start with a free checker like HubSpot or Semrush for a monthly baseline. Then let Google Search Console and GA4 handle the traffic side, and use Google Alerts for new mentions.
Finish with 15 minutes of manual prompt testing across ChatGPT and Perplexity. This free stack covers checks, traffic, and real citations, which are the same three angles paid tools charge for. New to all this? Our guide on what Answer Engine Optimization is explains the basics in plain English.
The Limits of Free AEO Trackers: An Honest Look
Free tools are a great start, but they have real gaps, and I would rather you hear that now.
Most free checkers give one-time snapshots, not daily tracking. GA4 also misses the roughly 80% of ChatGPT mentions that have no clickable link, and AI Overview clicks hide inside your organic totals.
Free tools rarely show history, deep sentiment, or competitor share of voice over time. When AI search becomes a real revenue channel for you, a paid platform starts to pay for itself.
When you reach that point, compare the paid options in our guide to the 19 best AEO tracking tools, and see why AEO now beats classic SEO for AI visibility.
Getting Started With Free AEO Tracking
Trustworthy tracking is not about the fanciest tool. It is about checking the same prompts and pages on a regular schedule.
Set a monthly reminder, run two free checkers, review GA4, and do your manual prompts. Do this for 90 days and you will know exactly where you stand in AI search.
If you want expert help turning those numbers into citations, our team does this every day. Learn more about our Answer Engine Optimization services and book a free AI visibility review.
Free AEO Tracker FAQ
Are free AEO trackers accurate?
Free trackers are accurate enough for a baseline, but they sample fewer prompts than paid tools. Treat their scores as a direction, not a final grade, and confirm big claims with your own manual checks.
Can I track ChatGPT visibility for free?
Yes. HubSpot's AI Search Grader and Semrush's free checker both show ChatGPT visibility, and manual prompting lets you read the answers yourself. GA4 then catches the small share of ChatGPT visits that arrive through clickable links.
How often should I check my AI visibility?
Once a month works for most small brands. If AI search drives real leads for you, move to weekly checks and think about a paid tracker for daily data.
One note for transparency: we have no paid affiliation with the tools above, and free plans change often. All details are current as of 2026, so always check each tool's own site for the latest limits before you rely on them.
