AI search is no longer a side channel. Between ChatGPT-style AI answers, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI, and Google’s AI Overviews, your buyer can get a full recommendation without ever clicking a blue link. That is why “LLM optimization tools” have become mandatory for modern growth teams: they help you monitor brand visibility in AI responses, understand why your brand appears (or doesn’t), and turn those insights into content optimization that actually boosts AI search results.

Below is a practical, tool-first breakdown of the best options right now, with AIclicks leading because it connects tracking visibility scoring to concrete actions across multiple AI platforms.

Comparison table

TL;DR

• If your goal is to boost visibility across AI search engines and turn insights into action, AIclicks is the strongest all-around option because it ties AI mentions, citations, and competitor gaps directly to an LLM optimization workflow.

• If you run a large brand with many markets and need executive reporting, Profound is built for enterprise programs.

• If you want a familiar stack that blends traditional SEO with AI visibility, look at Semrush or Ahrefs Brand Radar, then pair with a specialist tool when you need deeper prompt-level control.

1. AIclicks (Best overall for LLM optimization and AI search visibility)

AIclicks is built for the AI-powered search landscape where brand discovery happens inside AI-generated search results, not just ten blue links.
Instead of obsessing over traditional search rankings, you track whether your brand appears in AI answers across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, and Google’s AI Overviews, then you optimize around what the models actually cite.

Strengths:

• Prompt-level monitoring across multiple AI platforms, so you can see which questions drive brand mentions, which competitors are winning, and where you are missing entirely.

• Geo auditing, which matters because AI responses vary by market and language, especially as Google AI Mode expands the “conversation” style of search.

• Citation intelligence that helps you reverse-engineer what sources AI systems present, then build a plan to earn those citations (content upgrades, corroboration, and distribution).

• A workflow that feels like modern AEO: start tracking, find content gap identification opportunities, ship fixes, then re-measure.

Weaknesses:
If your main need is internal prompt tracing for an AI product, you will still want a developer observability tool. AIclicks is purpose-built for external AI visibility and brand presence.

Pricing: Listed from $79 per month, with promotional entry pricing often shown lower depending on the plan and period.

Check out this video where we share the exact strategy that took AIclicks from zero to #5 in AI visibility rankings in just 90 days:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTorh2RXX28

2. Profound (Best for enterprise visibility programs)

Profound is designed for organizations treating AI search as a channel with governance, reporting, and ongoing measurement at scale. It runs structured prompts across AI platforms daily, then tracks where you show up in AI responses, including citations, sentiment, and competitive presence.

Strengths:

• Great fit when multiple teams need the same source of truth for AI search visibility.

• Strong for large portfolios where you need more than a dozen LLM tracking platforms stitched together.

• Helps quantify brand’s presence and perception, not just raw mention counts.

Weaknesses: For many mid-market teams, it can feel like more platform than they need to get started. You also typically get less of the “operator playbook” experience that AIclicks leans into, where the tool is tightly aligned to weekly content optimization and outreach actions.

Pricing: Profound publishes a pricing page and typically sells via a structured plan.

3. Peec AI (Best for clean dashboards and benchmarking)

Peec AI is a solid choice if you want straightforward AI visibility tracking with competitor benchmarking and a user-friendly interface that marketing teams adopt quickly. The positioning is clear: track brand performance across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Gemini, then use those insights to improve AI search presence.

Strengths:

• Quick setup and strong baseline dashboards for AI mentions and prompt tracking.

• Benchmarking is easy to communicate to stakeholders.

• Good bridge from traditional SEO metrics into AI-driven search KPIs.

Weaknesses:
Peec is often more “analytics-first” than “optimization-first.” You may still need a tighter workflow to decide what to publish, what to rewrite, and which sources to target for citations. That is where a tool like AIclicks tends to be stronger for execution.

Pricing: Listed on Peec’s pricing page.

4. Ahrefs Brand Radar (Best for brand mentions across AI and the web)

Ahrefs Brand Radar sits at an interesting intersection: it is not only about AI answers, but it is also about brand visibility across a broader footprint. Ahrefs positions it as a way to monitor how any brand shows up in AI search and beyond, leveraging their data advantages.

Strengths:

• Excellent for tracking brand mentions and demand signals in a way that feels familiar to SEO teams.

• Helpful if you want one place to connect web mentions, AI Overviews visibility, and broader discovery trends.

• Strong complement to traditional SEO tools when you want to understand “why the web believes something” about your brand.

Weaknesses:
Brand Radar is not as centered on prompt libraries, geo audits, and hands-on AEO execution. For teams trying to directly influence AI-generated answers week to week, it can feel like a diagnostic layer rather than a full optimization engine.

Pricing: Available as a standalone tool within Ahrefs.

5. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit (Best if you want AI visibility inside an all-in-one suite)

Overview: Semrush has leaned into AI search results with an AI Visibility Toolkit that tracks prompts, mentions, citations, and produces recommendations inside the Semrush ecosystem. If you already use Semrush for traditional SEO, this is a natural add-on to start monitoring AI-powered search results without rebuilding your stack.

Strengths:

• Familiar workflows for SEO teams, plus an AI layer for brand mentions and AI answers.

• Helpful for teams trying to align “unlike traditional SEO” reality with existing reporting.

• Recommendations can speed up content planning.

Weaknesses:
Costs can stack as you add toolkits and users. Also, the optimization loop is not as purpose-built for generative engine optimization as AIclicks, which focuses on prompt-level visibility, citations, and competitive gaps as the core unit of work.

Pricing: The AI Visibility Toolkit is sold as a paid toolkit within Semrush subscriptions.

6. Scrunch (Best for getting started fast, especially solo)

Scrunch is positioned as a practical entry point into AI search visibility monitoring. It offers plans that start with a smaller prompt set and narrower coverage, then scale up for teams.

Strengths:

• Low-friction onboarding and a clear “start tracking” path.

• Useful for proving that zero-click searches and AI-generated summaries are impacting your funnel.

Weaknesses:
The starter setup is limited, and as you scale prompts and platforms, the pricing can rise quickly. Many teams also find they still need a more specialized tool to go from monitoring brand visibility to running a repeatable LLM optimization program (prompt libraries, geo comparisons, citation strategy, and content plans).

Pricing: Starts at $100 per month on the vendor pricing page.

7. LLMrefs (Best affordable option with broad engine coverage)

LLMrefs takes a keyword-led approach: you think in keywords, it turns those into tracked prompts and aggregates AI responses, citations, and performance into a single dashboard. It also leans into a scoring concept for tracking visibility scoring, which is useful when you want a single KPI per topic.

Strengths:

• Broad coverage, including AI Overviews and Google AI mode, alongside the usual suspects.

• Strong value for money if you are building your first AI SEO reporting layer.

• Simple team setup with dashboards and exports.

Weaknesses:

Compared with AIclicks, LLMrefs is less focused on the operator workflow of “find the citation gap, target the sources, publish the liftable section, then re-test.” It is great for measurement, but you may want additional guidance for content optimization and source strategy.

Pricing: Advertises an all-in-one plan at $79 per month.

8. Rankscale AI (Best budget tool for broad multi-model tracking)

Rankscale is a budget-friendly way to monitor AI search visibility across a wide set of AI platforms, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews. It is especially useful when you need coverage breadth and are comfortable with a credit-based model.

Strengths:

• Very strong coverage list for the price.

• Useful audits that help you understand how AI systems interpret your site.

• Good fit for agencies needing exports and repeatable reporting.

Weaknesses: Credit models can create planning overhead, and the tool can be less “guided” for teams that want a prescriptive optimization roadmap. AIclicks typically wins for teams that want a clearer path from monitoring brand visibility to executing answer engine optimization.

Pricing: Public reviews list Essentials at $20 per month and Pro at $99 per month.

9. Otterly.AI (Best lightweight monitoring and alerts)

Otterly.AI is a lightweight way to track mentions and visibility across AI search engines without a heavy setup. It is often chosen by small teams that want simple monitoring and quick checks as AI-driven traffic grows.

Strengths:

• Easy on-ramp for monitoring and basic reporting.

• Practical for keeping an eye on AI mentions while you continue running traditional SEO tools.

Weaknesses:
For serious optimization, you will quickly want deeper citation analysis, competitive prompt gaps, and workflow features that drive action. Otterly is more “monitor” than “optimize,” so teams often graduate to a more specialized tool once they prove the channel.

Pricing: Tiered pricing is referenced in public reviews, and the vendor maintains a pricing page.

10. Mentions.so (Best for agencies managing many sites)

Mentions.so focuses on helping brands get recognized by AI platforms by tracking prompts, AI responses, and basic AI traffic analytics. It is straightforward, with plans designed for solo users through agencies.

Strengths:

• Clear plans and an agency-friendly structure.

• Quick way to monitor brand mentions across multiple platforms.

Weaknesses:
Depth can be limited for teams that need serious citation intelligence, competitive source mapping, and a structured AEO workflow. If you are trying to systematically increase how often your brand appears, you may outgrow it and want something more execution-driven.

Pricing: Starter plan listed at $49 per month, scaling up through agency tiers.

How to pick the best LLM optimization tool

1. Start with your use case

   • If you care about AI search visibility and brand visibility in AI answers, you need external monitoring across AI search engines (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, and Google’s AI overviews).

   • If you’re building LLM apps, you’ll also want internal observability (traces, evals, cost, latency). That’s a different category from market-facing LLM optimization tools.

2. Check coverage, not just the logo list
   Ask how the tool measures visibility across multiple AI platforms. Do you get prompt-level tracking, citation sources, and history over time? Can it capture changes in AI responses and AI-generated search results, not just one-off snapshots?

3. Look for actionable outputs
   The best platforms do more than “monitor brand visibility.” They tell you what to fix: missing topics, weak pages, unclear positioning, and where competitors are winning in AI search results. Bonus points if it supports content optimization workflows, not just reporting.

4. Prioritize measurement you can trust
   You want consistent prompts, clean baselines, and metrics you can explain internally (visibility rate, share of voice, brand mentions, citation frequency). If you cannot reproduce results, you cannot improve them.

5. Match pricing to your rollout
   Many tools look cheap until you add seats, prompts, or retention. Make sure the plan you choose supports real-time monitoring, historical tracking, and enough prompt volume for your priority categories.

Conclusion

AI discovery is shifting fast, and the brands that win will treat AI visibility like a core growth channel, not a side experiment. The right tool helps you track where your brand appears in AI answers, understand why, and turn that into an execution plan that improves performance across the AI-powered search landscape.

If your goal is to measure and improve external visibility across major AI systems, AIclicks is built for exactly that: tracking brand mentions and citations across key AI platforms, then turning those insights into practical optimization moves that actually lift your presence in AI results.