The 9 best Profound alternatives for smaller budgets in 2026

The best Profound alternatives for a smaller budget in 2026 are Amaware, Otterly.AI, HubSpot AEO and Semrush. Profound lists no self-serve monthly price (read 2026-09-30). Amaware, an AI visibility tool, tracks daily AI answers and writes the articles from $97 a month. Otterly.AI starts at $29 a month, HubSpot AEO at $50 and Semrush at $99 (read 2026-09-30).

Why look for a Profound alternative?

Profound's pricing page ends at a demo. If you want to see the price and start this week, a self-serve plan gets you there.

Prices read 30 September to 19 October 2026.

Profound's public plans are a free Trial and Enterprise (read 2026-09-30). The Trial runs 50 prompts daily for 7 days on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. A prompt is a question a buyer asks an AI engine. After the Trial, Enterprise is a custom price after a demo, with up to 9 answer engines tracked.

The work itself has a few names. You will see AI SEO, also called GEO (generative engine optimization) or AEO (answer engine optimization). All three mean getting ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI to name your business when buyers ask.

A dental practice, an online store or a law firm can do this work without an enterprise contract. For a head-to-head look, read Amaware vs Profound: which AI visibility tool fits your business?

How we picked these Profound alternatives

We used four tests, the same for every tool.

1. A public price. You should see what you pay before you talk to anyone.
2. Prompts per dollar. More prompts means more of your buyers' questions checked.
3. Engines tracked. Your buyers use ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and more. A tool should cover the ones they use.
4. What happens after the report. A chart tells you where you are missing. Someone still has to write the page that gets you named.

Prices change often, so we tag each one with the day we read it. For a wider look at budgets, see How much does an AI visibility tool cost for a small team?

Amaware: best for tracking AI answers and getting the articles written

Best for: tracking AI answers and getting the articles written.

Amaware asks the questions your buyers ask, every day, and shows who gets named in your place. It tracks three of five engines, your pick of ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Perplexity. You can track up to 25 competitors per brand.

Every question that leaves you out becomes one thing to publish, ranked by what gets you seen fastest. Then Amaware writes the articles in your brand's voice. It tracks when AI cites each one.

• Starter, $97 a month: 50 prompts daily, 4 articles a month you publish yourself, 12 months of history.
• Pro, $249 a month: 150 prompts, 12 articles a month published to your WordPress, Webflow, HubSpot or Next.js site.
• Growth, $499 a month: 350 prompts, 45 articles a month written ahead for you to approve.

A person approves every article before it goes live. Every plan starts with 7 days free with a card on file. Cancel before day 8 and you pay nothing.

The honest limit: Amaware has no backlink index, site audit crawler or classic Google rank tracker. Keep your SEO tool for those.

Otterly.AI: best for the lowest monthly entry price

Best for: the lowest monthly entry price.

Otterly.AI has the cheapest paid start on this list. Lite is $29 a month for 15 prompts (read 2026-09-30). Standard is $189 a month for 100 prompts, and Premium is $489 a month for 400 prompts (read 2026-09-30).

Billed annually, those plans drop to $25, $160 and $422 a month (read 2026-09-30). Extra engines such as Google AI Mode and Gemini are paid add-ons, from $9 to $149 a month depending on the plan (read 2026-09-30).

Our verdict: 15 prompts is a small sample of what your buyers ask. Count the add-ons you need before you compare it with a plan that includes more engines.

HubSpot AEO: best for businesses already on HubSpot

Best for: HubSpot users who want AI tracking in the same account.

HubSpot AEO is $50 a month, or $45 a month billed annually, with 25 prompts included (read 2026-09-30). You can buy more prompts. It tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity.

You can start free with 25 prompts and no credit card (read 2026-10-19). HubSpot also runs the AI Search Grader, a free one-time check with no account. It gives a snapshot of how ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini describe you (read 2026-09-30).

Our verdict: a low price and a free start. It fits best when your contacts and marketing already live in HubSpot.

Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: best for businesses already on Semrush

Best for: Semrush users adding AI tracking to their SEO suite.

The Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit is $99 a month for one domain and 25 tracked prompts, with no free trial (read 2026-09-30).

To test the waters first, Semrush has a free AI Visibility Checker. You can use it three times a day without an account (read 2026-09-30). You enter a domain, and it checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode. It shows a visibility score, brand mentions per platform and the pages that drive the most AI citations.

Our verdict: a sensible add-on if you already pay for Semrush. One domain and 25 prompts is a tight fit for an agency or a brand with several sites.

Ahrefs Brand Radar: best for brands AI already names

Best for: brands that AI search already names.

Ahrefs Brand Radar has two parts. Custom Prompts track the prompts you define, refreshed daily, starting at $50 a month, and $699 a month for all models (read 2026-10-19). The AI Visibility Index is $199 a month (read 2026-10-19).

The index maps visibility across 492 million real prompts people ask AI platforms (read 2026-10-19). Paid Ahrefs plans also include a few free AI prompts: 5 on Lite, 10 on Standard and 20 on Advanced (read 2026-10-19).

Ahrefs says the index is best once your brand already appears in AI search, and that Custom Prompts work even if no one searches your brand name yet (read 2026-10-19). A new local business or a young online store should start with Custom Prompts.

Peec AI: best for picking a plan by prompt count

Best for: picking a plan by prompt count.

Peec AI sizes its plans by prompts (read 2026-09-30):

• Starter: 50 prompts, 3 models, 1 project.
• Pro: 150 prompts, 3 models, 2 projects.
• Advanced: 350 prompts, 3 models, 5 projects.

Enterprise is a custom annual plan. Peec AI shows the current price for each plan on its pricing page, in your currency.

Our verdict: clear plan sizes. It suits you if you already know how many questions you want to track.

AthenaHQ: best for the most AI models

Best for: tracking the most AI models on a paid plan.

AthenaHQ's Essential plan is free with $25 of credit (read 2026-09-30). Starter is $295 a month with 3,600 credits (read 2026-09-30). Enterprise is a custom price.

Starter covers 11 AI models, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini and Claude, and lists a content optimization agent (read 2026-10-19).

Our verdict: AthenaHQ Starter costs about three times Amaware Starter's price. Amaware Starter is $97 a month and writes 4 articles a month for you to publish.

Scrunch: best for brands that want their site ready for AI agents

Best for: brands that want their site ready for AI agents.

Scrunch plans start at $250 a month (read 2026-10-19). Beside monitoring and citations, it lists Agent Pages, which serve an optimized version of your site to AI agents, and site optimization.

Our verdict: a fit when the site itself is the project. If you mainly need to know which questions leave you out, a tracker that writes the articles costs less.

SE Ranking: best for businesses already on SE Ranking

Best for: SE Ranking users adding AI tracking.

SE Ranking adds AI visibility tracking to its SEO suite. That makes it worth a look if your SEO already runs there, since your rankings and AI tracking sit in one place.

Its Core plan is $129 a month, or $103.20 billed annually, with 100 prompts tracked daily on 5 AI models. An AI Search add-on with 200 prompts is $89 a month and names AI Overviews, AI Mode and ChatGPT. There is a 14-day free trial (read 2026-10-19).

Our verdict: worth a look if your SEO already runs there, since one login covers your rankings and AI answers.

How the Profound alternatives compare in 2026

Prices read from each pricing page between 30 September and 19 October 2026. Amaware prices from amaware.ai on 14 October 2026.

On a smaller budget, start with Amaware if you want daily tracking and the articles in one plan from $97 a month. Pick Otterly.AI for the lowest entry price, and HubSpot AEO if your business already runs on HubSpot. Pick Ahrefs or Semrush if you live in those suites.

See what AI says about you, free, before you pay anyone.

FAQ

Is there a free Profound alternative?

Yes, for a first look. Amaware's free check asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Google the questions your buyers ask and shows who they name instead of you. HubSpot AEO lets you start free with 25 prompts and no credit card, and AthenaHQ Essential is free with $25 of credit (both read 2026-10-19).

Does Profound have a monthly price?

Profound's pricing page lists no self-serve monthly price (read 2026-09-30). It shows a free Trial, with 50 prompts run daily for 7 days on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Enterprise is a custom price after a demo and tracks up to 9 answer engines. On a smaller budget, a self-serve plan is the place to start.

How much do Profound alternatives cost?

Amaware starts at $97 a month for 50 prompts and 4 articles. Otterly.AI Lite is $29 for 15 prompts, HubSpot AEO is $50 for 25 prompts and Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit is $99 for 25 prompts on one domain (all read 2026-09-30). Compare the price per prompt, then what each tool does next.

Which Profound alternative writes the content too?

Amaware tracks the AI answers and writes the articles in your brand's voice. Starter includes 4 a month that you publish yourself, and Pro publishes 12 a month to your WordPress, Webflow, HubSpot or Next.js site. With Amaware, a person approves every article before it goes live.

Which AI engines do these tools track?

It depends on the plan. Amaware tracks three of five engines daily, your pick of ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode and Perplexity. HubSpot AEO tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity. Otterly.AI sells extra engines such as Google AI Mode and Gemini as add-ons from $9 to $149 a month (both read 2026-09-30).

Do I still need an SEO tool with a Profound alternative?

If you need backlinks, site audits or classic Google rank tracking, yes. Amaware is an AI visibility tool with no backlink index, site audit crawler or rank tracker, so keep your SEO tool for those. Ahrefs and Semrush pair AI tracking with full SEO suites. Amaware can look up search volume for a phrase with credits.