Key takeaways
- Nightwatch bundles rank tracking and AI tracking (AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity) into every plan, with flat prompt counts per tier.
- SE Ranking sells AI tracking as a separate add-on or inside its newer SEO + GEO plans, so the real price depends on which route you pick. SE Visible is its standalone AI visibility product.
- Authoritas sells SEO and AI Search as separate products and prices AI tracking in credits, which gets expensive fast at weekly or daily frequency.
- Several prices quoted in older reviews are stale. Check each vendor's pricing page before you budget.
- If AI visibility is your main goal rather than a side feature of a rank tracker, a dedicated platform is worth testing alongside these three.
Why AI Overview tracking is a different job than rank tracking
A classic rank tracker answers one question: where did this URL appear for this query, from this location and device. An AI Overview tracker has to answer something messier. Did an overview appear at all? Was my brand named? Was my page cited, and in what position among the sources?
That last part matters because the sources shift. According to Promptwatch Data's AI Overviews citation types report for July 2026, listicles averaged 18.0% of AI Overview citations and product pages about 16.3%, and product pages were the most cited format every day from July 28. In the June 2026 AI Overview citation share data, YouTube reached 4.16% of citations, Reddit 2.72% and google.com 2.30%, all 2026 highs (June was month-to-date, so treat the momentum with caution).
The takeaway: a tool that only says "AIO present: yes/no" is leaving most of the useful signal on the table. Citation and source tracking is what you actually want to compare.
The three tools at a glance
| Nightwatch | SE Ranking (with SE Visible) | Authoritas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core identity | Rank tracker that added AI tracking | All-in-one SEO suite, plus standalone AI visibility product | SEO analytics platform with separate AI Search product |
| AI engines | AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity | AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, ChatGPT, Copilot (listed as coming soon) | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews |
| AI pricing model | Flat prompts per plan | Flat prompts per plan or add-on | Credits (sites x questions x frequency x model cost) |
| Entry price (verify) | EUR 79/mo | $129/mo monthly Core, or $89/mo AI add-on | SEO from $129/mo, AI Search from $119/mo |
| SEO and AI in one bill | Yes | Yes (Core/Growth) or add-on | No, two subscriptions |
| Free trial | 14 days, no card | 14 days, no card | Free tier with 50 AI credits |
Treat that table as a starting point. Pricing in this category changes constantly, and some of the figures floating around in third-party reviews are outdated.
Nightwatch
Nightwatch started as a rank tracker and has been extending into AI search. That history shows in a good way: the tracking basics (daily updates, segmentation, white-label reporting) are mature.
What you get
Per the official pricing page, every plan includes the full toolkit: AI Overview, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity tracking, across Google, YouTube, Bing, Yahoo, DuckDuckGo and Google Maps. Sentiment analysis, citation analysis, Content Studio, Prompt Research and an SEO MCP server are included, and seats are unlimited. There is also a newer Citation Intelligence product.
Plans in euros:
| Plan | Monthly | Keywords | AI prompts | AI answers per month | Sites |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starter | EUR 79 | 500 daily | 50 | 1,500 | 5 |
| Professional | EUR 159 | 2,500 | 150 | 4,500 | 25 |
| Agency | EUR 399 | 7,500 | 500 | 15,000 | 100 |
| Enterprise | Custom | 20,000+ | Unlimited | Custom | Custom |
White-label reports, Looker Studio, API access and unlimited seats start at Professional. Agency adds a dedicated account manager and an SLA.
One warning. Several reviews still quote $32, $90, $181 and $455 per month. Those do not match the current pricing page, so trust the page, not the blog post. A Black Friday 30% discount was live when we checked.
Where it is strong
Local tracking. One third-party review credits Nightwatch with ZIP-code-level tracking across 100,000+ locations and a 4.9/5 G2 rating across 43 reviews. I could only trace the location claim to that single review, so confirm it with the vendor if local precision drives your purchase.
Where it is weaker
Reviewers mention a learning curve on advanced segmentation and costs that climb with keyword volume. One review also warned that the AI tracking may be less mature than dedicated AI visibility platforms. Test it against your ten most valuable prompts before committing.
SE Ranking and SE Visible
SE Ranking is the broadest of the three as a general SEO platform: rank tracking, audits, backlinks, competitor research and reporting.
SE Visible is the company's AI visibility product, positioned for teams that want AI tracking without the full SEO suite.
Pricing routes
SE Ranking has restructured around SEO + GEO plans, so the old "$52/month" figure is out of date. Current structure from its pricing page:
| Option | Monthly | Annual (per month) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | $129 | $103.20 | 10 projects, 1 seat, 2k daily keywords, 100 daily prompts, 5 LLMs |
| Growth | $279 | $223.20 | 30 projects, 3 seats, 5k keywords, 250 prompts, historical data |
| AI Search add-on | $89 | $71.20 | 75 prompts daily, 5 projects, higher tiers up to 1,000 prompts |
| Agency Pack add-on | n/a | +$69 | White label, 30 client seats, scheduled reporting |
The add-on's 75 prompts and Core's 100 prompts look inconsistent on the page. Confirm what your specific plan includes before paying. The trial runs 14 days with no card and includes 750 keywords and 20 AI prompts a day.
Where it is strong
It is the best fit if you want one login for traditional SEO work and AI tracking, particularly for agencies. Its G2 review base (1,374+ reviews per one source) is far larger than Nightwatch's, which gives you more third-party signal to read.
Where it is weaker
White-label needs a paid add-on, and the AI add-on is separate if you only want AI tracking. Copilot coverage was listed as coming soon, so check the current engine list.
Authoritas
Authoritas has been in the AI Overview tracking game early; it claims to have been the first AI Overview-enabled rank tracker. It sells three separate products (SEO Platform, AI Search and API), each with its own plans.
Credit pricing is the catch
AI Search tiers, per a third-party review (I did not verify Authoritas's own pricing page, so use its calculators):
| Tier | Price | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 50 |
| P1 | $119/mo | 2,000 |
| P2 | $299/mo | 6,000 |
| P3 | $489/mo | 15,000 |
| Enterprise 1 | $1,459/mo | 42,000 |
The formula is sites x questions x frequency x combined model cost. A standard model costs 1 credit per query, and search-grounded models (enterprise only) cost 2. The worked example is useful: 300 questions on one site across Perplexity Sonar and Google AIO costs 600 credits a month. Run weekly, that becomes 2,580 credits and pushes you to P2. Overage runs $66 per 1,000 credits on P1 and $55 on P2.
Nightwatch and SE Ranking price by flat prompt counts, so budgeting is simpler. Authoritas rewards you for tracking a focused set of questions at low frequency and punishes broad daily monitoring.
Where it is strong
Configurable research. One roundup calls it the best for custom search research, with configurable keyword and AI studies. It suits analysts who want to design a study, not just watch a dashboard. The flip side: it needs careful setup, and covering SEO plus AI means two subscriptions.
Head-to-head on what matters for AI Overviews
| Question | Nightwatch | SE Ranking / SE Visible | Authoritas |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tracks AI Overviews | Yes, every plan | Yes | Yes |
| Predictable monthly cost | High, flat tiers | High, but add-on and white-label extras | Lower, credits vary with frequency |
| One tool for SEO and AI | Yes | Yes | No, separate products |
| Local granularity | Strongest claim (ZIP level, single source) | City-level per reviews | Configurable |
| Agency reporting | White-label from Professional | White-label via paid add-on | Reporting included, setup heavy |
| Best for | Local SEO plus AI | Agencies wanting an all-in-one suite | Custom research projects |
What none of the sources confirm
Here is the honest gap. I could not verify how each tool captures AI Overviews: real browser UI versus API, how location is applied to AIO queries, or how each separates "an overview appeared" from "you were cited in it." Ask each vendor those three questions in a demo. They matter more than the prompt count. Also note that Semrush and Ahrefs flag AIO presence for tracked keywords, a Reddit thread on AI Overview trackers points out, which is useful as a cross-check but is not a full citation analysis.
How to choose
Pick Nightwatch if
You already care about daily rank accuracy and local results, and you want AI tracking included with no extra module. The flat per-plan prompt limits make costs easy to forecast.
Pick SE Ranking if
You want one vendor for audits, backlinks, rank tracking and AI visibility, or you run an agency and can absorb the Agency Pack. If you only need AI tracking, look at SE Visible or the add-on.
Pick Authoritas if
You are doing structured research, want to configure your own studies, and can keep prompt volume and frequency modest. Use its credit calculator before signing anything.
Consider something else if
AI visibility is the main goal. All three are rank trackers first, with AI added. That is fine for monitoring, but it leaves the work after the dashboard to you: finding the content gaps, writing the pages, checking whether AI crawlers can read your site, and tying visits back to AI referrals.
A platform like Promptwatch is built for that loop. It tracks real AI interfaces including Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, shows which pages get cited, logs AI crawler visits, and has a Content Agent that drafts and publishes against your visibility gaps. It is not a classic SERP rank tracker, so some teams will run it next to one of the three above.
Other dedicated trackers worth a look in the same bracket are Peec AI, Otterly.AI and ZipTie, the last of which is focused on AI Overviews.
For a wider shortlist, the GEO software directory at bestgeosoftware.com and the AI rank tracking directory at ai-rank-tools.com cover the field.
A quick evaluation checklist
- Write down your 20 to 50 highest-value prompts and keywords, and note whether each triggers an AI Overview today.
- Run the free trial of each tool on that same set (Nightwatch and SE Ranking give 14 days, Authoritas has a free tier).
- Check whether you get citation-level data: which URLs and domains were cited, not only whether you were mentioned.
- Price your real usage. For Authoritas, run the credit calculator at your intended frequency. For SE Ranking, add white-label and any AI add-on. For Nightwatch, check that the plan's prompt and answer caps cover your set.
- Re-check after a month. Source mix in AI Overviews moves (see the Promptwatch Data figures above), so a tool that surfaces changes in cited sources earns its fee.
Bottom line
Nightwatch is the cleanest value if rank accuracy and local data sit next to AI tracking in your workflow. SE Ranking wins when you want a broad suite and can live with add-ons. Authoritas suits research-heavy teams that will manage credits carefully. None of them is a full AI visibility platform, and none documents how it captures AI Overviews, so make that the first question in every demo.
And double-check every price above on the vendor's own page. Between the euro repricing at Nightwatch, SE Ranking's new GEO plans and Authoritas's credit math, last year's numbers are probably wrong.