Key takeaways
- Otterly.AI has the cheapest entry ($29/mo, 15 prompts), but most real use needs Standard at $189/mo, which is a steep jump.
- Peec AI is the best value per prompt ($95/mo for 50 prompts, unlimited seats) and covers the most Google surfaces on every plan.
- Visby AI costs the most per prompt ($79/mo for 15 prompts) but is the only one of the three that bundles article generation and automated GEO tasks.
- None of them is a full optimization platform. If you want agents that act on the data, look further up the stack.
- Prices change often and third-party roundups disagree. Confirm everything on each vendor's pricing page before you buy.
What a startup actually needs from a mention tracker
Most startups asking this question have one narrow goal: find out whether ChatGPT, Gemini or Google's AI Overviews mention the product at all, and whether competitors get named instead. You don't need a six-figure enterprise suite for that. You need a handful of prompts, a few engines, and a dashboard someone will actually open.
That changes how you should read pricing pages. The headline number matters less than three things: how many prompts you get, which engines are included, and how many teammates can log in. A cheap plan that tracks 15 prompts is a trial in disguise.
Citation slots are also scarce. Promptwatch Data's average sources per response report (published Sept 2025) found ChatGPT cites about 5 sources per web-search answer, while Google AI Overviews and Perplexity cite about 10. Copilot swung from under 2 to nearly 17 within weeks. So track prompts per engine separately, and don't read a Copilot swing as something you caused.
The three tools at a glance
| Visby AI | Otterly.AI | Peec AI | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $79/mo | $29/mo | $95/mo |
| Entry prompts | 15 | 15 | 50 |
| Mid tier | $199/mo, 90 prompts | $189/mo, 100 prompts | $245/mo, 150 prompts |
| Engines at entry | Any 3 of ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews | ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot | 3 models of your choice (ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini, Naver AI) |
| Seats | 1 / 3 / 10+ | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Content generation | Yes (5 articles/mo at Starter) | No (GEO audit and recommendations) | No |
| API / MCP | Not listed | From Standard | Enterprise only |
| Free trial | Yes, on Starter | No free plan listed | Check vendor |
Prices come from each vendor's own pricing page. Several roundups still quote older Peec figures (EUR 75 to 89) and a $25 or $160 variant for Otterly. Treat those as stale or promotional and verify at checkout.
Visby AI
Visby AI is the least-known of the three, and the pitch is simple: basic mention tracking for startups, with a content layer attached.
What you get
Starter is $79/mo. You pick any 3 of 4 engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews), track 1 domain with 15 prompts, and get 45 AI answers analysed per month on one seat. Growth is $199/mo for 3 domains, 90 prompts and 3 seats. Enterprise is custom and includes a GEO deep-dive audit and consultation call.
Every plan includes funnel-based content tracking, automated GEO task generation, and social proof tracking across Reddit, G2 and Trustpilot. Starter also includes 5 article generations per month.
Where it is weaker
It has no Perplexity or Copilot. Seats are limited, which matters once a founder, a marketer and a freelancer all want in. And the per-prompt cost is the highest of the three at entry, around $5.27 per prompt by my math.
There are also gaps I could not close. I found no verified funding, founding date or customer count, and I don't know how often Visby runs each prompt or whether it collects data from the real UI or APIs. One answer analysed equals one prompt on one engine, so 15 prompts on 3 engines gives 45 answers. That looks like roughly one run per prompt per engine per month, but that is my inference, so ask them directly.
There is also an AppSumo lifetime deal mentioned in a Reddit review. I didn't verify its terms.
Who it fits
A solo founder who wants to know whether AI engines mention the brand at all, and who would also use the article generator and task list. If you only want numbers, you are paying for features you won't touch.
Otterly.AI
Otterly.AI is the budget default in almost every roundup, and the reputation is earned.
Bear in mind that screenshot comes from Otterly's own blog, so the ranking is self-published. The facts, though, match its pricing page.
What you get
Lite is $29/mo for 15 prompts, 1 workspace and 3 recommendations per week. Standard is $189/mo for 100 prompts and is marked Most Popular. Premium is $489/mo for 400 prompts. Enterprise starts at 1,000 prompts. Annual billing saves 15%, and extra prompts cost $99 per 100 on Standard and Premium.
Every plan covers ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, with unlimited team members, brands, competitors, countries and languages. You also get daily tracking, sentiment and citation tracking, a GEO audit and a Query Fan Out tool. API, MCP and Agent Analytics start at Standard.
Where it is weaker
Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini are paid add-ons, which is a real gap if your buyers use Gemini. The jump from $29 to $189 is steep, and eSEOspace makes the same point: ongoing single-brand tracking usually calls for Standard. Otterly also does not help you fix anything beyond audit recommendations. It monitors.
Who it fits
Solo marketers and tiny teams who want to test whether AI tracking is worth a bigger budget, or agencies that need unlimited seats and brands. That is the honest case for the $29 plan: a cheap experiment, not a long-term setup.
Peec AI
Peec AI is the analytics-first option, and on pure value per prompt it wins.
What you get
Starter is $95/mo with 50 prompts, 3 models of your choice, daily tracking, 1 project, 1 country and 4,500 AI answers per month. Pro is $245/mo for 150 prompts, 2 projects and 3 countries. Advanced is $495/mo for 350 prompts and 5 projects, with multi-country and a Looker Studio integration. Enterprise is custom and adds up to 13 models, API access and SSO.
Every plan includes unlimited users, competitors and languages, prompt volume scores, prompt and competitor suggestions, personas, bulk import, sentiment, an ads library, Local GEO and AI Shopping with SKU-level tracking.
Self-serve plans cover ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI. Perplexity and the API models (Claude, Grok, DeepSeek and others) are Enterprise only.
Where it is weaker
You choose only 3 models on self-serve, so a startup that cares about Perplexity or Claude is out of luck below Enterprise. API access is also Enterprise only. There is no content generation, and one source flags the tool as a poor fit for single-founder companies with no marketer to act on the data.
Who it fits
A small marketing team, especially B2B SaaS or a European company that wants analytics without enterprise pricing. The company says it is trusted by 3,500+ brands and agencies, up from 2,000+ in earlier sources.
Cost per prompt
These are my own calculations from list prices, so they are rough.
| Plan tier | Visby AI | Otterly.AI | Peec AI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry | $5.27 per prompt | $1.93 per prompt | $1.90 per prompt |
| Mid | $2.21 per prompt | $1.89 per prompt | $1.63 per prompt |
The entry numbers are the surprise. Otterly looks dramatically cheaper than Peec on the sticker price ($29 vs $95), but you get 15 prompts against 50, so the per-prompt cost is almost identical. If you need 50 prompts, Otterly Lite does not get you there, and you land on a $189 plan.
So the real comparison for a team that needs 50 to 100 prompts is Peec Starter at $95 against Otterly Standard at $189. Peec is half the price for fewer prompts, and the gap is easier to justify if you don't need Perplexity.
Which one to pick
| Your situation | Pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Solo founder testing whether AI mentions you | Otterly.AI Lite | Lowest entry cost, four engines, no commitment to a big plan |
| Small team needing 50+ prompts on a budget | Peec AI Starter | Best price per prompt, unlimited seats |
| Founder who wants content and tasks in the same tool | Visby AI Starter | Only one with article generation and GEO tasks |
| Need Perplexity coverage cheaply | Otterly.AI | Included on every plan, Peec locks it to Enterprise |
| Need Google AI Mode and Gemini | Peec AI | Included on all plans, Otterly charges extra |
| Want API or MCP access without Enterprise | Otterly.AI Standard | Peec only offers API on Enterprise |
| Several teammates need logins | Otterly.AI or Peec AI | Visby limits seats to 1 on Starter |
Check before you sign up
Whichever you lean toward, run through this list:
- Count the prompts you really need. A startup with three product lines and two competitors burns 15 prompts in an afternoon.
- List the engines your buyers use, then check which are included versus add-ons.
- Ask how often prompts run and whether data comes from the real chat interface or an API. Answers can differ between the two.
- Confirm the price at checkout. Roundups, including some cited here, carry old figures.
- Use the trial. Visby offers one on Starter, and Peec says it offers one. Verify Otterly's current terms.
When a mention tracker is not enough
All three of these are monitoring tools with varying amounts of help on top. They tell you where you are invisible. Fixing it is on you, apart from Visby's article generator and Otterly's recommendations.
If the monitoring proves its worth and you want the gap closed, a fuller platform is the next step. Promptwatch is one example. It adds IP-verified AI crawler logs, visitor analytics for AI-referred traffic, and a Content Agent that plans, writes and publishes against your visibility gaps, then tracks whether those pages get cited. It starts at $95/mo on Essential, with a free plan for ChatGPT only.
For a wider look at the category, the GEO software directory at bestgeosoftware.com lists dozens of trackers, and ai-rank-tools.com focuses on rank tracking.
Verdict
For most startups, Peec AI Starter is the best-value pick if you can live with three models and no Perplexity. Otterly.AI is the right choice if you want to spend $29 to find out whether this channel matters, or if you need Perplexity and API access. Visby AI makes sense only if the bundled content and task features are the point, because it is the priciest per prompt and the least documented.
Run one of them for a month on your 15 most important prompts. If nothing changes in how you think about the channel, you saved yourself a bigger bill.