Disclosure: this page is written by the AIShortlist team; AIShortlist appears only in the second group (visibility trackers) and is listed first there. Content tools are ordered by starting price. Prices were read from each vendor's own pricing page on 6 and 8 October 2026; we did not buy and run every tool.
Short answer: which tool for which job?
- Content optimisation on a small budget: NeuronWriter ($23) or Frase ($49).
- An editor and query tracking for a content team: Clearscope ($129) or Surfer.
- Keywords, backlinks and site audit in one suite: Semrush ($139), Ahrefs ($129) or SE Ranking ($129).
- Measuring whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity recommend you, with a to-do list: AIShortlist ($29).
- If you need both: one content tool and one tracker. Some tools do both, but the tracking side is usually limited to a few prompts.
What exactly is an AI SEO tool?
The name is used for two different families of tools, and they answer different questions.
The first family uses AI as a tool: it researches topics, drafts content, and compares your page with competing pages to point out missing headings. Its question is: "How do I write this page better?"
The second family measures AI: it asks buyer questions to engines such as ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and records whether your brand is named. Its question is: "Does AI recommend me?" This is also called GEO.
In 2026 the two families moved closer: most of the content tools below now include visibility tracking for a handful of prompts.
Tools that write and optimise content with AI
Prices are the smallest paid plan. Where the page does not state a month-to-month price, we give the monthly figure on annual billing and say so.
| Tool | Starting price | What that price includes | Free trial | Visibility tracking? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank Math AI | €5.99 / month (billed annually, ex VAT) | 15 long-form articles; inside the WordPress plugin | Limited free usage | Yes: 1 brand on the entry plan (ChatGPT, Gemini) |
| NeuronWriter | $23 / month ($19 on yearly) | 2 projects, 25 content analyses | 7 days | Yes: 5 questions |
| Frase | $49 / month ($39 billed yearly) | 1 seat, 1 site, 10 articles a month | 7 days, no card | Yes: 50 prompts (ChatGPT and Google AI) |
| Surfer | $49 / month (billed yearly) | 120 documents, 1 seat | Not stated | Not on the entry plan; separate plan at $82 (billed yearly) |
| Scalenut | $59 / month (list price) | 5 articles written and 5 optimised a month | 7 days | Yes: 10 prompts, weekly |
| Writesonic | $79 / month (billed annually) | 1 user, 15 articles a month | Yes, no card | Yes: 50 prompts (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews) |
| Clearscope | $129 / month | 20 drafts a month, 50 pages, unlimited users | 14 days | Yes: 50 tracked queries (ChatGPT, Gemini) |
| SEO.ai | $149 / month | 1 website, 1 language | 7 days | Not stated |
MarketMuse and AirOps show no figures on their pricing pages; MarketMuse has a limited free plan (1 user, 10 queries a month).
All-in-one SEO suites
These suites combine keyword research, rank tracking, backlinks and site audit. All three have tied AI visibility to a plan or an add-on.
| Tool | Entry plan | What that price includes | AI visibility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush | SEO: $139 / month ($117.33 billed annually) | 5 websites, 500 keywords tracked daily | SEO + AI plan at $199 / month (50 prompts a day) |
| Ahrefs | Lite: $129 / month | 5 projects, 750 keywords, 5 AI prompts | Brand Radar add-on from $199 / month; custom prompts from $50 |
| SE Ranking | Core: $129 / month ($103.20 billed annually) | 10 projects, 2,000 keywords, 100 prompts tracked daily | Included; more prompts via an add-on. 14-day trial, no card |
Tools that measure AI visibility (GEO)
These tools do not write content; they measure how often your brand is named in AI answers. Five examples, by starting price:
| Tool | Starting price | What that price includes | Engines | Free trial |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AIShortlist | $29 / month | 10 questions, measured weekly | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity | Yes, no card |
| Otterly.AI | $29 / month | 15 prompts, tracked daily | ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot. Gemini, AI Mode and Claude are paid add-ons | Yes |
| Peec AI | $95 / month | 50 prompts, tracked daily, 1 project | Any 3 models you choose; more are paid add-ons | Not stated on the page |
| SE Visible (SE Ranking) | $99 / month | 200 prompts | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, Perplexity, AI Overviews | 10 days |
| Scrunch | $300 / month ($250 billed annually) | 350 custom prompts | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode and AI Overviews, Meta | 7 days, no card |
The full list of ten: best AI visibility tools.
Where does AIShortlist sit in this picture?
AIShortlist is our product and belongs to the second family: it is not a content writer. It asks buyer questions to ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity every week and records the result.
It touches content after the measurement: it crawls your site, writes the paragraph to change using only facts already on your site, and lists missing sub-topics and new pages to open. It does not provide keyword volume or backlink data; you need an SEO suite for those.
- Price: Lite $29, Starter $79, Growth $199 a month. Pricing.
- Free trial: 10 questions, one measurement on three engines, no card.
Which one should you choose?
- Your question is "why don't I rank in Google": an SEO suite.
- Your question is "how do I write this article better": a content tool.
- Your question is "why does my competitor come up when my customer asks ChatGPT": a visibility tracker.
- You want both in one tool: check how many prompts the tracking side covers and which engines are included.
The seven-question checklist: How to choose an AI SEO tool
Frequently asked questions
- Is an AI SEO tool the same as a GEO tool? No. The first mostly helps you write and optimise content; the second measures whether you are named in AI answers.
- What is the cheapest AI SEO tool? On the content side, Rank Math AI (€5.99, billed annually) and NeuronWriter ($23). On the tracking side, AIShortlist and Otterly.AI ($29).
- Does AI-written content rank in Google? It can; what decides is not how the content was produced but whether it gives the reader new and correct information. The tool drafts, you add the knowledge.
- I use Semrush or Ahrefs. Do I need a separate GEO tool? Both have an AI visibility product. A separate tool makes sense when you want more prompts or a to-do list after the measurement.