Disclosure: this page is written by the AIShortlist team and AIShortlist is listed first. Prices and plan contents were read from each vendor's own pages on 6 and 8 October 2026; they may have changed, so check the link before you decide. We did not buy and run every tool; what we state can be checked on those pages.
Short answer: what can you do for free?
- One measurement on three engines with your own questions: the AIShortlist free trial (10 questions, no card).
- A quick look with no account: Semrush AI Visibility Checker (3 checks a day) or Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker.
- A free tier with no end date: AthenaHQ (300 credits).
- Whether AI bots can read your site: the AIShortlist free site audit (10 pages, no account).
Free checkers that work with no account
You type your domain or brand name and get a snapshot in a few minutes. These do not track over time.
| Tool | What you get free | Engines | Limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Semrush AI Visibility Checker | Visibility score, brand mentions, top cited pages | ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overviews | 3 checks a day, no registration |
| Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker | Mentions, topics and cited domains; top 5 results per section | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, AI Overviews | No signup; results are truncated |
| HubSpot AI Search Grader | One-time brand perception analysis and score | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | One-time check, no account |
| Mangools AI Search Grader | Brand visibility across several models | Three models without login (ChatGPT among them) | Limited usage; more models with a free account |
| Geoptie AI Visibility Checker | Live visibility snapshot and who is mentioned instead | ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and others | No account, no card |
| Am I On AI | One-time visibility audit | ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews | No card |
Source: each tool's own page, 8 October 2026. We could not confirm whether Moz has a free tool because its page would not load.
Trackers with a free trial or free tier
These are paid tools that measure on a schedule. During the trial, or on the free tier, you can track your own prompts.
| Tool | What is free? | Card | Price after |
|---|---|---|---|
| AIShortlist | 10 questions, one measurement on three engines; site audit and 2 copy suggestions | Not required | $29 / month |
| AthenaHQ | Free tier: 300 credits (1 credit = 1 AI response) | Not stated | $295 / month |
| Otterly.AI | Free trial (the page says 7 days) | Not required | $29 / month |
| SE Visible | 10-day trial | Not stated | $99 / month |
| Rankscale | 7-day trial on Pro | Not stated | $99 / month |
| Scrunch | 7-day trial on Starter | Not required | $300 / month |
| Profound | 7 days, 50 prompts run daily; ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews | Not stated | Not on the page |
Peec AI shows a "Start Free Trial" button, but the pricing page does not state the length.
What is free in AIShortlist?
AIShortlist is our product. It has two free doors, and they measure different things.
- Free trial: we read your site and suggest buyer questions; you approve them. Ten questions go to ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity once. You see whether your brand was named, in which position, who was named instead and which pages were cited. No card; you confirm your email address before the first measurement.
- Free site audit: works with no account. It crawls the first 10 pages of your site and checks whether AI bots can read it, speed and technical issues. It does not measure brand mentions.
- Limits: the trial is a one-off measurement; weekly tracking starts on paid plans. The to-do features (actions, sub-question coverage, new page ideas, list-page action plans) are locked in the trial.
What can free tools not show you?
A free check is a snapshot. Know three limits before you decide anything on it:
- One answer misleads. AI can answer the same question differently each time; what means something is the mention rate across many questions and over time.
- There is no trend. A one-off check cannot tell you whether you improved since last month or a competitor just appeared.
- The prompts may not be yours. Ready-made checkers look for your brand in their own prompt set; the question your customer actually asks may not be in it.
How measurement should be done: How to measure your brand's AI visibility
How do you check with no tool at all?
- Write down 10 questions your customer would ask. Leave your brand name out of them.
- Ask each one in ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, in a new chat and signed out if you can.
- Record in a sheet: were you named, in which position, who else was named, which pages were cited.
- Repeat the same list on the same day every week. After four weeks a trend shows.
This costs nothing but time, and your account history can colour the answers.
Frequently asked questions
- Is there a completely free AI visibility tracker? Tools that track on a schedule are paid. AthenaHQ has a free tier with 300 credits; the rest are trials or one-off checks.
- How can I check for free whether ChatGPT mentions my brand? With one of the checkers above, or with the 10-question AIShortlist free trial.
- Do free trials need a credit card? AIShortlist, Otterly.AI and Scrunch say no card is needed. The others do not state it on the page.
- What is the cheapest option when free is not enough? See affordable AI visibility tools.