# AI Visibility Tools — Honest 2026 Comparison Nine tools currently compete for the AI visibility category in 2026, with a tenth that no listicle includes — Eastbound's free China-specific audit. This is an honest comparison: what each tool is best at, what they don't cover, and where Eastbound fits as a complement rather than a competitor. We are **not** a SaaS measurement platform; we are a consultancy with a free audit. Every tool below has at least one job it does better than us. ## Quick comparison | Tool | Focus | Strength | US engines | China engines | Pricing | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | **Profound** | Enterprise dashboard | Most-funded specialist; broadest US coverage | All major | None native | Enterprise | | **AthenaHQ** | Mid-market dashboard | Strong US tracking; well-funded | ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini | None native | Mid-market | | **Otterly.AI** | SMB dashboard | Affordable; cleaner self-serve | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | None native | SMB | | **Peec AI** | Small-team dashboard | Light-weight; quick setup | ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini | None native | SMB | | **Goodie** | Mid-market dashboard | $30M+ Series A; design-forward | ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini | None native | Mid-market | | **Semrush AI Visibility** | SEO-suite add-on | Built into Semrush | ChatGPT, AI Overview, Gemini | None native | Bundled | | **SE Ranking AI Search Watcher** | SEO-suite add-on | Affordable bundle; 129K-domain study credibility | ChatGPT, AI Overview, Perplexity | None native | Bundled | | **Mangools AI Search Watcher** | SEO-suite add-on | Beginner-friendly | ChatGPT, AI Overview | None native | Bundled | | **LLMrefs** | Niche measurement | Smaller / cheaper | ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity | None native | Niche | | **Eastbound (free audit)** | China specialty + consultancy | Only tool with native DeepSeek/Qwen/Doubao | Discussed only | **DeepSeek, Qwen, Doubao** | Free audit + consulting | > **The honest position.** If you need a US-engine SaaS dashboard, pick Profound, AthenaHQ or Goodie. If you already use Semrush or SE Ranking, the bundled panels are zero marginal cost. Eastbound exists to fill the China gap — none of the Western tools measures DeepSeek, Qwen or Doubao natively. ## Profound Most-funded specialist — [$96M Series C](https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/profound-raises-96m-series-c), $151M total raised, ~$1B valuation. **Best at:** US-engine dashboard at scale. **Doesn't cover:** Chinese engines. **For:** Enterprise marketing teams. ## AthenaHQ Well-funded mid-market dashboard. Did not appear in any top-3 SERP across the 30 head-term queries we analysed for the 2026 GEO landscape — well-resourced but losing the SEO game on its own category. **For:** Mid-market teams who find Profound prohibitive. ## Otterly.AI [Otterly.AI](https://otterly.ai) — SMB-friendly dashboard with affordable pricing. Self-serve onboarding. **For:** Marketing teams under 50 people. ## Peec AI Small-team dashboard, light setup, newer entrant. **For:** Solo marketers / teams of 1–10. ## Goodie Mid-market with $30M+ Series A. Design-forward UI. Like AthenaHQ, has not converted funding into top-3 SERP rankings on head terms. **For:** Brands where the AI visibility report has to look good in the boardroom. ## Semrush AI Visibility Built into [Semrush AI Visibility panel](https://www.semrush.com/ai-seo/overview/) — ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, AI Mode, Gemini. **For:** Marketers already on Semrush. ## SE Ranking AI Search Watcher Bundled with SE Ranking. SE Ranking ran the 2025 129,000-domain × 216,524-page study (Search Engine Journal coverage) that found FAQ-schema pages averaged 3.6 ChatGPT citations vs 4.2 without. Measurement credibility from that research alone. **For:** SE Ranking subscribers. ## Mangools AI Search Watcher [Mangools AI Search Watcher](https://mangools.com/ai-search-watcher/) — beginner-friendly, ChatGPT + AI Overview. **For:** Beginners and SMBs. ## LLMrefs Boutique service — [LLMrefs](https://llmrefs.com/). Tracks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity. **For:** Indie creators / very small teams. ## Eastbound — free audit + China specialty Not a SaaS measurement platform. Free audit + consultancy with one specialty: China AI visibility on DeepSeek, Qwen, Doubao. Run your URL against a stratified zh-CN consumer prompt panel for per-engine selection / absorption / brand-mention scores. No login. **Best at:** The single thing the nine tools above don't do — Mainland Chinese engine measurement. In our 540-call panel (May 2026), top-15 cited-source overlap (Jaccard) between any two Chinese engines was 0.20–0.30. Methodology at [Eastbound methodology](https://www.eastbound.ai/methodology/), published research at [DeepSeek vs Qwen vs Doubao](https://www.eastbound.ai/blog/three-chinese-ais.html). **Doesn't cover:** US engines as a continuous dashboard. If you only need US engines, pick from the list above. **For:** Brands operating in or expanding to Mainland China. ## How to choose 1. **Need Chinese engine coverage?** Start with Eastbound's free audit; pair with a Western dashboard. 2. **Already paying for Semrush or SE Ranking?** Use their bundled AI Visibility panel. 3. **Need enterprise dashboards + API?** Profound > Goodie > AthenaHQ. 4. **SMB budget?** Otterly.AI, Peec AI, or Mangools. 5. **Want research credibility?** SE Ranking + Eastbound. ## Related reading - [Profound alternatives — when their dashboard isn't the right fit](https://www.eastbound.ai/profound-alternatives/) - [Run our free AI visibility audit](https://www.eastbound.ai/ai-visibility-audit/) - [Eastbound's measurement methodology](https://www.eastbound.ai/methodology/) - [China AI visibility for global brands](https://www.eastbound.ai/china-ai-visibility/) - [DeepSeek vs Qwen vs Doubao: source-mix study](https://www.eastbound.ai/blog/three-chinese-ais.html) --- Run the free China audit at https://www.eastbound.ai/ai-visibility-audit/.