If you're still relying solely on traditional SEO tools to track your brand's visibility, you're missing half the picture. Generative engine optimization (GEO) tools exist because AI search engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini — don't work like Google circa 2015. They synthesize answers. They cite sources selectively. And your content either gets picked up or it doesn't.
This guide compares the actual GEO optimization tools available right now, what they're good at, where they fall short, and who each one is built for.
What GEO Tools Actually Do
Before comparing tools, let's be clear about scope. A generative engine optimization tool typically handles:
- AI visibility monitoring — tracking whether AI models mention or cite your brand
- Citation analysis — understanding why you're being cited (or not)
- Competitor benchmarking — share-of-voice across AI engines
- Content optimization — recommendations to increase citation likelihood
Some tools do all four. Most specialize in one or two. Here's how the current options stack up.
1. Profound
Website: tryprofound.com
Best for: Enterprise teams that need deep AI visibility analytics
Profound is one of the more mature players in the GEO space. It focuses heavily on monitoring and measurement — tracking how your brand appears across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and other generative engines.
Strengths:
- Comprehensive citation tracking across multiple AI engines
- Competitive share-of-voice analysis
- Enterprise-grade reporting and dashboards
- Strong historical data for trend analysis
Weaknesses:
- Pricing targets enterprise budgets (not friendly for startups or solo operators)
- Content optimization recommendations are surface-level compared to its analytics
- Steep learning curve for new users
Pricing: Custom enterprise pricing. Expect $500+/month.
2. Writesonic GEO
Website: writesonic.com
Best for: Marketing teams wanting an all-in-one GEO workflow
Writesonic has pivoted aggressively into GEO, building visibility tracking, citation diagnostics, and content optimization into a single platform. It's trying to be the HubSpot of generative engine optimization.
Strengths:
- Full workflow: track visibility → diagnose issues → optimize content → publish
- Action Plans that tell you exactly what to fix
- Competitor analysis built into the content workflow
- More affordable than pure enterprise tools
Weaknesses:
- The "all-in-one" approach means no single feature is best-in-class
- AI-generated content suggestions can feel generic without heavy editing
- Relatively new to GEO — still building its dataset
Pricing: Starts around $49/month for GEO features.
3. Otterly.AI
Website: otterly.ai
Best for: Quick, prompt-first AI visibility checks
Otterly takes a different approach: instead of crawling AI engines continuously, it lets you define specific prompts and tracks how AI models respond to them over time. Think of it as rank tracking, but for AI answers.
Strengths:
- Simple, intuitive interface
- Prompt-first methodology matches how users actually interact with AI
- Good for monitoring specific use cases (e.g., "best CRM for startups")
- Affordable for small teams
Weaknesses:
- Limited content optimization features — it's primarily a monitoring tool
- Smaller coverage of AI engines compared to Profound or Writesonic
- Less useful for broad brand visibility (better for targeted queries)
Pricing: Free tier available. Paid plans from $29/month.
4. GEO-Lens by Seenos
Website: seenos.ai/geo-lens
Best for: Quick content audits directly in your browser
GEO-Lens is a free Chrome extension that audits your web pages for GEO readiness. It checks structured data, content clarity, citation-worthiness, and other signals that influence whether AI engines pick up your content.
Strengths:
- Free and easy to use — zero onboarding friction
- Instant audit of any page you're viewing
- Educational: helps you learn GEO principles as you use it
- Good starting point for teams new to generative engine optimization
Weaknesses:
- It's a Chrome extension, not a platform — no ongoing monitoring or tracking
- No competitive analysis
- Audit recommendations are generic (not tailored to specific AI engines)
- Limited depth compared to full GEO platforms
Pricing: Free.
5. HubSpot AEO Grader
Website: hubspot.com/aeo-grader
Best for: HubSpot users who want GEO baked into their existing stack
HubSpot's free AEO/GEO Grader lets you assess how well your content is optimized for AI answer engines. It evaluates content structure, clarity, authority signals, and schema markup — the things that make content citable by generative models.
Strengths:
- Free to use
- Integrates naturally with HubSpot's CMS and marketing tools
- Good baseline assessment for content readiness
- Backed by HubSpot's SEO expertise and data
Weaknesses:
- It's a grader, not a monitoring platform — gives you a score but doesn't track changes over time
- Heavily tied to HubSpot ecosystem (less useful if you're not a HubSpot user)
- Limited AI engine coverage compared to dedicated GEO tools
- More AEO (answer engine) focused than pure GEO
Pricing: Free.
6. XanLens
Website: xanlens.com
Best for: Developers and AI-native teams who want programmatic GEO audits
XanLens takes a fundamentally different approach. Instead of a dashboard you log into, it's an API-first GEO audit tool designed for agents and automated workflows. You send a URL or brand name, and it returns a structured AI visibility report — citations, sentiment, recommended optimizations.
Strengths:
- Agent-native: built for programmatic access, not just human dashboards
- x402 payment protocol — pay per request, no subscriptions
- Free audit tier to get started
- Fast, opinionated recommendations (not vague "improve your content" advice)
Weaknesses:
- No visual dashboard (API-first means you need to build your own UI or use agents)
- Newer player — smaller dataset than established tools
- Best suited for technical users comfortable with APIs
- Limited to audit/optimization — no ongoing monitoring (yet)
Pricing: Free audit available. Pay-per-request via x402 protocol.
Comparison Table
| Tool | Monitoring | Content Optimization | Competitor Analysis | Pricing | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Profound | ✅ Deep | ⚠️ Basic | ✅ Strong | $$$$ | Enterprise analytics |
| Writesonic GEO | ✅ Good | ✅ Full workflow | ✅ Good | $$ | All-in-one teams |
| Otterly.AI | ✅ Prompt-based | ❌ Limited | ⚠️ Basic | $ | Targeted monitoring |
| GEO-Lens (Seenos) | ❌ | ⚠️ Page audits | ❌ | Free | Learning GEO |
| HubSpot AEO Grader | ❌ | ⚠️ Grading only | ❌ | Free | HubSpot users |
| XanLens | ❌ (planned) | ✅ API-driven | ❌ | Pay-per-use | Developers & agents |
Which GEO Tool Should You Pick?
There's no universal best choice. It depends on what you need:
- "I need enterprise reporting for stakeholders" → Profound
- "I want one platform for tracking + optimization" → Writesonic GEO
- "I just want to monitor specific AI queries" → Otterly.AI
- "I'm learning GEO and want a free starting point" → GEO-Lens or HubSpot Grader
- "I'm building automated workflows and need API access" → XanLens
The GEO tools market is still young. Most of these tools launched or pivoted in 2024-2025, and they're all evolving fast. My advice: start with a free option (GEO-Lens, HubSpot Grader, or XanLens's free audit) to understand your baseline, then invest in a paid tool once you know what metrics matter for your business.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?
GEO is the practice of optimizing your content to be cited and referenced by AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews. Unlike traditional SEO which focuses on ranking in link-based search results, GEO focuses on making your content the source that AI models pull from when generating answers.
Do I need a GEO tool if I already use SEO tools?
Yes, traditional SEO tools like Ahrefs and Semrush don't track AI citations or visibility in generative engines. They're still valuable for organic search, but GEO tools address a different channel entirely. The research from Princeton, Georgia Tech, and IIT Delhi on GEO (arxiv.org/abs/2311.09735) showed that traditional SEO signals don't directly translate to generative engine visibility.
Are free GEO tools worth using?
Absolutely. GEO-Lens, HubSpot's Grader, and XanLens's free audit all give you actionable starting points. They won't replace a full monitoring platform, but they'll tell you where you stand and what to fix first.
How is GEO different from AEO (Answer Engine Optimization)?
AEO targets featured snippets and answer boxes in traditional search. GEO targets synthesized answers in generative AI engines. There's overlap — well-structured, authoritative content helps with both — but GEO requires understanding how LLMs process and cite information, which involves different optimization strategies.
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