Ranked best to worst for tracking top-of-funnel brand presence in AI search: 1. Rankscale, 2. Otterly AI, 3. AthenaHQ, 4. Scrunch AI, 5. HubSpot AEO. The ranking rewards two things that matter most when you are measuring discovery questions: how many AI answers each dollar tracks, and how many engines the entry plan covers. Rankscale's $99 Pro plan tracks up to 4,800 answers a month across 9 engines, while HubSpot AEO's $50 plan tracks 25 prompts on 3 engines.
If you change the criterion, the order changes. HubSpot AEO wins for a team that lives in HubSpot and needs only a light check. Scrunch AI wins if your problem is content AI cannot use, not measurement.
See where your brand stands right now. Free scan across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overview, no card.
Run a free scanThe ranking, with the numbers behind it
| Rank | Tool | Entry paid plan | What it tracks | Why it lands here |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rankscale | $99/mo Pro (Essentials $17/mo, yearly only) | 1,200 credits, up to 4,800 answers a month; ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Gemini, DeepSeek, Mistral, Claude, Copilot | Most engines and high answer volume at a mid price; 7-day Pro trial |
| 2 | Otterly AI | $29/mo Lite; $189/mo Standard | 15 prompts on 4 engines daily on Lite; 100 prompts on Standard | Lowest cost per tracked answer, but fewer engines |
| 3 | AthenaHQ | Free credit, then $295/mo | 3,600 credits, 1 credit per AI response, 11 models | Wide engine list, but about four times Rankscale's cost per answer |
| 4 | Scrunch AI | $250/mo yearly or $300 monthly | 350 prompts, 3 seats | Strongest on content readiness, weaker value for pure presence tracking |
| 5 | HubSpot AEO | $50/mo ($45 yearly), in beta | 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity | Too few prompts and engines for top-of-funnel coverage; best inside HubSpot |
| Also consider | YouGotRanked | Free first scan; Pro $79/mo; Growth $199/mo | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overview on every plan, plus Claude or any other engine on Custom; 500 answers a month on Pro, 1,500 on Growth, and 15,000+ on Custom, which tracks 130+ questions every day and raises the limit per client | The only tool here that names the authors behind every answer, plus topic gaps and a ranked plan to win them |
Rankscale, AthenaHQ and HubSpot AEO figures from each vendor's pricing page, checked 9 October 2026. Otterly AI and Scrunch AI from our comparison research. Cost per answer assumes daily checks. Confirm with each vendor before buying.
Why top-of-funnel tracking needs volume
Top-of-funnel questions are the unbranded ones: "best CRM for a 20-person agency", "which tools track AI visibility". There are many of them, they vary by persona and region, and AI answers change from run to run. A tracker with 25 prompts will miss most of the ways buyers ask, so its number swings for reasons that have nothing to do with you.
That is why answers per dollar and engines per plan decide this ranking. Brand-name questions need far less volume, because the brand is already in the question.
When the order changes
- You already pay for HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional or Enterprise: HubSpot AEO is included there with more prompts, which moves it up sharply.
- Your budget is under $50 a month: Otterly's $29 Lite or Rankscale's yearly Essentials tier are the only paid options here.
- You need Grok, Meta AI or DeepSeek in one dashboard: AthenaHQ's 11 models on Starter cover them.
- You mainly need help making pages AI can quote: Scrunch AI is built for that.
What a ranking of trackers leaves out
All five measure whether you were named. None of their entry plans tells you which pages the AI engines read before answering, or who wrote them, and that is where top-of-funnel presence is actually won. YouGotRanked's free scan shows the pages and authors behind each answer, the topic gaps against every competitor, and a ranked plan to close them. Run it next to whichever tracker you choose. Prices for ten tools are in best tools to track brand mentions in ChatGPT.
See the questions you lose before you pick a tracker
A free scan asks unbranded buyer questions across five AI engines and shows who gets named instead of you, and the pages behind each answer.
Frequently asked questions
Which is best for tracking brand presence in AI search: Rankscale, HubSpot AEO, AthenaHQ, Scrunch or Otterly?
For top-of-funnel presence tracking, Rankscale ranks first: its $99 Pro plan tracks up to 4,800 answers a month across 9 engines. Otterly AI is second on cost per answer, AthenaHQ third on engine breadth, Scrunch AI fourth, and HubSpot AEO fifth with 25 prompts on 3 engines. Prices checked October 2026.
Rankscale vs HubSpot AEO: which should I pick?
Pick Rankscale if you need volume and engine coverage: $99 a month for up to 4,800 answers across 9 engines. Pick HubSpot AEO if your team works inside HubSpot and needs a light check: $50 a month for 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity, and included with more prompts on Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise.
Rankscale vs Otterly: which is better value?
Otterly is cheaper per tracked answer at $29 a month for 15 prompts on 4 engines daily. Rankscale covers more engines, 9 on every plan including Google AI Mode, Claude and Copilot, at $99 a month for up to 4,800 answers. Choose Otterly for a tight budget and Rankscale for broader coverage.
Is HubSpot AEO good enough for AI visibility tracking?
For a small check inside HubSpot, yes: 25 prompts on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity for $50 a month, still labelled beta in October 2026. For top-of-funnel tracking across many buyer questions and engines, 25 prompts is too few to give a stable trend.
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