Comparison · Updated 5 November 2026
The best GEO and AI visibility tools for small businesses in 2026
This page is written by Make the AI List, and we list ourselves first. That is a conflict of interest, so here is how we handled it: every fact about another company comes from that company’s own website, read on 5 November 2026, with the page linked under each entry. Where a price or feature was not on their site, we write “check their website” instead of guessing. We say nothing about any company beyond what its own pages show.
What GEO is, and why a small local business should care
GEO is short for generative engine optimisation. It means getting your business recommended when customers ask an AI assistant such as ChatGPT or Claude for advice, such as who to call, where to eat or who to book. You will also see it called AI SEO, AI visibility or answer engine optimisation.
It matters to a local business because the answer is not a page of ten links. AI names a few businesses, or one, and the customer often goes with those. One in two Australians has used AI to research a purchase this year.
Source: Ideally survey of 809 Australians, reported by B&T, September 2026.
In our own stored answers, AI names about 4 businesses in each answer, so most businesses in a suburb are not mentioned.
Source: our own stored answers, 2,142 AI answers about Sydney businesses, 3.8 recommended per answer on average, as at 5 November 2026. More on GEO for small business.
The ten tools at a glance
Prices are as each company’s own site displayed them on 5 November 2026, with the currency the site displayed. Where a site showed only a dollar sign we write “currency not stated”. Plans and prices change, so check each site before you decide.
| Tool | Best for | Price | What sets it apart |
|---|---|---|---|
| Make the AI List (us) | Owners of local small businesses, such as cafés, restaurants, gyms, salons and trades, who want it done for them rather than a dashboard to run. | Free check. A$49 a month (Australian dollars; launch price until 1 February 2027, then A$79). Cancel anytime online. | Built for local businesses, not marketing teams. It checks whether ChatGPT and Claude recommend you in your suburb and whether AI can book you. The plan builds a page AI can read and book from and re-checks every week, and for our first 20 businesses we do the set-up for you. |
| ReachLLM | Brands, service businesses and agencies. Its own page lists local businesses, multi-location brands and agencies among the people it is for. | Software plans: Pro $399 a month (1 project, 100 prompts), Scale $999 a month (10 projects). Managed GEO from $3,500 a month. Pro and Scale include a 3-day free trial. Currency not stated. | Both software and a managed GEO agency, with white-label reporting for agencies and a free AI visibility report. Its pricing page says it tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews, with Claude as an add-on. |
| Otterly.AI | Its Lite plan is for "solo marketers, and small teams"; Standard is for "SMEs and small marketing teams". | From $29 a month (Lite, 15 prompts). Standard $189 a month (100 prompts). Premium $489 a month. 7-day free trial. Currency not stated. | Tracks brand mentions and citations across AI search engines, with prompt research and recommendations on what to change. Its pricing page lists ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot, with Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini as extra add-ons. |
| Peec AI | Marketing teams. Its Starter plan is "for SEO and content managers getting started with AI Search visibility". | Starter $95 a month (50 prompts, 1 project). Pro $245 a month (150 prompts, 2 projects). Advanced $495 a month (350 prompts, 5 projects). Enterprise on request. Free trial. Currency not stated. | Tracks visibility, position and sentiment in AI search, with unlimited users on every plan. Its pricing page lists models including ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Perplexity, and others such as Claude and Grok through its API. |
| Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit | Businesses and agencies already using Semrush for SEO. Its first plan is "for freelancers and small businesses looking to grow their online visibility with SEO". | Plans from €134 a month (€112.52 a month billed annually), shown in euros, including AI visibility reports. A free plan is offered. Check their website for the price in Australian dollars and for the toolkit on its own. | AI visibility sits inside a large SEO platform, with prompt research, brand performance and a site audit alongside keyword and competitor tools. Its pricing page talks about getting your brand seen on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google. |
| Conductor | Enterprises. Its pricing page says "Plans for enterprises at every stage of growth". | No price on their page: check their website. Plans are named Essentials, Growth and Enterprise, with a free trial and a demo offered. | An enterprise platform that combines answer engine optimisation with SEO reporting, content tools and website monitoring. It offers a free AI visibility analysis of your brand’s presence in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini answers. |
| Scrunch | Brands and agencies. Its Core plan is "for teams to evaluate Scrunch, establish AI visibility benchmarks, and prove impact before scaling". | Core $250 a month (125 prompts, 5 user licences, 7-day free trial). Enterprise on request. Currency not stated. | Goes beyond monitoring to how AI agents use your site, with agent traffic analysis and pages built for AI agents. Core covers ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot; Enterprise lists nine, including Claude, Gemini, Meta AI and Grok. |
| Profound | Larger teams. Its Enterprise plan is "for companies operationalizing AI Search insights and running marketing agents at scale". | Free trial (50 prompts run daily for 7 days). Enterprise is custom: check their website. | Combines answer engine tracking with AI marketing agents that research, write and report. Its free trial covers ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews; Enterprise tracks up to 9 answer engines. |
| Athena (AthenaHQ) | Brands and agencies. Its site has pages for industries including restaurants and fitness, and for multi-location businesses. | Essential: free, with $25 of free credit. Starter $295 a month. Enterprise on request: check their website. Currency not stated. | Credit-based plans with content recommendations and an AI agent. Its Starter plan lists 11 models, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI. |
| Surfer SEO | Content and SEO teams. Its page says it helps you "create content that ranks on Google and gets cited by AI search engines". | AI Search Analytics €82 a month billed yearly. Content plans from €49 a month billed yearly (Discovery), up to €299 (Peace of Mind). Shown in euros. | Pairs AI visibility tracking with a content editor and SEO audit, so the writing and the tracking sit together. Its pricing page says it tracks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews and other AI models. |
Each tool in a few lines
1. Make the AI List
We built this for the owner of a café, restaurant, gym, salon or trade business, not for a marketing team. The free check shows whether ChatGPT and Claude recommend your business when customers ask for one like yours in your suburb, who they name instead, and whether AI could book you. The plan is A$49 a month: A page AI can read and book from, a check every week, and your next steps written for your business. For our first 20 businesses, we also do the set-up for you: your website, your Google listing, and the review sites and directories AI reads before it recommends anyone. You approve, we do it. No calls, no passwords. Cancel anytime online.
Our free checker. Our own product, described as of 5 November 2026.
2. ReachLLM
ReachLLM describes itself as an AI-native GEO agency plus visibility software. You can run the software yourself, or pay for its team to carry out the work. Its pricing page shows software plans for one project or ten, and a managed plan for companies that want the team to do the work.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
3. Otterly.AI
Otterly.AI is a monitoring tool: it shows where your brand is mentioned or cited in AI search answers and which prompts matter. Its pricing page shows monthly and annual billing, and a free trial.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
4. Peec AI
Peec AI is built for marketing teams that want to track how their brand shows up in AI search, and see the trend over time. Its pricing page lists three self-serve plans and a custom plan.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
5. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit
Semrush’s AI Visibility toolkit is part of its wider platform. Its pricing page shows plans that combine SEO and AI search, a free plan, and add-ons. The price of the AI Visibility toolkit by itself was not shown on the pages we read, so check their website.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: AI Visibility overview, AI search plans and pricing.
6. Conductor
Conductor describes itself as a platform to win in AI search, aimed at enterprise teams. Its pricing page lists three plans by what they include, such as pages analysed and tracked keywords, without prices.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
7. Scrunch
Scrunch calls itself an AI customer experience platform. Its pricing page has a Core plan and an Enterprise plan, with separate options for agencies.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
8. Profound
Profound pitches an AI platform for marketing teams. Its pricing page offers a free trial and a custom enterprise package, with a demo to get started.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
9. Athena (AthenaHQ)
AthenaHQ describes itself as agents to win on AI search. Its plans page shows a free Essential plan, a Starter plan with a monthly credit allowance, and a custom Enterprise plan.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Plans page.
10. Surfer SEO
Surfer’s site (now at surfer.ai) offers AI visibility tracking on its own and as part of content plans that include a content editor. Its pricing page lists five paid plans and a free start.
Sources, read on 5 November 2026: Home page, Pricing page.
How to choose
If you run one local business and have no marketing team, start with the free check here, or with the free trial or free start that several of these companies offer. What you need first is a clear answer to one question: does AI recommend you today, and if not, what does it read instead?
If you have a marketing team and want a dashboard, the monitoring tools in this list (Otterly.AI, Peec AI, Scrunch, Profound and Athena) track how often you are named across AI assistants over time. Pricing and prompt limits differ, so compare them on their own pricing pages.
If you already use an SEO platform, Semrush and Surfer add AI visibility to tools you may already know. If you want someone to do the work, ReachLLM offers a managed plan, and Make the AI List does the set-up for local businesses. If you are a large organisation, Conductor and Profound describe enterprise plans, with prices on request.
Whatever you pick, be wary of anyone who promises that AI will recommend you. Nobody can. Ask what you will be able to see, and how often it is checked.
Common questions
What is the difference between GEO and AI SEO?
They are two names for much the same work. GEO, short for generative engine optimisation, and AI SEO both mean getting your business named when customers ask AI for a recommendation, rather than only ranking in a list of search results.
Do I need a GEO agency?
Not always. An agency can suit a business with a budget and a wish to hand everything over. A local business with a small budget can start with a free check to see whether AI recommends it, and a lower-cost plan that does the set-up.
How much do GEO tools cost?
On their own pricing pages, the tools in this list range from free trials and plans from about 29 a month (Otterly.AI) to managed services from 3,500 a month (ReachLLM), and several price only on request. Those sites showed a bare dollar sign, so the currency is not stated. Semrush and Surfer showed euros. Our plan is A$49 a month, in Australian dollars. Prices change, so check each company’s own site.
Can anyone guarantee that AI will recommend my business?
No. AI can answer differently on a different day, and nobody outside the companies that build it knows exactly how it chooses. What a tool or agency can do is show you where you stand and help you fix what it can read.
How do I know if AI recommends my business today?
Ask it the question your customers ask, such as the best business of your kind in your suburb, and see who it names. Our free check asks ChatGPT and Claude for you and also tests whether AI could book you.
Sources and dates
All competitor facts were read on their own company websites on 5 November 2026. Prices are shown with the currency each page displayed, or “currency not stated” where it showed only a dollar sign.
- ReachLLM: Home page (www.reachllm.com/); Pricing page (www.reachllm.com/pricing). Read 5 November 2026.
- Otterly.AI: Home page (otterly.ai/); Pricing page (otterly.ai/pricing). Read 5 November 2026.
- Peec AI: Home page (peec.ai/); Pricing page (peec.ai/pricing). Read 5 November 2026.
- Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: AI Visibility overview (www.semrush.com/ai-seo/overview/); AI search plans and pricing (www.semrush.com/pricing/seo-ai-search/). Read 5 November 2026.
- Conductor: Home page (www.conductor.com/); Pricing page (www.conductor.com/pricing/). Read 5 November 2026.
- Scrunch: Home page (scrunch.com/); Pricing page (scrunch.com/pricing/). Read 5 November 2026.
- Profound: Home page (www.tryprofound.com/); Pricing page (www.tryprofound.com/pricing). Read 5 November 2026.
- Athena (AthenaHQ): Home page (athenahq.ai/); Plans page (athenahq.ai/plans). Read 5 November 2026.
- Surfer SEO: Home page (surfer.ai/); Pricing page (surfer.ai/pricing/). Read 5 November 2026.
Full result in minutes. A$49 a month if you want the plan. Cancel anytime.