Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) is the process of ensuring that a particular brand, product, or service is accurately and favorably represented in LLMs and AI‑generated answers across chat interfaces (like ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and DeepSeek) and AI‑enhanced SERPs (like Google’s AI Overview).
Unlike SEO, where the click happens on your blue link from the SERP, AEO lives in a zero‑click world: the model condenses, cites (sometimes), and often converts inside its own UI.
In short, winning here means that your brand is surfaced, described correctly, and linked; without the user ever having to open a browser tab.



Goodie is the only platform that combines full‑stack observability (visibility, sentiment, citations) with an agentic optimization layer that pushes fixes: rewriting outreach emails, generating LLM‑ready press snippets, and publishing schema via an API.
Goodie’s latest updates also include specialized tools for:
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overview, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI, AI Mode, Copilot, Rufus.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Enterprise CMOs, growth engineers, and SEO directors who need multi‑market governance and a closed‑loop workflow.
Pricing: Custom pricing; reach out to us for a demo.

Evertune’s AEO suite provides a blend of accuracy, ease of use, and integration power. It’s not the broadest in engine coverage, but what it does, it does well: making it a solid choice for brands that want actionable, real-time answer engine optimization without the steepest learning curve.
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Mode, AI Overview, Claude, Perplexity, Meta AI, DeepSeek, Copilot.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Mid-size to enterprise-level marketing teams and agencies who want a specialized, user-friendly AEO tool that integrates neatly into existing SEO workflows.
Price: Enterprise-only (built for large, high-volume datasets).

HumanizeAI.com combines AI content humanization with answer engine optimization, a unique angle in the AEO space. The platform focuses on content quality and natural readability, making it valuable for teams that produce AI-assisted content and want it to perform well across both traditional search and AI engines.
Engine Coverage: Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, Gemini, Bing Copilot, and Perplexity.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Content-heavy marketing teams, agencies, and SEO professionals who produce AI-assisted content at scale and need tools that balance automation with natural readability and AEO performance.
Pricing: SEO and AEO plans start at $29 per month; AI Humanizer plans start at $7 per month.

Founded by an ex-Google Search PM and ex-Cribbly founder, AthenaHQ stands out for its AI-powered research tools and content discovery features that help teams not only optimize, but identify what to optimize. It’s slightly less automated than the top contenders, but useful when it comes to AEO strategy planning.
Funding: Y Combinator
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, AI Overview, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot, Grok, and Claude, plus additional capabilities available upon request.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Agencies, content strategists, and in-house SEO teams who want a research-focused planning tool to build an AEO strategy.
Pricing: Starts at $295 per month for the Lite plan, with higher tiers and custom pricing available.

Bluefish is built for technical SEOs and data-driven teams. While it may feel complex for casual users, its analytics power makes it a favorite among large enterprises and AI search specialists.
Funding: Undisclosed seed, backed by Bloomberg Beta.
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, as well as niche engines in finance, legal, and healthcare.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Heavily regulated brands that are anxious about factual control.
Pricing: Pricing is not public and requires contact with the Bluefish sales team.

A rising player that earns its place for its clean UI, Scrunch features content collaboration tools and AI prompt testing features, making AEO feel accessible to teams without deep technical expertise.
Funding: $4M (Mayfield).
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Meta AI, Claude.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Mid-sized marketing teams, agencies, and brands looking for usability without the complexity of enterprise-first platforms.
Pricing: Starts at $250 per month, with other tiers and custom enterprise pricing available.

Profound focuses on why content ranks in AI answers, not just how. It’s less flashy than its competitors, but great for teams who want to blend data science with AEO. One thing to watch out for, though: optimization guidance is still manual, and geo support is limited to EN markets.
Funding: $24M Series A (Kleiner Perkins).
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overview, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok, Rufus, Meta AI, DeepSeek.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Data-driven marketing teams, research institutions, and enterprise SEOs who want deep diagnostics and advanced content science.
Pricing: Pricing starts at $99 per month for the Starter plan, with a middle Growth tier as well as custom pricing available for enterprise plans.

Peec AI gives you a laser-focused view into how AI search engines mention your brand, tracking visibility, position, and sentiment, all in one dashboard built for marketing teams. Peec AI is markedly an analytics tool, not necessarily a full AEO suite like some of the other tools in this list, but it’s still useful for teams who have experience with content writing and don’t need as much direct guidance for AEO strategies.
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews. Models like Grok, AI Mode, DeepSeek, and Llama can be added for an additional cost.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Marketing leads, SEO professionals, and growth teams at established brands who already have some SEO or AEO traction and need to monitor how their brand shows up in AI search.
Pricing: Tiered plans starting around €89 per month for starter tracking (with only AI Overview, Perplexity, and ChatGPT).

Gumshoe focuses on discovery and competitor intelligence; it’s less about direct optimization and more about finding the gaps and opportunities that others miss. Though Gumshoe is in early stages, it’s a great starter tool for competitive rank information as well as general LLM visibility metrics.
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and smaller LLM engines.
Standout Features
Ideal For: Strategists, competitive intelligence teams, and agencies who want to plan content around real gaps and competitor movement.
Pricing: Extremely limited free trial available, as well as a Pay as You Go model (10 cents per conversation), and an Enterprise plan (custom pricing).

XFunnel specializes in Answer Engine Optimization efforts that are directly aligned to conversions (as the name suggests). It’s less about monitoring overall visibility and more about making sure the AI answers that surface actually drive qualified traffic and sales.
Engine Coverage: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, AI Overview, AI Mode, Grok.
Standout Features
Ideal For: eCommerce brands, growth marketers, and performance-driven teams who care as much about ROI as about being featured in AI results.
Pricing: Offers an extremely limited, albeit free AI search analysis audit, with custom pricing for Enterprise plans post-audit.
When choosing the right answer engine optimization platform for your AEO scope, it’s important to consider technical complexity, your engine requirements, and the overall goal of your AEO: do you want to monitor user sentiment, show up as a trusted source in a particular topic, or show up in AI shopping searches?
Use the chart and decision flow below to get the ball rolling when selecting an AEO tool:

Decision flow:
.png)
No, SEO is still alive and well. Think of AEO as the next layer: traditional SEO still drives the majority of traffic, but AEO controls how that traffic starts.
Brands using Goodie and Profound report measurable citation lifts in 4‑6 weeks on long‑tail prompts; headline terms take 3‑4 months.
The KPIs we recommend tracking include:
Goodie’s attribution module integrates with GA4 and Adobe for maximum KPI visibility.
As more people get answers directly from AI search engines and chatbots, brands risk being left out of the conversation. AEO tools help:
In short: they keep your brand visible, competitive, and relevant in the age of AI search.
With LLMs projected to significantly increase their traffic share, brands must act swiftly to secure “answer equity" that will benefit them long-term. Goodie AI distinguishes itself as a comprehensive end-to-end platform, offering unparalleled capabilities to monitor, analyze, and optimize AI-driven brand visibility.
If you’re serious about protecting and amplifying brand equity in a world where the first impression is a machine‑generated snippet, start an AEO program today and put Goodie at its core.