Best AEO (Answer Engine Optimization) Tools (2026)

Profound is the best-funded and most widely recognized AI visibility platform, aimed squarely at large enterprises. It monitors the broadest set of engines and is used by major brands, but its dashboard is complex and it has moved away from self-serve pricing.

• Broadest engine coverage (8-9 engines including AI Mode, Copilot, DeepSeek)
• Deepest funding and fastest growth in the category
• Trusted by large enterprises including Walmart, Comcast and Estée Lauder [verify]

Otterly.AI is a bootstrapped, well-reviewed AI search monitoring tool and one of the cheapest credible self-serve options. It covers the major engines and is popular with marketers, though it remains monitoring-focused and its engine count is somewhat overstated.

• One of the cheapest credible self-serve options
• Bootstrapped and profitable with a lean team
• High G2 rating around 4.8 across 250+ reviews [verify]

The Semrush AI Toolkit adds AI visibility scoring, share-of-voice and an AI-readiness audit to the well-known Semrush platform. It suits teams already invested in Semrush, though it is US-English only and pricing escalates per domain.

• Backed by a large, established SEO platform
• AI Visibility Score, share-of-voice, sentiment and AI-readiness audit
• Integrates with the broader Semrush toolset

Athena HQ is a Y Combinator-backed GEO/AEO platform from an ex-Google Search team, with strong logos and high ratings. It offers a free credit tier but its paid entry price is steep, and its fix-oriented Action Center is still developing.

• Y Combinator W25 with credible founding team (ex-Google Search, ex-ServiceNow)
• Analyzes 300K+ sites [verify]
• Strong customer logos including Coinbase, SoFi and PagerDuty [verify]

Knowatoa is a bootstrapped, SMB-focused AI visibility tool that explicitly targets founders and small teams. It has the closest ICP overlap with DeepLexa and covers seven engines, though full coverage requires its higher-priced Growth plan.

• Explicitly targets founders and small teams, closest ICP overlap with DeepLexa
• Covers seven engines on the Growth plan
• Founded by experienced operators (ex-Varonis)