12 Best AI Citation Analysis Software in 2026, Compared

Peec AI is the most citation-focused tool in this list, and it shows in the entry plan. Starter costs $95 a month and covers 50 prompts a day across three models of your choice, with citation share, source classification and a domain-and-URL detail view included from the start. The gap analysis names the sources that cite your competitors but not you, which is the report that turns tracking into a content brief.

The limits are scope, not depth: one project, one country and three active models on Starter, with extra models as paid add-ons. Unlimited users on every plan makes it easy to share the data across a team. If the question you need answered is which sources the answers cite, start here.

Otterly.AI is the cheapest credible way to start tracking citations. Lite costs $29 a month ($25 billed annually) and covers 15 prompts a day across ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot, with citation source tracking and a link-citations report on the entry plan. Every plan includes unlimited team members and daily tracking, and the GEO audit checks whether your own pages can be crawled and cited in the first place.

Fifteen prompts is a small allowance, and Gemini, Google AI Mode and Claude cost extra — $9, $9 and $29 a month on Lite. There is also no API or MCP access until Standard at $189 a month. For a solo marketer running a first pilot, though, nothing else in this list gives you daily citation data for $29.

PromptWatch is the broadest tracker at this price. Essential costs $95 a month for 50 prompts and 6,000 AI responses a month, and all 12 platforms — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode among them — are selectable on every plan, with no per-engine add-on fees. API and MCP access come with every paid plan, and there is a free plan to start on.

The catch is that only four platforms are tracked per project at a time, so covering all 12 means running multiple projects. Crawler logs and AEO article credits start on Professional at $245 a month. If you want wide engine coverage and an API without an enterprise budget, this is the pick.

SE Ranking is the value pick for teams that already do SEO. The Core plan costs $129 a month ($103.20 billed annually) and bundles AI visibility tracking — 25 prompts a day across five engines — with 2,000 keywords of daily rank tracking, site audit, keyword and backlink research, and local marketing. The AI reports cover brand mentions, citations and competitors, so the citation data sits next to the ranking data it relates to.

Twenty-five AI prompts a day is a small allowance next to the dedicated tools, and white-label reporting needs the $69-a-month Agency Pack add-on. A standalone AI visibility add-on starts at $71 a month if you outgrow Core's allowance. Buy SE Ranking when you want one subscription for SEO and AI visibility, not when citations are the only job.

Nightwatch is built for teams: unlimited seats come with every plan, white-label reports start on Professional, and the Starter plan tracks 500 keywords daily for €99 a month (€79 billed annually). Its standout feature is Citation Intelligence, which ties each ranking change to the AI citations behind it across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, AI Mode and AI Overviews.

The pricing curve is the thing to watch. The jump from 500 keywords to 7,500 costs €499 a month, so a growing agency should price the next tier before committing. Nightwatch is priced in euros, which US buyers should note. Pick it when seats and citation-linked ranking data matter more than raw prompt volume.

Profound is the deepest platform in this list — and now the hardest to buy. In September 2026 it removed its $99 Starter and $399 Growth brand plans, so the pricing page now offers a free 7-day trial (50 prompts a day on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews) and custom Enterprise pricing. Enterprise covers up to nine answer engines with a tailored prompt plan, SSO and SOC 2 compliance, plus Agent Analytics that tracks AI-sourced traffic.

That depth is real, but so is the gate: there is no self-serve paid plan, no published price, and the trial carries no history or exports. Profound fits enterprise brands that buy through sales and need the widest engine coverage. Smaller teams should start with Peec AI or Otterly.AI instead.

Goodie AI is the closed-loop option: it tracks citations, then helps you act on them. Core costs $354 a month ($295 billed annually) and covers five engines — ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, AI Mode and Copilot — with 110 prompts, citation monitoring, an AEO writer, optimization actions and revenue attribution from Google Analytics. It is self-serve with a 7-day free trial and no sales call required.

The price is the filter: Core is the most expensive self-serve entry in this list, and Claude, Meta AI, DeepSeek and Grok need Enterprise, which is custom-priced. Optimization actions are also capped on Core. Choose Goodie when you want tracking plus fixes and attribution in one platform, not when you only need the monitoring.

Semrush sells its AI visibility as a standalone toolkit at $99 a month per domain, tracking 25 prompts a day with Brand Performance reports that benchmark your mentions against competitors. It covers ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Gemini daily, with Perplexity in weekly brand reports. The same features are bundled into Semrush One Starter at $199 a month with 50 prompts and the full SEO suite.

The per-domain and per-user pricing adds up fast: every extra domain or teammate costs another $99 a month, and there is no free trial on the standalone toolkit. There is also no Claude, Grok or Copilot coverage listed. Buy it standalone for one brand, or take the Semrush One bundle if you already pay for the suite.

Ahrefs Brand Radar is the research-first option. Its AI Visibility Index is built from a pre-collected index of hundreds of millions of search-backed prompts, so you can look up any brand's share of voice without waiting for new tracking data. Mentions and citations are reported separately, and custom-prompt tracking is included in paid Ahrefs plans. The index starts at $199 a month for a single platform, or $699 for all platforms.

The price structure is the honest limitation: the index sits on top of an Ahrefs subscription, and full coverage costs $699 a month. There is no sentiment analysis and no alerts. Brand Radar fits Ahrefs users who want category-scale benchmarking grounded in real query data, not a cheap standalone tracker.

Scrunch pairs citation tracking with site audits and content delivery. Core costs $250 a month for 125 prompts, 5,000 responses a month, five site audits a month and one brand workspace, tracking ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Copilot. Citations and sources are reported on every plan, and the Enterprise tier adds an Agent Experience Platform that serves AI-optimized versions of your site to AI agents.

Claude, Gemini and Google AI Mode need Enterprise, which is custom-priced, and there is no API access on Core. Sitecore acquired Scrunch in June 2026, so the standalone roadmap carries some uncertainty. Pick Scrunch when you want monitoring plus audits and agent-ready content in one contract.

Athena HQ is the only tool here with a genuinely free tier. Essential is free with 300 credits a month across five engines — ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot — and Starter costs $295 a month for 3,600 credits across 11 models, with no per-engine add-on fees. Citation intelligence, unlimited topics and competitors, and GA4 and Search Console integrations come with Starter.

The credit model is the catch. One credit is one AI response, so 100 prompts tracked daily on six engines uses about 18,000 credits a month — five times Starter's allowance. API access and extra credits are paid add-ons, and the Citation Engine is Enterprise-only. Try it free, but model your real prompt volume before paying.

ProRankTracker puts AI citation tracking inside the rank-tracking workflow agencies already use. Starter costs $99 a month ($89 billed annually) for 1,000 terms, and AI prompts draw from the same pool at two terms each — so the plan covers 500 AI prompts. It tracks links and citations separately from brand mentions across six AI platforms, with daily updates, local and mobile tracking, and unlimited URLs and projects.

The term model needs attention: tracking one prompt in several locations or on several engines multiplies the terms it consumes. White-label reports start on Pro at $149 a month, and there is no site audit or backlink tool bundled in. Choose it when client-ready reports matter as much as the citation data itself.