The best AEO tools for agencies in 2026 — priced and compared
The short version
For agencies, the deciding factor is almost never engine coverage on its own — it is what happens to the bill when you add the fifth, tenth or twentieth client. Tools priced per domain (Semrush at $99, Ahrefs at $199 per index) scale linearly against your margin. Tools priced per workspace do not. Below is every vendor we could verify, with prices taken from their own pricing pages on 2026-08-06. We build one of these, so read it with that in mind and check the links.
What each of them does well
- Profound has the deepest funding and the strongest enterprise feature set.
- Peec AI has the longest agency track record and the best agency reference list.
- RankScale has the widest engine coverage per dollar in the market, at 17+ engines.
- SE Ranking is the cheapest realistic bundle if you already own the suite — roughly $363/mo covers 15 clients including the Agency Pack.
Where we differ
- Five engines including Claude and Google AI Mode at the $99 entry tier.
- Workspace-based pricing with published per-workspace overage rates.
- Measurement that reports mentions and citations separately, with a confidence interval and run count on every figure.
Side by side
| Tool | AE Ranking | Pricing and coverage |
|---|---|---|
| AE Ranking | $99 / $249 / $499 / $999 | 5 engines all tiers, 7–120 workspaces, white-label from $99 |
| Profound | — | $99 Starter (ChatGPT only), $399 Growth (3 engines), Enterprise for Gemini/Claude |
| Peec AI | — | $95 brand / $245 agency, extra models +$35–165/mo |
| Otterly | — | $29 / $189 / $489; Claude, Gemini and AI Mode are paid add-ons |
| AthenaHQ | — | Free tier (300 credits, 5 models), $295 Starter; no white-label |
| RankScale | — | $20 / $99 / $385 / $780; 17+ engines, credit-based with rollover |
| Scrunch AI | — | $250 Starter / $417 Growth / $500 Agency Core; Claude on higher tiers |
| Semrush | — | $99/mo per domain; Claude and Grok Enterprise-only |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | — | $199/mo per index + base plan; no Claude, no white-label |
| HubSpot AEO | — | $50/mo, 25 prompts, 3 engines; free with Marketing Hub Pro |
| SE Ranking | — | $129 core + $89 AI add-on + $69 Agency Pack ≈ $363 for 15 clients |
When to pick something else
You need classic SEO tooling in the same product (Semrush, SE Ranking, Ahrefs), you are an enterprise brand rather than an agency (Profound), you want the widest possible engine count regardless of workflow (RankScale), or you need a free tier to start (AthenaHQ).
We make AE Ranking, so treat this as an interested party’s comparison. Every figure above came from the vendor’s own published pricing on 2026-08-06 — the source link is at the top of the page. If something here is out of date or wrong, tell us and we will correct it.
Other comparisons
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