You ask ChatGPT to recommend a tool in your category. It lists four competitors. You're not one of them.
That stings. But what stings more is realizing you have no idea how long this has been happening, which other AI platforms are doing the same thing, or whether it's getting better or worse over time.
This is the problem LLM monitoring tools solve. They track whether AI platforms mention and recommend your brand, automatically, across multiple models, over time. But the tools available vary significantly in what they track, how they track it, and what they cost. Here's what to look for and how the options compare.
What to Look For in an LLM Monitoring Tool
Not all monitoring tools are equal. Before comparing specific options, here are the features that actually matter:
Multi-Platform Coverage
There are five major AI platforms that influence purchase decisions: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Grok. A monitoring tool that only covers two or three of them gives you an incomplete picture. Your ideal customers might prefer Perplexity over ChatGPT, and you'd never know you're invisible there if your tool doesn't track it.
Monitoring Frequency
How often does the tool check your visibility? Daily? Weekly? Monthly? AI recommendations aren't static. They shift based on new content, updated training data, and changing model behavior. The more frequently you track, the faster you spot problems.
High-Intent Focus
There's a difference between "AI mentioned my brand" and "AI recommended my brand when someone was looking to buy." The monitoring that matters most for revenue is tracking whether AI suggests you in response to relevant queries: "best tool for X," "who should I hire for Y," "recommend a service that does Z."
Competitor Tracking
Knowing your own visibility is half the picture. Knowing where competitors appear (and you don't) reveals the specific gaps you need to close.
Alerting
If your visibility drops on a key prompt, you want to know immediately, not during your monthly dashboard review. Email alerts or notifications that flag meaningful changes save you from nasty surprises.
The Tools Compared
Mentionable
Mentionable covers all five major LLMs from a single dashboard and focuses specifically on relevant prompts. The workflow is designed for speed: enter your URL, the tool generates relevant prompts based on your business, you choose which to track, and automated monitoring begins.
All plans include monitoring across all five platforms, competitor analysis, and email alerts. Pricing starts at €29/mo for solopreneurs (1 project, 15 prompts) and goes up to €179/mo for agencies (unlimited projects, 100 prompts). Every plan comes with a 7-day free trial.
The strength here is accessibility. If you want monitoring up and running in under fifteen minutes without a procurement process, this is built for that.
Otterly.ai
Otterly offers more analytical depth in their monitoring. Beyond just tracking whether you're mentioned, they break down citation types, analyze sentiment, and provide trend data over time.
Their monitoring covers multiple platforms, though Gemini coverage varies by plan tier. Pricing starts around $99/mo.
The extra analytical layers are valuable for marketing teams who want to understand not just if they're mentioned, but how they're mentioned and in what context. For solopreneurs who just need to track visibility, the additional complexity may be more than necessary.
Semrush AI Toolkit
Semrush added AI monitoring capabilities to their existing SEO platform. If you're already paying for Semrush and using it for traditional SEO tracking, having AI visibility data in the same dashboard creates a unified view of your search presence.
The catch is cost. You need an existing Semrush subscription ($100+/mo) and then the AI features come as an additional layer. For businesses that only need AI monitoring, you're paying a premium for capabilities you might not use.
Ahrefs AI Features
Similar to Semrush, Ahrefs has begun integrating AI visibility data into their platform. The advantage is the same: a unified view if you're already in their ecosystem. The limitation is the same too: you're paying for a full SEO suite to access AI monitoring as an add-on.
Peec AI
Peec monitors AI mentions with a focus on brand perception and reputation rather than commercial recommendations. This is more relevant for PR and communications teams than for marketers tracking high-intent visibility.
Custom pricing, typically aimed at larger brands and PR agencies.
Profound
Profound approaches monitoring from a competitive intelligence angle. Rather than focusing on your brand alone, they map the competitive landscape, showing who gets recommended for which queries across AI platforms.
Pricing starts around $100/mo, with enterprise tiers available.
Monitoring Approaches: Active vs. Passive
It's worth understanding the two main approaches to LLM monitoring:
Active monitoring means regularly querying AI platforms with specific prompts and recording the results. This gives you precise data on whether you appear for the exact prompts that matter to your business. The limitation is that you're only tracking the prompts you've selected.
Passive monitoring means scanning AI outputs more broadly for mentions of your brand. This catches mentions you might not have anticipated but can be noisier and less focused on buying intent.
Most tools use active monitoring or a hybrid approach. For high-intent tracking, active monitoring with well-chosen prompts tends to produce the most actionable data.
Common Mistakes When Choosing a Monitoring Tool
Overbuying on features. If you're a solopreneur, you don't need enterprise analytics. Start with the basics, you can always upgrade.
Ignoring platform coverage. A tool that only tracks ChatGPT misses four other platforms where your customers might be asking questions. Multi-platform monitoring is table stakes.
Neglecting competitor tracking. Your own visibility data is useful. Your visibility compared to specific competitors is strategic.
Choosing based on price alone. The cheapest tool that doesn't track all the platforms you need isn't actually saving you money. But the most expensive tool with features you'll never use isn't a smart investment either. Match the tool to your actual needs.
Getting Started
If you've never monitored your AI visibility before, here's a practical starting point:
- Pick a tool that covers all five major LLMs
- Start with 10-15 relevant prompts that your ideal customer would actually ask
- Include 2-3 competitors in your tracking
- Set up email alerts for visibility changes
- Review your dashboard weekly for the first month, then adjust frequency based on how fast things change
The goal of monitoring isn't to collect data. It's to know, quickly, when something changes so you can act on it. The best monitoring tool is the one you'll actually check, not the one with the most impressive feature list.
