BrightEdge is an enterprise SEO platform, and AI Catalyst is its module for AI search. If you want AI visibility without buying a whole SEO suite, or you want engines BrightEdge does not name, ten alternatives are worth knowing. Four are SEO suites with AI tracking built in: Conductor, seoClarity, the Semrush AI Toolkit and Ahrefs Brand Radar. Six are dedicated AI visibility tools: Cituna, Profound, Scrunch AI, Peec AI, Otterly.ai and AthenaHQ. Below we compare them on price, engines, how you start and the work each one does for you.
Fair-comparison note:
Why teams look for a BrightEdge alternative
BrightEdge’s AI Catalyst page, read on October 5, 2026, says the module tracks brand visibility and sentiment across Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, and that it is included in all BrightEdge SEO Platform subscriptions. That bundling is its strength for a BrightEdge customer and the reason other teams shop around:
- They only need the AI part. Buying a full enterprise SEO suite to get AI answer tracking is a large commitment for a team that already does its SEO in another tool.
- Their buyers use Claude or Grok. The AI Catalyst page names Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity; Claude and Grok are not named.
- They want data this week. BrightEdge publishes no price, so the first report on your own brand waits on a sales process.
How we chose these ten
Each tool on this page had to clear three bars, and BrightEdge is the baseline, not an entry:
- It measures AI answers. It records whether AI engines mention or cite a brand for prompts you can choose or review.
- It fits one of the two ways teams leave BrightEdge. Either it is another SEO suite with AI visibility built in, for a team that wants one platform, or it is a dedicated AI visibility tool, for a team that keeps its SEO elsewhere.
- Its facts are the vendor’s own, and dated. Cituna, Profound, Scrunch AI, Peec AI, Otterly.ai and AthenaHQ come from each vendor’s pricing page as read on October 1, 2026. BrightEdge, Conductor, seoClarity and Semrush come from their own pages read on October 5, 2026, and Ahrefs from its Brand Radar page read on September 25, 2026. Where a vendor publishes no price, any figure is marked as a third-party estimate. A dash in a table means the vendor’s page does not say.
Cituna is listed first because it is our product and it is built for the case where a team wants only the AI part. The suites follow, then the dedicated trackers, in no ranked order within each group.
All ten BrightEdge alternatives at a glance
| Tool | Kind | Best for | AI engines (entry plan) | Entry price | How you start |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cituna | Dedicated tool | Seven engines daily, fixes written and articles published | 7 | $39/mo (10 prompts) | 3-day trial, card required |
| Conductor | SEO suite | AI visibility next to rank tracking and content | — | Not published | Free 3-week trial, then sales |
| seoClarity | SEO suite | Enterprise SEO data with an AI module (ArcAI) | 9 named, Claude and Grok included | ArcAI by quote; platform from $2,500/mo | Sales |
| Semrush AI Toolkit | SEO suite add-on | Teams already working in Semrush | 4 | $99/mo per domain, billed annually | Buy online |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | SEO suite add-on | Market-wide AI mention research | 1 per $199 index, all for $699 | $199/mo per AI platform | Buy online |
| Profound | Dedicated tool | Prompt-volume data on a contract | 3 on the trial | Enterprise, not published | 7-day trial, then sales |
| Scrunch AI | Dedicated tool | An enterprise platform with a published first plan | 4 | $250/mo (Core, 125 prompts) | 7-day trial |
| Peec AI | Dedicated tool | Sentiment and competitor reporting | 3 you choose | $95/mo, or $80 billed annually | Buy online |
| Otterly.ai | Dedicated tool | Microsoft Copilot on a small budget | 4 (more as add-ons) | $29/mo (15 prompts) | Free trial |
| AthenaHQ | Dedicated tool | A free tier, then eleven models | 5 free, 11 paid | $0, then $295/mo | Free tier |
| BrightEdge (baseline) | SEO suite | Enterprises already on BrightEdge | 3 named | Not published | Sales |
Monthly billing unless stated. Cituna, Profound, Scrunch AI, Peec AI, Otterly.ai and AthenaHQ from each vendor’s pricing page, October 1, 2026 (Cituna from cituna.com/pricing). BrightEdge from brightedge.com/ai-catalyst, Conductor from conductor.com/pricing and conductor.com/free-trial, seoClarity from seoclarity.net/pricing and its ArcAI pricing and visibility pages, and Semrush from semrush.com/pricing/ai, all read October 5, 2026. Ahrefs from ahrefs.com/brand-radar, September 25, 2026. Pricing in this category changes often; check before you buy.
Cituna vs BrightEdge: the side-by-side
Here is how Cituna and BrightEdge compare, with seoClarity and AthenaHQ for context: seoClarity because it is the suite here that names Claude and Grok, and AthenaHQ because it covers them on a published plan. Read the engine rows before the price row: the right tool is the one that covers the engines your buyers use.
| What you get | CitunaThat’s us | BrightEdge | seoClarity | AthenaHQ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Published entry price | $39 / mo | Platform from $2,500 / mo; ArcAI by quote | $0, then $295 / mo | |
| Start without sales | 3-day trial (card) | Free tier | ||
| Claude tracked | — | $295 plan | ||
| Grok tracked | — | $295 plan | ||
| Google AI Mode | — | $295 plan | ||
| Microsoft Copilot | — | |||
| Sentiment | — | |||
| Keyword rank tracking and site crawl | — | |||
| Generated fixes | — | — | Content agent on $295 | |
| Articles written and published | 30 / mo | — | — | — |
Cituna and AthenaHQ from each vendor’s pricing page, October 1, 2026. BrightEdge from its AI Catalyst page and seoClarity from its ArcAI and pricing pages, October 5, 2026. BrightEdge names Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT and Perplexity, so its cells for other engines are dashes rather than a no. seoClarity names ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Claude, DeepSeek and Grok for ArcAI. A dash means the vendor’s page does not say. Cituna checks seven AI engines daily and does not track Microsoft Copilot.
What BrightEdge costs
BrightEdge publishes no price, and its AI Catalyst page lists none; it says AI Catalyst is included in all BrightEdge SEO Platform subscriptions (October 5, 2026). Third-party reviews describe quote-only annual contracts that commonly run well into five figures a year. Treat that as directional, not a quote. If you are already a BrightEdge customer, AI Catalyst comes with the platform you pay for, and staying is a reasonable call.
The dedicated pick
1. Cituna (best for seven engines daily and the work done)
Cituna does one job, AI visibility, and does the follow-through for you. Every day it puts the questions your buyers ask to ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, and shows the prompts where a competitor appears and you do not, with your share of voice against the brands in the same answers. For each gap it writes the fix: schema, FAQ markup, llms.txt and the page change. Its AutoSEO then writes 30 articles a month on Starter, 90 on Pro and 300 on Max, and publishes them to WordPress, Shopify, Sanity, a GitHub repository or any CMS by webhook, or holds them for you to review first. Google Search Console connects natively, so you can see whether the work moved real clicks.
- Best for: a brand or agency that does its SEO elsewhere and wants seven AI engines watched daily, with a price on the page and the work done.
- What it costs: $39, $119 or $399 a month for 10, 30 or 90 prompts, every plan on the same seven engines (cituna.com/pricing). Max covers ten brands.
- Where it falls short against BrightEdge: it is not an SEO suite, so there is no keyword rank tracking or site-wide technical crawl, and it does not score sentiment or track Microsoft Copilot.
Enterprise SEO suites with AI visibility built in
2. Conductor (best for a suite with a free trial)
Conductor is an enterprise SEO and content platform whose Conductor Intelligence product puts AI visibility tracking next to rank tracking, research, content guidance and reporting. Conductor’s pricing page names three tiers, Essentials, Growth and Enterprise, with usage limits but no dollar figure, and lists AI Search Credits on Growth and Enterprise. Unlike BrightEdge, Conductor offers a free 3-week trial with no credit card (conductor.com/free-trial, October 5, 2026). Third-party reviews list ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Gemini among Conductor’s engines.
- Best for: a large team swapping one SEO suite for another that wants AI visibility in the same login.
- What it costs: Conductor publishes no price; its plans are sales-led annual contracts.
- Where it falls short: it is the same kind of purchase as BrightEdge, and AI tracking is one module of a broad platform.
3. seoClarity (best for deep enterprise SEO data with ArcAI)
seoClarity is an enterprise SEO platform whose AI search module is Clarity ArcAI. seoClarity’s ArcAI visibility page names ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Google AI Overviews, Claude, DeepSeek and Grok, and lists sentiment analysis. seoClarity’s ArcAI pricing page offers Core, Discovery and Accuracy packages by quote, with prompts starting at 500. The main seoClarity pricing page starts its Research and Content plan at $2,500 a month, with ArcAI priced separately (all read October 5, 2026).
- Best for: an enterprise SEO team that wants deep keyword and technical data with nine AI engines tracked alongside.
- What it costs: ArcAI is quoted; the platform starts at $2,500 a month for Research and Content.
- Where it falls short: no published ArcAI price and no self-serve start, so it does not solve the main reason teams leave BrightEdge.
4. Semrush AI Toolkit (best for teams already in Semrush)
The Semrush AI Toolkit adds AI visibility to the Semrush suite. On October 5, 2026 Semrush’s pricing page listed the AI Toolkit at $99 a month per domain, billed annually, for 25 custom prompts tracked daily, one domain, AI competitor analysis and a site audit for AI readiness, with mentions from ChatGPT, Google AI, Gemini and Perplexity.
- Best for: a team that already runs its SEO inside Semrush and wants AI data in the same place.
- What it costs: $99 a month per domain, billed annually.
- Where it falls short: no Claude, Grok or Microsoft Copilot, and the per-domain price grows with every brand. More in our Semrush AI Toolkit alternatives.
5. Ahrefs Brand Radar (best for market-wide AI mention research)
Ahrefs Brand Radar measures AI mentions across a large index of prompts drawn from search demand, next to Ahrefs’ link and keyword data. On September 25, 2026 Ahrefs’ page priced the AI Visibility Index at $199 a month per AI platform or $699 for all of them, with Custom Prompts for your own questions from $50 a month. Brand Radar’s ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot data refreshes monthly, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode update continuously, and Grok is not offered (ahrefs.com/brand-radar).
- Best for: research on how often a category’s brands appear in AI answers.
- What it costs: $199 or $699 a month for the index, plus Custom Prompts from $50.
- Where it falls short: monthly refresh for the chatbot engines and no Grok. See our Ahrefs Brand Radar alternatives.
Dedicated AI visibility trackers
6. Profound (best for prompt-volume data on a contract)
Profound is an AI visibility platform sold to enterprises. Profound’s pricing page, read October 1, 2026, offers a free 7-day trial of 50 prompts a day on ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews, from a prompt set picked for your industry, then a custom Enterprise contract. Profound’s Enterprise engine list adds Perplexity, Google AI Mode, Microsoft Copilot, Claude, DeepSeek and Exa Search; Grok is not on it. Profound’s distinctive data is prompt volume: estimates of how often a question is asked.
- Best for: an enterprise brand used to annual contracts that wants demand data with its tracking.
- What it costs: Profound’s Enterprise pricing is on request.
- Where it falls short: another unpublished contract, and no Grok. See our Profound alternatives.
7. Scrunch AI (best for an enterprise platform with a published first plan)
Scrunch AI serves enterprise brands but lets you start on a published plan. Scrunch AI’s Core is $250 a month for 125 prompts and 5,000 responses on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot, with five site audits a month, one brand, five users and a 7-day free trial. Claude, Gemini, Meta AI, Google AI Mode, Grok, the API and single sign-on are on Scrunch AI’s custom Enterprise plan (scrunch.com/pricing, October 1, 2026).
- Best for: an enterprise team that wants to test a dedicated platform before it commits.
- What it costs: Scrunch AI’s Core is $250 a month, and Enterprise is custom.
- Where it falls short: most engines past the first four need the Enterprise contract.
8. Peec AI (best for sentiment and competitor reporting)
Peec AI suits teams that use BrightEdge’s sentiment view: its dashboards show how a brand is described as well as whether it appears. Peec AI’s Starter costs $95 a month, or $80 billed annually, for 50 prompts on three models you choose from ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini and Naver AI, with unlimited users. Pro ($245) and Advanced ($495) raise the prompts to 150 and 350, and Claude and Grok are on Enterprise (peec.ai/pricing, October 1, 2026).
- Best for: a brand team that reports tone and competitor share to leadership.
- What it costs: Peec AI charges $95, $245 or $495 a month, and Enterprise is custom.
- Where it falls short: three engines per plan, with Claude and Grok only on Enterprise. See Cituna vs Peec AI.
9. Otterly.ai (best for Microsoft Copilot on a small budget)
Otterly.ai is a light monitor. Otterly’s Lite is $29 a month for 15 prompts checked daily on ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Microsoft Copilot, with unlimited team members. Otterly sells Gemini and Google AI Mode as $9 add-ons each and Claude as a $29 add-on, and does not offer Grok (otterly.ai/pricing, October 1, 2026).
- Best for: a small team whose buyers use Microsoft Copilot.
- What it costs: Otterly charges $29, $189 or $489 a month.
- Where it falls short: 15 prompts on Lite, add-on fees for three engines, no Grok and no generated fixes.
10. AthenaHQ (best for a free tier, then eleven models)
AthenaHQ starts free. AthenaHQ’s Essential tier gives 300 credits, one per AI response, on ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot. AthenaHQ’s Starter, at $295 a month, gives 3,600 credits across eleven models, adding Google AI Mode, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, and connects GA4 and Google Search Console (athenahq.ai/plans, October 1, 2026).
- Best for: a mid-market team that wants to try for free, then cover many models on one published plan.
- What it costs: AthenaHQ’s Essential is free, its Starter is $295 a month, and Enterprise is custom.
- Where it falls short: credits count responses, so each added model shrinks your prompt budget, and API access costs extra.
Which BrightEdge alternative fits you
- You want all seven engines, Claude and Grok included, checked daily at a published price, with the fixes and articles done, and no SEO suite: Cituna, from $39 a month.
- You want to replace BrightEdge with another suite: Conductor if you want a free trial first, seoClarity for deep SEO data and nine AI engines.
- Your SEO already lives in Semrush or Ahrefs: the Semrush AI Toolkit or Ahrefs Brand Radar.
- You use BrightEdge’s sentiment view: Peec AI, or seoClarity on a suite.
- Your buyers use Microsoft Copilot: Otterly.ai at $29, Scrunch AI on its $250 Core plan, or AthenaHQ from its free tier.
- You are staying enterprise with a dedicated tool: Profound for prompt-volume data, Scrunch AI to trial first.
For the demo-led AI visibility platforms side by side, see enterprise AI visibility platforms compared, or our rundown of the best AI visibility tools.
Drafted with AI assistance from our own research and Search Console data, and reviewed by Rahul A before publishing. Rules and prices change; check the linked official source before you act.