The short answer
Ahrefs Brand Radar is one of the largest AI visibility trackers on the market: more than 495 million prompts a month, across six AIs. It measures your brand in mentions, citations, impressions and share of voice. If what you actually need is to know which criteria the AI decides on, why it recommends your competitor and what to change, look at conversational analysis (Botanik), or at tools that add actions (Peec AI, Profound). The full match and the 8 alternatives are below.
The real question before you switch tools
Before comparing features, ask yourself one question.
Do you want a tool that looks nice, with visibility curves going up and down, but doesn't help your strategy? Or do you want a tool that helps you make business decisions, because it shows you what the AIs are really looking for when a buyer asks them for advice?
Both exist. Both have their place. But they are not the same product, and most comparisons put them in the same table.
I spent 15 years in-house, on the brand side, at StudentJob, Direct Emploi, lastminute.com, JeChange and Empruntis. What I held against agencies fit in one sentence: they only ever talked about traffic, never about revenue. An AI visibility rate is the same trap, in a more modern form.
One example, from an audit of an electrical equipment e-retailer: the brand was mentioned in 20% of answers, recommended in 0%, absent from 80%. On a mentions dashboard, 20% looks fine in a board meeting. In real life, the AI recommended it to nobody.
Being mentioned is not being chosen. Keep that sentence in mind for the rest of this page.
What Ahrefs Brand Radar actually does
Everything below comes from ahrefs.com, checked on October 22, 2026. Ahrefs updates Brand Radar almost every month: check before you decide.
What Brand Radar does | What Ahrefs says |
|---|---|
A prompt base built from its keyword database | "Ahrefs takes real queries from its keyword database, expands them into natural questions via People Also Ask and semantic fanout" |
Huge volume, across six AIs | "495 M+ Total monthly prompts", across AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot |
Your own questions, since December 17, 2025 | "If you choose Custom Prompts, you have to configure them yourself." |
Answers read in the web version of the AIs, with no history | "Prompts are asked in the web version of all AI platforms that we support without any stored user data or prior context." |
Four metrics | "Mentions, Citations, Impressions and AI Share of Voice" |
The sources where competitors are cited and you're not | "Find AI citation gaps where your competitors get cited, but you don't" |
Competitors suggested automatically | "commonly associated competitor brands and websites" |
Content gaps, with writing in a separate tool | fanout queries to find "content gaps"; writing happens in AI Content Helper |
Self-service | "There are no contracts or setup fees." |
Pricing depends on your region and currency. Ahrefs' help center lists $199 a month for the AI Visibility Index and $699 a month to track your own prompts on all models. From France, the price shows as €179 a month per platform, or €654 a month for all platforms.
On volume, Brand Radar plays in a different league from most tools on this page. And querying the web version of the AIs is a real strength: according to Maple Labs, most tracking tools rely on model versions that are cheaper than the ones in consumer interfaces.
What comparison articles get wrong about Brand Radar
While preparing this page, I read the articles ranking for "Ahrefs Brand Radar alternative". Several repeat limits that no longer exist. If you choose a tool on those arguments, you're choosing on false information.
"Brand Radar can't track your own questions." False since December 17, 2025: custom prompts exist. You just have to write and configure them yourself.
"It doesn't show where you're missing." False: the citation gap analysis shows the sites where your competitors are cited and you're not.
"It doesn't track Claude." False: Claude is tracked in custom prompts.
"495 million questions." Needs context: it's a monthly total across six platforms, roughly 28 million per AI. Ahrefs also publishes 475M+ and 405M+ on other pages.
"Real-time data." No: chatbot question sets are re-run every month on a 90-day window ("Question sets are re-tested monthly on a 90-day reporting window"). Only custom prompts can run daily.
One point few comparisons mention: Ahrefs' methodology says "Strongest in English; non-English markets represented proportionally". If your market isn't English-speaking, test custom prompts in your own language before drawing conclusions.
Where the difference really lies: a single question, or a conversation
Brand Radar asks a question, on its own, on an account with no history, and reads the answer. It's clean, it's comparable month over month, and it's exactly what you need to follow a trend.
The problem is that your customers don't talk to ChatGPT like that. They compare, they hesitate, they follow up. As I put it when presenting our method:
"You can't be 100% sure of what your customers will actually type. The slightest micro-variation and the answer won't be the same."
That's why at Botanik we stopped starting from a list of questions. Our GEO audit runs on Oracle, the tool built by Maple Labs, our technology partner (the method in detail). The principle is conversational analysis:
AI agents play prospects, with their needs, hesitations and constraints, and hold multi-turn conversations with ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini;
we don't pick the questions: the conversations surface the topics that matter in your market;
we give no competitors: the AI finds on its own the ones it actually compares.
On that last point, here's what I said when presenting an audit: "We find the competitors on our own. [...] We haven't yet had a case where the competitors were off compared with the real ones."
The result: more than 2,500 AI searches analysed in a single audit. And above all, what comes out is not a rate. It's the AI's decision factors (its criteria, buyers' expectations, trends), your status on each one (absent, mentioned or recommended), the sources the AI reads for each factor, and for each missing factor the exact page to enrich, on your site or a third party's, with the text to add, already written.
Honest limit: Oracle doesn't have users' real prompts, doesn't guarantee a recommendation and doesn't replace SEO. Nobody can promise you that ChatGPT will recommend you. We can tell you precisely what's missing for it to have a reason to.
The match: Brand Radar vs Botanik in 10 rounds
We ran this match on video. Watch it, or read the table below, round by round. Brand Radar wins one round, and we say so.
Round | Ahrefs Brand Radar | Botanik |
|---|---|---|
1. The questions | Ahrefs keywords turned into questions; your own prompts, you write them | The AIs talk to each other and surface the topics of your market |
2. Volume | 495M+ prompts a month, across six AIs | Your market, not the whole internet. Point to Brand Radar |
3. The conversation | Each question asked on its own, without context | A real buyer journey: they compare, hesitate, follow up |
4. The criteria | Mentions, citations, impressions, share of voice | The criteria the AI decides on: price, reviews, warranty… |
5. Mentioned or recommended | Your mentions, question by question | Absent, mentioned or recommended, criterion by criterion |
6. The sources | Cited sites, and the ones where competitors are cited without you | Each source tied to a criterion: where the AI checks the warranty, where it reads reviews |
7. The competitors | Competitors commonly associated with your brand | The ones the AI recommends instead of you, found mid-conversation |
8. Monday morning | Your content gaps; writing in a separate tool | The content you're missing, page by page, already written |
9. The links | The data to find links | Your link on the pages the AI reads, with the content you're missing |
10. Who does the work | A self-service tool: you set it up, analyse, decide | A team that executes |
Score: 9 rounds to 1, on what this match measures, which is helping you decide. On volume, Brand Radar wins, by a mile.
Am I cited by ChatGPT?
The 8 alternatives to Ahrefs Brand Radar
Prices checked on vendors' websites on October 21, 2026.
1. Botanik: to decide, not just to watch
Angle: an SEO and GEO agency, not one more tracking tool. The GEO audit (conversational analysis with Oracle, by Maple Labs) tells you which criteria the AI decides on and what you're missing; the team then executes: content, links on the pages the AI reads, tracking at each re-audit.
Proof: with this method, ChatGPT became our number one acquisition channel in 3 months. Botanik is the 9th most-cited SEO agency by ChatGPT (375 answers, La Fabrique du Net).
Limit: it's not a daily dashboard. If you want to follow a trend every day across thousands of prompts, a tool like Brand Radar is better suited, and the two work well together.
Price: on quote, depending on scope.
2. Peec AI: the most complete self-service platform
A GEO tracking platform founded in Berlin, claiming more than 3,500 brands and agencies as customers. Its "Recommended actions" rank opportunities between your site and the media.
Limit: 3 models per plan; all models only in Enterprise. Your team still has to execute the recommendations.
Price: Starter €85/month (50 prompts, 3 models).
3. Profound: the reference for large brands
The best-funded GEO platform on the market ($180M raised in September 2026). Its strength: Agent Analytics, tracking traffic from AIs through your CDN.
Limit: no public pricing. The free trial covers 3 AIs and 50 prompts for 7 days.
Price: Enterprise on quote.
4. Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: if you're on Semrush
Same logic as Ahrefs: an AI module inside an SEO suite, with a unified SEO and GEO view.
Limit: about $99/month per tracked domain, then $60/month per extra batch of 50 prompts.
Price: about $99/month per domain.
5. Meteoria: the French tool
French interface, prices in euros, more than 1,000 companies as customers, including Cdiscount. Also creates content designed for AIs from the Pro plan.
Limit: 3 AIs of your choice per plan; AI crawler log analysis only comes with the Advanced plan, at €420/month.
Price: Starter €75/month (25 prompts).
6. Otterly AI: the accessible entry point, with a GEO audit
Daily tracking of 4 base engines, and a GEO audit included in every plan.
Limit: Gemini, AI Mode and Claude are paid add-ons, and 15 prompts on Lite is not much.
Price: Lite $29/month, Standard $189/month.
7. Rankscale: broad AI coverage on a budget
Up to 9 named engines from the Pro plan, on a credit model.
Limit: credits get expensive quickly if your prompts aren't well planned.
Price: Essentials $20/month, Pro $99/month.
8. LLM Pulse: value for money
5 AI models on every plan, recommendations and an MCP server from Starter, GEO Testing from the Scale plan.
Limit: fewer user reviews than established players; Claude and Copilot are add-ons.
Price: Starter €49/month (50 prompts, 5 models).
How to choose for your situation
Your situation | Our recommendation |
|---|---|
"I'm already on Ahrefs and mostly want to follow a trend at scale" | Keep Brand Radar |
"I want to know why the AI recommends my competitor, and have a team fix it" | Botanik |
"I want a self-service tool with suggested actions" | Peec AI |
"I'm a large brand and want to measure traffic from AIs" | Profound |
"I'm already on Semrush" | Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit |
"I want a French tool, priced in euros" | Meteoria |
"I'm starting on a small budget" | Rankscale or Otterly AI |
"I want 5 AIs tracked from the entry plan" | LLM Pulse |
FAQ
Is Ahrefs Brand Radar a good tool?
Yes, for what it does: measuring your AI visibility at very large scale, inside the suite you already use for SEO. Its base of more than 495 million prompts a month has no equivalent. The question isn't its quality, it's your need: following a trend, or deciding what to change.
How much does Ahrefs Brand Radar cost?
Ahrefs' help center lists $199 a month for the AI Visibility Index and $699 a month for custom prompts on all models. From France, it shows €179 a month per platform, or €654 a month for all platforms (checked on October 22, 2026). Prices vary by region: check on ahrefs.com.
Does Brand Radar work for non-English markets?
Ahrefs says its base is "Strongest in English", with other markets represented proportionally. For a non-English market, the most reliable approach is to set up your own prompts, in your language.
Can you use Brand Radar and Botanik together?
Yes, and it's often the right setup. Brand Radar follows the trend day to day. The GEO audit tells you, at each re-audit (usually every quarter), which criteria you're losing on and what to change. One measures, the other helps you decide.
What's the difference between prompt tracking and conversational analysis?
Prompt tracking asks fixed questions to the AIs and counts mentions. Conversational analysis has agents playing buyers hold multi-turn conversations, and observes what the AI decides on: its criteria, its sources, the brands it recommends. The first answers "is anyone talking about me?", the second "why am I not being chosen?".
Does Botanik guarantee that ChatGPT will recommend my brand?
No. Nobody can honestly guarantee that. What we deliver is the precise list of what's missing, criterion by criterion, and the work to fill the gaps. The result is measured at each re-audit.
What now
Open your latest AI visibility report. For each number, ask yourself which decision it made you take this month.
If there isn't one, you have your answer.
What about you, are you cited?
The scan asks ChatGPT, ChatGPT Search, Gemini and Perplexity the queries of your industry, and returns a verdict per engine: absent, mentioned or recommended. Free, no account.
