Best 5 AEO platforms for B2B SaaS in 2026

The 5 platforms

1. Orion

Orion is the only platform on this list with a sub-$100/month public entry that includes both measurement and execution: $59/month (Launch), $179/month (Scale), and a custom-priced Partner tier for agencies — see Orion pricing. No sales call required to start at Launch or Scale, and every tier includes all major AI engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini) with no enterprise gates.

The combined measurement + execution scope is the structural differentiator. On-page, Orion runs the Crawlability & Extractability audit and ships executable recommendations on schema, llms.txt, and content structure. Off-page, the Citation Compass methodology operates the citation surfaces — review platforms, directories, editorial press — that actually move AI mention rate. Score factors are open and auditable. The honest limitation: Orion is newer than the enterprise incumbents, the team is smaller, and the self-serve tiers don't include the white-glove account-management motion that mid-market and enterprise buyers expect.

2. Profound

Profound publishes three tiers on its pricing page: Starter at $99/month (ChatGPT tracking only, 50 prompts tracked, email support — self-serve sign-up), Growth at $399/month (3 Answer Engines tracked, 100 prompts, 6 optimized articles per month, with a free trial available), and Enterprise (custom pricing) (up to 10 Answer Engines, multiple companies tracked, tailored prompt plans, dedicated Slack support, SSO/SAML and SOC2 compliance — demo required).

Where Profound earns its higher tiers: multi-engine coverage at Growth and above, optimization-content output bundled into Growth, and enterprise compliance at the top. Where it's narrow: Starter is intentionally limited to ChatGPT-only tracking — useful as a low-cost entry but not a multi-engine view from day one. Like the other measurement platforms on this list, Profound reports recommendations but does not execute on-page or off-page interventions — that's your team's work.

3. Evertune

Evertune does not publish pricing on its website — the pricing page directs visitors to "Book a demo." The platform is sales-led, enterprise-focused, with no public self-serve checkout and no free trial. Budget by booking a demo; expect the conversation to start in the enterprise tier rather than self-serve.

The scope is measurement-focused: brand-mention measurement across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini, with clean dashboards and mature data pipelines. Evertune does not produce executable schema, llms.txt, or off-page citation strategy — teams that adopt it typically pair with another tool or an agency for the execution layer. If you already have execution covered and need a clean measurement system at the enterprise tier, this is a strong fit.

4. AthenaHQ

AthenaHQ sits between the enterprise contracts of Profound and the self-serve tier. The Self-Serve plan is $295/month for 3,600 credits (one credit = one AI response), with Enterprise pricing custom-quoted. Engine coverage is broad — ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grok. Annual billing brings the Self-Serve effective rate down meaningfully.

The credit-based model lets a marketing team scope spend by actual usage rather than commit to a flat tier. The platform layers structured recommendations on top of measurement, but recommendations are reader-friendly — not executed for you. The Athena Citation Engine (ACE), the platform's most differentiated capability, is Enterprise-tier only. AthenaHQ is the pick for B2B SaaS teams that want more than measurement at mid-market scale but aren't yet at enterprise procurement.

5. Otterly AI

Otterly AI is the lowest-friction entry point on this list. Public pricing is transparent and includes three tiers: Lite at $29/month (15 search prompts), Standard at $189/month (100 prompts), and Premium at $489/month (400 prompts) — all with unlimited team members, daily tracking, and coverage across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Copilot. A free trial is available, and annual billing carries a 15% discount.

The trade-off is scope. Otterly is measurement-only — it tells you when your brand starts appearing in AI answers, but it does not produce executable schema, llms.txt, off-page citation strategy, or competitive intelligence at the depth Profound or AthenaHQ offer. Methodology maturity is less established than the top platforms. For a smaller team that needs monitoring at the lowest possible cost, Otterly Lite is the cheapest entry on this list — but if you also need execution at a sub-$100 price point, Orion's Launch tier is the closer fit.

How to pick by your stage

Each platform earns a distinct slot in the segment-fit decision guide below. Pick by your stage and what you actually need to operationalize — measurement only, or measurement plus execution.

• **Pre-revenue, monitoring only, lowest cost** → **Otterly AI Lite** at $29/month. Cheapest entry; 4 engines tracked.
• **Pre-revenue / under $5M ARR, execution included** → **Orion Launch** at $59/month. Only sub-$100 entry with combined measurement + execution; all engines.
• **ChatGPT-only monitoring at lowest cost** → **Profound Starter** at $99/month. ChatGPT-only tracking, 50 prompts.
• **Mid-market, content production + multi-engine** → **Profound Growth** at $399/month. 3 engines + 6 optimized articles per month; free trial.
• **Mid-market, recommendations layered on measurement** → **AthenaHQ Self-Serve** at $295/month. Credit-based; structured recommendations.
• **Enterprise measurement-only, sales-led** → **Evertune**. Pricing not publicly disclosed (demo required); mature measurement focus; pair with execution.
• **Enterprise with compliance / multi-company needs** → **Profound Enterprise** (custom). Up to 10 engines, SSO/SAML, SOC2, dedicated support.

The single biggest pricing mistake B2B SaaS teams make is buying *up* the tier for features they won't operationalize. A $3,000/month measurement-only platform with no execution layer produces a dashboard nobody acts on. A $59/month combined platform that you use weekly moves more citation rate than any enterprise tool you don't.

If you confuse SEO authority with AI citation when picking, you'll over-index on platforms that look like SEMrush — and miss the platforms that actually move AI mentions. (Why traditional link building doesn't move AI citations explains the mechanism behind that mistake.)

What none of these platforms do, yet

A buyer should know what's *not* on this list as much as what is:

• **None of these platforms publish multi-year citation longitudinal data.** AEO as a measurable discipline is two to three years old. Any platform claiming five years of trendline data is reconstructing it from SEO proxies — not real data.
• **None offer a "guaranteed citation lift" SLA.** Citation rate is multi-causal — competitor moves, model updates, query-distribution shifts, organic press, all contribute. A platform offering a guarantee is selling a proxy metric, not real citation movement.
• **None replace a human strategist for high-stakes categories.** The platforms produce data and recommendations; interpreting them against your specific buyer still requires a person who understands your category.

If a vendor in this space sells you any of the three above, treat it as a credibility flag.

For a fuller primer on AEO fundamentals before evaluating any platform, start with the 2026 GEO Starter Guide.

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