AI search engines: 10 tools to measure your visibility

AI search engines are search engines that don't give you a list of links, but one combined answer. ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot pull a handful of sources for that answer. If you're among them, you get mentioned to thousands of people. If you're not, you simply don't exist for that searcher.

The way people search online is changing at a pace I haven't seen in ten years of SEO. More and more business owners see their clicks in Google Search Console drop while their impressions go up. The reason: the AI catches the click before it reaches you.

At SharpClicks, we get this question every week: "how do I measure whether my brand gets mentioned in AI tools?" Honest answer: there's no Google Analytics for the AI layer yet. But there are now ten serious tools, from free to enterprise. Below, first a short look at what AI search engines are exactly, then the tools one by one, with a verdict on whether each one is worth it for a small business.

Measuring or improving? This article is about measuring: which tools show whether AI mentions your brand. Mostly want to know how to change that? Then start with improving your AI visibility.

What exactly are AI search engines?

A classic search engine gives you ten blue links and leaves the choice to you. An AI search engine reads those sources itself, summarizes them and gives you one answer back. Usually with two to five source citations, sometimes with none. That difference changes everything: where you used to compete for a spot in the top ten, you now compete for a spot in that one answer.

These are the players that matter today:

• ChatGPT: the biggest by number of users. Searches the web live and cites sources below the answer.
• Google AI Overviews and AI Mode: the AI block at the top of the search results and the separate conversation mode. For most businesses in the Netherlands, this is the most important channel, simply because it sits on top of the Google traffic they already get. We wrote in detail earlier about what Google's AI Mode means for your visibility.
• Perplexity: built as a search engine, not as a chatbot. Shows sources prominently, so you get relatively many click-throughs from it.
• Microsoft Copilot and Bing: underrated in the Netherlands, but strong in B2B and at companies that work with Microsoft software.
• Gemini and Claude: mostly used for research and longer questions. Smaller in volume, but their users are further along in their decision process.

What they have in common: they choose for themselves which sources they trust. That choice isn't a ranking you can buy your way into. It comes from how often you're mentioned, how clearly you write and how easy your content is to quote.

Is SEO dead now? No, but it's become half the job

Short answer: no. AI search engines mostly pull their sources from the same index as the classic search results. If you don't rank anywhere, AI won't find you either. So classic SEO is still your foundation.

But it's no longer enough. On top of SEO, a second discipline has appeared: GEO, Generative Engine Optimization. Where SEO aims for rankings and clicks, GEO aims for getting mentioned. That takes different things: clear definitions, your own numbers, a clear structure and a brand that shows up in several places on the web. We wrote down why your SEO strategy needs to change now.

The practical summary: keep doing what you did for Google, and measure a second layer on top. That second layer is what the rest of this article is about.

Why AI visibility matters now

AI platforms usually show only one to three sources per answer. If you're among them, you get free exposure to exactly the people asking a buying question. If you're not, you become invisible to everyone who starts their search in ChatGPT or Google AI Mode. The difference between winners and losers is made on this layer, no longer only in Google's top three.

What you want to know: which AI tools mention me, for which questions, how often, and which competitors get mentioned more? That's what the following tools are for.

Category 1: free basic tools (start here)

1. Google Search Console: AI Overviews data

Since mid-2025, GSC has shown separately which impressions come from AI Overviews. It's not perfect, because it only counts once the user actually opens the overview, but it's the most reliable free starting point. Filter on "Google AI Overview" to see the impact per page.

My advice: every business owner with a Google account should spend five minutes on this every month. This is your biggest blind spot and it costs you nothing.

2. Bing Webmaster Tools: Copilot and Bing Chat

Bing shows how often your site appears in Bing Chat and Microsoft Copilot. The split between classic and chat impressions is still rough, but in B2B, Bing is an underrated source. It pays off especially for IT, software and consulting companies.

My advice: sign up, submit your sitemap, then check back once a quarter.

3. Manual spot check: just ask the questions yourself

Not sexy, but effective. Make a list of ten questions your target audience asks and put them one by one to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude and Perplexity. Does your brand get mentioned? Which competitors do? Which articles get cited? An hour of work per quarter gives you a more honest picture than almost any paid tool.

Tip: put the answers in a spreadsheet with the date. After three quarters, you'll have a trend line that no tool gives you for free.

Category 2: paid SEO suites with an AI layer

The prices below are indications and change quickly in this market. Check them before you sign up for a subscription.

4. Ahrefs Brand Radar

Ahrefs has a module that tracks brand mentions in AI answers: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews. You get trends, share percentages and a competitor comparison. If you already have an Ahrefs subscription, this is a no-brainer.

Price: included from the Standard plan (around €199 a month). Who it's for: companies that already use SEO tools. As a separate purchase for a small business owner, it's overkill.

5. Semrush AI Toolkit

Semrush links classic rankings to AI visibility. Strong if you want to see which pages AI systems pick up. Weak for Dutch-language searches, because the dataset is mostly English.

Who it's for: exporting or internationally active companies. Not yet worth it for local small businesses.

Category 3: specialized AI visibility platforms

6. Peec.ai

Peec is built specifically to measure LLM visibility. You enter your domain and get a dashboard with your share of voice in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and a few other models. Clean visualizations, competitor tracking and optimization suggestions.

Price: from about €79 a month. Who it's for: companies that publish monthly or more often. This is the first paid tool that really adds something on top of the free methods.

7. IQRush.ai

Similar to Peec, but with a stronger focus on why AI cites certain sites. It does source analysis: which patterns in your content make you quotable and which don't.

Price: demo on request, usually €100 to €150 a month. Who it's for: companies that produce content at scale and want to understand why some pieces get picked up and others don't.

8. FalconRank.ai

A quick scan tool, not a full dashboard. Paste a URL or brand name and get a report on your presence in AI answers within ten seconds. No ongoing monitoring, but handy as a one-off check.

Price: free up to a limited number of queries, then pay per use. Who it's for: anyone who wants to keep a finger on the pulse every month without a subscription.

9. Amion.ai

In terms of features, Amion sits between FalconRank and Peec. Full monitoring, but no complicated contracts. Strong at showing cited URLs, so you can see which specific pages AI pulls up.

Price: from about €49 a month. Who it's for: a good entry point for companies without an SEO suite.

Nine out of ten small business clients get by fine with the free basic tools. Only when you publish content consistently and see competitors pushing in do you switch to a paid AI monitor. Not the other way around.

Jesse Scherpen, owner of SharpClicks

Category 4: enterprise platforms

10. Profound & ShareOfModel.ai

The enterprise category. Deep integrations, custom dashboards, detailed competitor benchmarks. Clients are usually big brands: banks, retailers, telecom. Implementation takes weeks and prices often start around €1,000 a month.

Who it's for: not for small businesses. Put that budget into better content instead, or into blog automation that publishes every week.

All ten tools side by side

Prices are indications and change quickly in this market. Check them before you sign up for anything.

Which signals decide whether AI cites you?

Measuring is step one, but then you want to know which levers you can pull. In our own work and our clients' work, five signals keep coming back:

• Are you mentioned elsewhere? This is the strongest signal. AI models build their picture of your brand from how often and in what context you show up in other places, even without a link. Read how brand mentions now carry more weight than classic backlinks.
• Are you easy to quote? Short, factual sentences that stand on their own get picked up more often than long arguments. One claim per sentence, no fluff.
• Do you have something of your own? Your own numbers, a case with an outcome, a method with a name. Models would rather cite an original source than the fifth summary of the same story.
• Is your subject area clearly defined? A site that writes about fifteen topics becomes the source for none of them. A site that goes deep on three topics becomes the go-to reference for them.
• Are your links still in order? Authority still comes partly from links pointing to you. How to handle that sensibly in 2026 is in our article on choosing an AI-proof link building service.

Notice that none of these five are about tricks. There's no keyword density for AI search engines. What works is the same as what always worked, only stricter: having something to say and writing it down clearly.

Which tool should you choose? Three scenarios

Scenario A: just starting out, limited budget

Combine Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools with a manual check every quarter. It costs you zero euros and gives you about 70 percent of the insight.

Scenario B: serious content marketing, growing

Add Peec.ai or Amion.ai. Around €50 to €80 a month for an ongoing feed of where you are and aren't mentioned, plus suggestions. Combine it with FalconRank for one-off scans.

Scenario C: already have an SEO suite, active internationally

Use Ahrefs Brand Radar or Semrush AI Toolkit within your existing plan. No extra subscription needed, you just have to learn your way around the new modules.

What do you do with the data?

This is where small businesses often stumble. Tools show that you're not mentioned, but not why. Our step-by-step plan:

• Compare yourself with competitors that do get mentioned. What do they publish that you don't?
• Look at the type of source. AI leans on Wikipedia, industry associations, strong independent blogs and original cases. Build sources of your own of that caliber.
• Work on your brand mentions. Being mentioned without a link counts heavily these days. We explained why brand mentions carry more weight than classic backlinks.
• Strengthen your internal links. AI follows links to understand context. A well-linked site gets cited sooner than a collection of loose pages.
• Write for the first paragraph. AI tools often pick up the first two or three sentences. Put your key insight there, not a general introduction.
• Add your own data and numbers. A site with unique research or concrete cases gets cited more often than a generic tips page.

Taking those steps yourself takes time. On our page about AI visibility, you can read how we tackle it together, and you can also request a first article for free there.

A 30-day plan to get a clear view of your AI visibility

Want to have this up and running next month? Here's how I'd go about it:

• Week 1: sign up for GSC and Bing Webmaster Tools, submit your sitemap. First manual check on ten search questions.
• Week 2: put the results in a spreadsheet: which questions, which AI does or doesn't mention you, which competitors come up.
• Week 3: pick three pages where you're missing out the most. Rewrite them with a stronger opening, your own numbers and better internal links.
• Week 4: measure again, compare, learn. Only then decide whether a paid tool makes sense.

Conclusion: measuring is half the work, rewriting is the other half

Tools are a mirror, not a solution. They show where you stand, but the gains are in what you do next. The companies that take their AI visibility seriously now, publish their own content with a point of view and consistently measure whether it works will be the names ChatGPT and Google mention by default for their field a year from now.

We help clients with that whole process: from AI-friendly websites to weekly blog automation that earns citations. Want an honest conversation about where you stand and what a reasonable next step is? Book an intro call, no sales pitch.

What we can help you with

• Websites: AI-friendly architecture, schema markup and strong E-E-A-T signals from day one.
• Blog automation: a steady flow of content designed to be cited by AI systems.
• AI automation: workflows that use AI where it really saves time, not for show.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best-known AI search engine?

ChatGPT is the biggest by number of users, but for businesses in the Netherlands, Google AI Overviews usually matter more. That's because they sit on top of the search traffic you already have. Perplexity is smaller, but brings in relatively many click-throughs because it shows sources prominently.

Is SEO still needed now that there are AI search engines?

Yes. AI search engines mostly pull their sources from the same index as the classic search results. If you don't rank anywhere, AI won't cite you either. SEO is your foundation, GEO is the layer you build on top of it.

What is GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)?

GEO is optimizing to get mentioned in AI answers, instead of to rank in positions. It's about clear definitions, your own numbers, a clear structure and a brand that shows up in several places on the web.

How do I get into Google's AI Overviews?

First make sure you rank organically for the topic, because that's where Google gets its sources. Then put your core answer in the first two or three sentences of your page, use clear headings and add your own data or concrete examples. That makes you easy to quote.

What does it cost to measure your AI visibility?

Nothing, if you combine Google Search Console, Bing Webmaster Tools and a manual spot check. That gives you about 70 percent of the insight. Specialized tools start at around €50 a month and are only worth it if you publish content consistently.

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