Guides and free tools
Our guides, free tools and comparisons on how AI assistants answer, in one place and sorted by what you want to do.
Free tools
Start here if you want an answer today. Give them an address or a question and they answer on the page, with no sign-up. The exception is the free AI visibility checker: it explains the free audit and the free trial, and the trial does need an account.
- Free AI visibility checker
What you can check for free: an AI-readiness audit of your site and a trial on five AI platforms.
- Free GEO audit tool
A free 18-point GEO audit of your site: AI crawlers, llms.txt, structured data and more.
- Free AEO checker
Free check of one page: whether answer engines can reach it, read it and quote a direct answer from it.
- AEO prompts generator
Twenty questions to follow in AI answers for your website and market, sorted by type, without naming your brand.
- ChatGPT sources
One real reading of chatgpt.com for your question: the pages it cited, the results it left out and the searches it ran.
- AI crawler checker
Free check of whether GPTBot, ClaudeBot, PerplexityBot and other AI crawlers can read your site.
- llms.txt checker
Free check of your llms.txt file: whether it exists, can be read and follows the format.
- llms.txt generator
A free llms.txt file built from your sitemap and homepage, ready to edit, copy or download.
- llms.txt examples
Real llms.txt files from known sites, one explained line by line, with a template to copy.
Tracking by platform and product
Start here if a one-off check is not enough and you want to see what the AIs say about your brand week after week. Each page covers one AI or one job: citations, competitors, metrics or agency clients.
- AI visibility tool
What an AI visibility tool should show you, how Placton measures five AI platforms and how the main tools compare.
- AEO tool
The three jobs of an answer engine optimization tool, and which of them Placton does.
- AEO tracker
Follow your answer engine visibility week by week and run a free 18-point AEO audit.
- ChatGPT visibility tracker
See where ChatGPT mentions your brand, who ranks above you and which pages it cites.
- AI Overview tracker
Track whether Google AI Overviews name or cite your brand when your customers search.
- LLM visibility tools
How LLM visibility tools read live answers, and which language models each one covers.
- AI citation tracking
Every URL the five AIs cite when they answer, and which of them send the credit to your rivals.
- AI brand monitoring
Monitor what ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Claude, Perplexity and Grok say about your brand, with weekly alerts.
- AI competitor analysis
See which competitors AI platforms recommend instead of you, and which sources they rely on.
- AI search optimization tool
An AI search optimization tool built on real answers: accurate data, a simple setup and clear next steps.
- GEO performance monitoring tools
Which AI visibility metrics to track, how often to measure them and how to read the results.
- GEO tool for agencies
Track every client in AI search from one subscription, with a dashboard and a weekly email per client.
How AI answers choose their sources
What is known about how ChatGPT, Google and Perplexity pick what they name and cite, and how to check whether that includes you. Nobody can promise a place in an answer: read them as a way to work and measure, not as a recipe.
- How to rank in ChatGPT
What makes ChatGPT recommend a business, and how to check whether it recommends yours.
- How to rank in AI Overviews
How Google picks the sources for an AI Overview, and how to check whether yours are cited.
- How to rank on Perplexity
How Perplexity chooses the pages it cites, and how to check whether it cites yours.
Comparisons and alternatives
Placton next to other tools on price, AI platforms and setup. We make Placton, so read them knowing that. What they say about other tools comes from those tools’ public pages, with the date we checked.
- Best GEO tool under $100
GEO and AI visibility plans under $100 a month, compared by price, prompts, engines and refresh rate.
- Profound alternative
Profound-style AI visibility tracking with public pricing and a trial without a card.
- Peec AI alternative
All five AI platforms in one plan, compared with Peec AI’s plans, models and prices.
- Otterly AI alternative
How Otterly AI’s plans compare with Placton, and when each one fits better.
- Scrunch AI alternative
How Scrunch AI compares with Placton on price, AI platforms and setup.
- AthenaHQ alternative
How AthenaHQ compares with Placton on price, AI platforms and setup.
- Ahrefs Brand Radar alternative
When Ahrefs Brand Radar fits, and when a dedicated AI visibility tool fits better.
- Semrush AI Toolkit alternative
When the Semrush AI Toolkit fits, and when a dedicated AI visibility tool fits better.
What other tools cost
Plans and prices of other tools as their makers publish them, with the date we checked and what each plan includes.
- Profound pricing
What Profound costs, what each plan includes and what a public-price alternative looks like.
- Peec AI pricing
Peec AI’s plans and prices explained, with what each one includes.
Not what you were looking for?
We also explain how we measure and write a blog. If you still have a question, write to us.