AEO Tracker — AI Answer Visibility Monitor

AEO Tracker is an Apify Actor that measures answer engine optimization (AEO) visibility for marketers, SEO teams, and agencies by asking ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity models neutral buyer questions with live web search. It returns brand mentions, official-domain citations, recommendation position, sentiment, and competitor mentions for every answer as JSON, CSV, or Excel.

Free plan limit: Every check calls paid AI models through OpenRouter, so runs on the Apify free plan deliver at most one result per run. Paid Apify plans use the configured maxChecks limit (up to 50 checks per run).

What does AEO Tracker do?

• Sends each query to four fixed models representing ChatGPT (OpenAI), Gemini (Google), Claude (Anthropic), and Perplexity.
• Grounds answers in current web results: OpenRouter web search for OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic, and native search for Perplexity.
• Detects brand and domain mentions, counts them, and returns the sentence with the first mention.
• Flags whether any web citation points to your official domain.
• Records the brand's explicit position in a ranked recommendation and the answer's sentiment toward it.
• Detects which of your listed competitors each answer names.
• Generates three neutral category questions from industry when you supply no queries.
• Writes a run summary with per-engine mention rate, citation rate, and a 0–100 directional visibility score.

Which AI models does it use?

As of October 2026, AEO Tracker uses these OpenRouter models. They are fixed in code, and no input can change them.

Answer engine	OpenRouter model ID
ChatGPT (OpenAI)	openai/gpt-6-luna
Gemini (Google)	google/gemini-3.5-flash-lite
Claude (Anthropic)	anthropic/claude-haiku-5.5
Perplexity	perplexity/sonar

The Actor owner pays model and web-search costs inside the event price, so you do not need an OpenRouter, OpenAI, Anthropic, or Google account or API key.

What data does it return?

One dataset item per query × engine check:

Field	Type	Description
brand	string	Tracked brand
brandDomain	string or null	Official domain used for citation detection
query	string	Question sent to the model
queryIndex	integer	Zero-based query position
engine	string	ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, or Perplexity
modelRequested	string	OpenRouter model ID requested
modelUsed	string or null	Model ID reported by OpenRouter
responseId	string or null	OpenRouter response ID
mentioned	boolean	Brand or domain appears in the answer or citations
mentionCount	integer	Brand and domain occurrences
mentionContext	string or null	Sentence with the first mention
cited	boolean	A citation URL is on your official domain
recommendationPosition	integer or null	Explicit rank in a recommendation list, else null
sentiment	string	positive, negative, neutral, or mixed
competitorMentions	string[]	Listed competitors found
citations	object[]	Web citations as { "url", "title" }
summary	string	Short answer summary
answerText	string	Answer text, length-bounded
usage	object	promptTokens, completionTokens, totalTokens
error	string or null	Failure diagnostic; null on success
checkedAt	string (date-time)	UTC write time

The OUTPUT record in the run's key-value store (copied to SUMMARY) holds totals, an engineBreakdown, and visibilityScore: 70% mention rate plus 30% official-domain citation rate across successful checks.

Use cases

• SEO and content teams: check whether category questions surface your brand before and after publishing new content.
• Agencies: deliver a monthly per-engine AEO snapshot for each client from a fixed question set.
• Product marketing: see which competitors AI answers name next to you and in what order.
• Brand and PR teams: review how each answer engine describes the brand.
• Growth teams: learn whether answer engines cite your own site or only third-party pages.

When to use it and when not to

Use AEO Tracker for a brand-level question: is the brand mentioned, ranked, cited, and described well by each answer engine?

Use a sibling Actor instead for:

• Source-level citation tracking (which domains and URLs AI engines cite, citation gaps, gained or lost sources): AI Citation Monitor.
• Share of voice and rank changes across scheduled runs: AI Visibility Rank Tracker.
• ChatGPT-only checks: ChatGPT Brand Visibility Tracker.
• Auditing your own pages: GEO Content Auditor.

AEO Tracker calls models through an API. It does not reproduce logged-in, personalized, or location-specific chat sessions.

How to use AEO Tracker

1. Open AEO Tracker in Apify Console.
2. Enter brandName and, optionally, brandDomain for citation detection.
3. Add neutral queries, or set industry to generate three questions, and list any competitors.
4. Set maxChecks (the form starts at 1 check for a quick, low-cost first run; raise it for full coverage) and click Start.
5. Export the dataset as JSON, CSV, or Excel, and open OUTPUT for the per-engine summary.

Field	Type	Default	Description
brandName	string (required)	Notion	Brand, company, or product to track
brandDomain	string	notion.so	Official domain for citation detection
industry	string	productivity software	Generates three questions when queries is empty
queries	string[]	[]	Up to 20 questions; omit the brand name for an unbiased test
competitors	string[]	[]	Up to 30 competitor names
maxChecks	integer	12	Cap on query × engine checks, 1–50
searchContextSize	string	low	Web-search context: low, medium, or high

Each query goes to ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, and Perplexity in that order until maxChecks is reached, so three queries fill the default 12 checks.

{
  "brandName": "Notion",
  "brandDomain": "notion.so",
  "queries": [
    "What are the best productivity software tools for a small remote team?",
    "Which productivity apps are easiest for teams to adopt?"
  ],
  "competitors": ["Asana", "Coda"],
  "maxChecks": 8,
  "searchContextSize": "low"
}

Output example

{
  "brand": "Acme",
  "brandDomain": "acme.example",
  "query": "What are the best project management tools for a small remote team?",
  "queryIndex": 0,
  "engine": "Perplexity",
  "modelRequested": "perplexity/sonar",
  "modelUsed": "perplexity/sonar",
  "responseId": "gen-0000000000-example",
  "mentioned": true,
  "mentionCount": 3,
  "mentionContext": "Acme suits small remote teams that want simple task boards.",
  "cited": true,
  "recommendationPosition": 3,
  "sentiment": "positive",
  "competitorMentions": ["Globex"],
  "citations": [
    { "url": "https://acme.example/features", "title": "Features" },
    { "url": "https://reviews.example.org/project-management", "title": "Project management tools compared" }
  ],
  "summary": "Lists five tools and ranks Acme third for ease of use.",
  "answerText": "Popular options include Globex for larger teams. Acme suits small remote teams that want simple task boards.",
  "usage": { "promptTokens": 170, "completionTokens": 110, "totalTokens": 280 },
  "error": null,
  "checkedAt": "2026-10-20T12:00:00.000Z"
}

Use it via API, MCP, and AI agents

The synchronous endpoint below waits up to 300 seconds, so keep maxChecks small or use the asynchronous run endpoint for larger runs.

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/muhammadafzal~aeo-tracker/run-sync-get-dataset-items" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"brandName":"Acme","brandDomain":"acme.example","industry":"project management software","maxChecks":4}'

JavaScript with apify-client:

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('muhammadafzal/aeo-tracker').call({
  brandName: 'Acme',
  brandDomain: 'acme.example',
  industry: 'project management software',
  maxChecks: 4,
});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
const summary = await client.keyValueStore(run.defaultKeyValueStoreId).getRecord('OUTPUT');
console.log(items.length, summary?.value.visibilityScore);

For Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, and other MCP clients, connect the Apify MCP server with this Actor as a tool: https://mcp.apify.com?tools=muhammadafzal/aeo-tracker.

The Apify platform also lets you schedule runs, call webhooks, and connect to Make, Zapier, n8n, or Google Sheets.

How much does it cost?

AEO Tracker uses pay-per-event pricing. Active prices (in effect since September 17, 2026; no change scheduled):

Event	FREE	BRONZE	SILVER	GOLD	PLATINUM	DIAMOND
aeo-check: one successful query × engine check	$0.05	$0.05	$0.05	$0.04	$0.04	$0.04

This Actor has no Actor start event, so you pay only for successful checks, and Apify platform usage is included. Runs default to 512 MB of memory.

• Default run: 3 generated questions × 4 engines = 12 checks: $0.60 on FREE to SILVER, $0.48 on GOLD and above.
• Spot check with maxChecks: 4: $0.20 on FREE to SILVER, $0.16 on GOLD and above.

Failed checks are written with a non-null error and are not charged. If the AI provider rejects the Actor's key or credit balance, the run stops and charges nothing for unfinished checks. An answer that does not mention your brand is a valid, charged result. A maximum total charge set on the run stops the Actor when reached.

Limits and reliability

• Up to 20 queries, 30 competitors, and 50 checks per run; one result on the free plan.
• Default run timeout is 300 seconds and each model request times out after 120 seconds, so raise the run timeout for runs near 50 checks.
• AI answers change between runs, over time, and with web results. Compare runs that use the same queries.
• sentiment, recommendationPosition, and summary come from the answering model. Mentions, citations, and competitors come from case-insensitive text matching, so short or generic brand names can match unrelated words.
• Paid runs retry a transient provider error once; free-plan runs make one request without retry.
• Only public, web-grounded model answers are read: no logged-in accounts or personalized results.

FAQ

Do I need an OpenRouter, OpenAI, or Anthropic API key?

No. The Actor owner supplies model access and pays model costs inside the aeo-check price.

How is AEO Tracker different from AI Citation Monitor?

AEO Tracker measures your brand inside each answer: mention, rank, sentiment, competitors, and own-domain citation. AI Citation Monitor measures the sources: every cited domain and URL, citation gaps, and changes between runs.

Why do results differ between runs?

Models vary their wording, web results change, and providers update models. Read trends across several runs with the same questions.

How often should I run it, and can I schedule it?

Weekly or monthly with a fixed question set suits most teams. Apify schedules run it automatically, and webhooks push results elsewhere.

Is it legal to use?

The Actor sends ordinary questions to AI model APIs and records the answers. You are responsible for how you use the results, including statements about competitors.

Related Actors

• AI Citation Monitor: which domains and URLs AI engines cite, with run-over-run history.
• AI Visibility Rank Tracker: AI share of voice and position changes over time.
• ChatGPT Brand Visibility Tracker: ChatGPT-style answers only.
• AI Brand Reach Checker: quick check of whether major AI models mention a brand.
• AI GEO Recommendation Tracker: GEO audits with prioritized recommendations.
• GEO Content Auditor: AI answerability scores for your pages.

Legal and responsible use

Use AEO Tracker for lawful brand, content, and competitor research. AI answers can be wrong or outdated, so verify important statements against primary sources. Results do not guarantee how any AI product presents your brand.

Support

Report bugs or request features on the Issues tab of this Actor's page. Feedback is welcome.