AI Visibility Tracker: does ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini recommend your brand?

More and more buyers ask an AI assistant instead of Google: "What is the best CRM for a small business?", "Alternatives to Mailchimp?". If the AI never names you, you lose those customers without noticing.

AI Visibility Tracker asks your buyers' questions to AI assistants with live web search, reads every answer and tells you:

• ✅ Are you mentioned? And are you recommended, or only named in passing?
• 🏆 In which position you appear among the brands the AI lists.
• ⚔️ Which competitors the AI recommends instead of you, and how often.
• 🔗 Whether your website is cited as a source.
• 💬 The tone about your brand (positive, neutral, negative) and why.
• 📄 The full answer and its sources, so you know which pages the AI trusts.

It is a simple GEO / AEO (generative engine optimization) and LLM brand monitoring tool: track your AI share of voice every week and see if your content work moves the needle.

$0.03 per check with the built-in AI (Claude with live web search) — no key needed. Or $0.01 per check with your own key (even a free Groq key works). Most AI visibility trackers charge $0.05 to $0.30 per question.

What can it do?

• Built-in AI, included: Claude with live web search, citing its sources. No account or key needed.
• Free Groq key option: an OpenAI open-weight model (GPT-OSS) with web search on your own free Groq quota (get a key in a minute at console.groq.com/keys).
• The real assistants with your own key: ChatGPT (OpenAI Responses API with web search), Perplexity (Sonar), Gemini (Google Search grounding) and Claude (web search). You pay those providers directly at their price; we only charge $0.01 per check.
• No questions? It writes them for you. Describe what you sell ("vegan protein powder in Spain") and it writes realistic buyer questions in any language.
• Location-aware: answers are asked as a buyer in your city or country.
• Repeat questions 2-5 times: AI answers change from one run to the next, so repeats give a steadier mention rate.
• Summary report with mention rate, recommended rate, #1 rate, average position, competitor share of voice, top other brands and the questions where you are missing.

Typical uses

• Brands and startups: check if ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend you for your main buying questions.
• SEO and GEO agencies: monthly AI visibility reports for clients, with competitors and cited sources.
• Content teams: find the questions where competitors appear and you don't, and the pages the AI cites (write there or get listed there).
• Product marketing: see how AI describes your product versus alternatives.

How to use it

1. Enter your brand (and optionally your website and other names of your brand).
2. Add competitors you want to compare against (optional: every other brand is listed anyway).
3. Add your buyers' questions, or leave them empty and fill Category so they are written for you.
4. Pick the AI assistants: the built-in Claude with web search is included; add your API key for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude on your account, or a free Groq key.
5. Run it. Schedule it weekly in Apify to follow your AI visibility over time.

Example input

{
  "brand": "HubSpot",
  "brandDomain": "hubspot.com",
  "competitors": ["Salesforce", "Pipedrive", "Zoho CRM"],
  "prompts": [
    "What is the best CRM for a small business?",
    "Which CRM is easiest to use for a startup?"
  ],
  "engines": ["built-in"],
  "repeats": 1
}

Example output (one row per question and assistant)

{
  "prompt": "What is the best CRM for a small business?",
  "engine": "built-in",
  "brandMentioned": true,
  "brandRecommended": true,
  "brandPosition": 1,
  "brandsInAnswer": ["HubSpot", "Zoho CRM", "Monday.com CRM", "Pipedrive", "Salesforce"],
  "competitorsMentioned": [
    {"name": "Zoho CRM", "position": 2, "recommended": true},
    {"name": "Pipedrive", "position": 4, "recommended": true},
    {"name": "Salesforce", "position": 5, "recommended": true}
  ],
  "brandDomainCited": false,
  "sentiment": "positive",
  "sentimentReason": "Recommended as the best fit for a free tier with no contract.",
  "sources": [{"url": "https://...", "title": "Best CRM for Small Business 2026"}],
  "answer": "..."
}

The Summary (key-value store record SUMMARY) adds it all up per assistant: mentionRate, recommendedRate, firstPlaceRate, averagePosition, domainCitedRate, competitorRecommendedRate, topOtherBrands and promptsWhereYouAreMissing.

Pricing

Pay only for checks that worked. One check = one question answered by one assistant once.

	Price per check	Notes
Built-in AI: Claude with live web search	$0.03	AI and search cost included, no key needed
Your own key: Groq (free), ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini or Claude	$0.01	The provider bills you for its own usage (Groq's free tier: $0)

Example: 20 questions × built-in AI = $0.60; with your own keys, 20 questions × 2 assistants = $0.40. Failed checks are free. Store discounts apply on paid Apify plans.

On Apify's free plan the built-in AI answers up to 10 checks per run; add your own key or upgrade for more.

Tips

• Write questions the way buyers do: "best X for Y", "alternatives to , "X vs Y", "cheapest X in .
• Use repeats: 3 for the questions that matter most: one answer is a sample, three are a trend.
• Look at sources in the answers where you are missing: those are the pages to get listed on.
• Combine with Merge & Deduplicate Datasets to join weekly runs into one history table.

FAQ

Which AI is the built-in one? Claude (Anthropic) with live web search. The Groq option is an OpenAI open-weight model (GPT-OSS) with web search. Neither is the ChatGPT app: to measure ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini themselves, add your API key for that assistant.

Are the answers the same as in the consumer apps? API answers with web search are very close but not identical to the apps (which add personalization and memory). They are the standard way to measure AI visibility at scale.

Is my API key safe? Keys are stored as secret inputs, encrypted by Apify, and only sent to that provider.

Why did my brand get a position but "recommended: false" for a competitor? The answer named the competitor without recommending it (for example, "alternatives to Salesforce"). Positions count only the options the AI recommends.

Can I track several brands? Run it once per brand, or put competitors in the list: every row shows all brands in the answer.