I Tested 20+ AI Visibility Tools—Here's Why Sophyx Is the Only One That Actually Works
After 6 months of testing every platform on the market (and years of doing it manually), I finally found one that delivers real results.
Let me be upfront: I'm biased.
I'm the Co-Founder and CMO of Sophyx. Of course I think it's the best AI visibility tool on the market.
But here's the thing—I didn't start there. I tested every alternative first. I spent months manually checking ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity before any of these tools existed. I've trained over 5,000 businesses on AI adoption across North America and Europe. And I've personally evaluated hundreds of AI tools over the years.
Sophyx exists because everything else I tried fell short.
This isn't a neutral comparison. It's an honest one. I'm going to tell you exactly what I found testing 20+ AI visibility tools, why most of them disappointed me, and why I ultimately decided to build something better.
Why I Tested 20+ Tools (And Did It Manually First)
Before any AI visibility tools existed, I was already obsessing over this problem.
I noticed something strange while consulting with businesses: two companies in the same industry, with similar websites and similar SEO profiles, would get completely different treatment from ChatGPT. One would be recommended. The other would be invisible.
I called this the Psychological Positioning Gap—the difference between how a business sees itself and how AI systems interpret it.
My Testing Journey
By the time I started Sophyx, I had spent real money—thousands of dollars—on subscriptions to every AI visibility tool I could find. I ran parallel tests. I compared results. I evaluated what actually helped businesses improve their visibility versus what just showed them more dashboards.
The 5 Things I Looked For in Every Tool
Here's my evaluation framework. Every tool was tested against these five criteria:
- Tracking Accuracy: Does it actually show me how my brand appears across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews? Are the results reliable and up-to-date?
- Interpretation: Does it tell me what the data means? Or does it just dump raw metrics on me and leave me to figure it out?
- Actionable Recommendations: Does it tell me what to actually do? Specific steps, prioritized by impact?
- Multi-Brand Management: Can I run analyses for multiple clients without creating separate accounts? (Critical for agencies like mine.)
- Value for Money: Is the price justified by the results? Or am I paying for dashboards that look pretty but don't help?
Most tools scored well on #1. Very few scored on #2 or #3. And that's the entire problem.
Every Tool I Tested (With Honest Verdicts)
Here's my breakdown of every major AI visibility tool I evaluated. I'm going to be blunt about what works and what doesn't.
Sophyx ★ Best Overall
What it is: AI visibility platform with built-in AI interpretation. Tracks brand mentions across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, then uses AI to explain what the data means and what to do about it.
Price: $99–$499/month depending on tier
My Experience: Yes, I'm biased—I co-founded it. But I co-founded it specifically because nothing else did what I needed. The AI chat feature that interprets your visibility data is the killer feature. Instead of staring at charts wondering what to do, you get a conversation: "Here's why you're not appearing in ChatGPT for [query]. Here are the three things causing it. Here's what to fix first."
What Works
- AI interpretation built in
- Specific, prioritized action steps
- Multi-brand management for agencies
- Psychological Positioning Gap methodology
- White-label options available
Limitations
- I'm the CMO, so obviously biased
- Newer platform (launched 2026)
- Still building some advanced features
Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit Okay for SEO Pros
What it is: Part of Semrush's massive SEO suite. Tracks brand mentions and citations across major language models. Competitor benchmarking. Sentiment analysis.
Price: Included in Semrush plans ($129.95–$499.95/month)
My Experience: If you already have Semrush and you're an SEO professional who knows how to interpret data, this is fine. The tracking is solid. But it's an add-on to their SEO suite, not a purpose-built AI visibility tool. It gives you data—lots of data—but no interpretation. No "here's what this means for your specific business." You're left to figure that out yourself.
What Works
- Comprehensive tracking
- Integration with broader SEO tools
- Established, trusted brand
- Good competitor comparison
Limitations
- No interpretation layer
- Requires SEO expertise to use effectively
- Expensive if you only need AI visibility
- No multi-brand management for agencies
- Data-heavy, action-light
Profound Good for Monitoring
What it is: Tracks brand mentions and sentiment across major language models. Clean interface. Good for monitoring.
Price: Varies by plan
My Experience: Profound is genuinely good at what it does—monitoring. If you just want to know "is my brand being mentioned in ChatGPT, and what's the sentiment?"—Profound will tell you. But monitoring isn't optimizing. I knew I was invisible. Profound confirmed I was invisible. It didn't tell me how to become visible.
What Works
- Clean, intuitive interface
- Good sentiment tracking
- Reliable monitoring
Limitations
- Monitoring only, no optimization guidance
- No interpretation or recommendations
- Tells you what, not why or how
Peec AI Limited
What it is: AI visibility monitoring tool. Tracks mentions across AI platforms.
Price: Varies
My Experience: Limited scope compared to more comprehensive platforms. Does basic tracking but lacks the depth of Semrush or Profound, and has none of the interpretation features I needed. Felt like a first-generation product that hasn't evolved.
What Works
- Simple to set up
- Basic tracking works
Limitations
- Limited features
- No interpretation
- Feels incomplete
Addlly Enterprise Only
What it is: Enterprise-grade AI visibility auditing. Content optimization for AI engines.
Price: Enterprise pricing (significant investment)
My Experience: Addlly is built for large organizations with dedicated SEO teams. If you're a Fortune 500 company with a six-figure SEO budget, it might make sense. For SMBs, agencies, and consultants? Overkill and overpriced. And even then, it's still data-focused rather than interpretation-focused.
What Works
- Enterprise-grade features
- Comprehensive auditing
- Good for large organizations
Limitations
- Enterprise pricing excludes SMBs
- Overkill for most businesses
- Still no interpretation layer
Other Tools Tested Various Issues
Also tested: Writesonic, Helium AI, HubSpot AI features, BrandWatch, Ahrefs Brand Radar, and several smaller platforms.
The Pattern: Most of these tools weren't built for AI visibility specifically. They're content generators (Writesonic), Amazon-focused (Helium AI), social listening platforms (BrandWatch), or traditional SEO tools trying to add AI features (Ahrefs). None of them understood the fundamental problem: businesses don't need more data, they need interpretation.
Head-to-Head Comparison Table
Here's how every major tool stacks up on my five evaluation criteria:
| Tool | Tracking | Interpretation | Action Steps | Multi-Brand | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sophyx | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Semrush AI Visibility | ✓ | ✗ | Partial | ✗ | Varies |
| Profound | ✓ | ✗ | ✗ | Limited | ✓ |
| Peec AI | Partial | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Varies |
| Addlly | ✓ | ✗ | Partial | ✓ | Enterprise $$ |
| HubSpot AI | Limited | ✗ | ✗ | CRM-focused | Varies |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | SEO-focused | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | If you have Ahrefs |
| Manual Checking | Time-consuming | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | Hours of work |
Key insight: Every tool can track. Almost no tool can interpret. That gap is exactly why Sophyx exists.
Why I Built Sophyx Instead of Using Something Else
After testing everything on the market, I realized the problem wasn't the technology. The technology for tracking AI visibility is straightforward. The problem was the approach.
Every tool I tested was built on the same assumption: users know how to interpret visibility data and take action on it.
That assumption is wrong for 95% of businesses.
When I was consulting with clients, here's what I saw:
- They'd sign up for Semrush or Profound
- They'd see a dashboard full of data
- They'd understand they were "invisible" in ChatGPT
- They'd have no idea what to do about it
- They'd ask me to interpret the data for them
I was the interpretation layer. Every single time.
My consulting approach—what I called the Psychological Positioning Gap methodology—focused on answering three questions:
- How does AI actually see your brand vs. how you want it to be seen?
- What's causing that gap?
- What specific changes will close it?
Sophyx was built to automate that interpretation. Our AI chat feature doesn't just show you data. It analyzes your visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews, identifies the Psychological Positioning Gap, and gives you specific, prioritized recommendations to close it.
That's the difference. Data vs. answers. Monitoring vs. optimization. Dashboards vs. direction.
See Why I Built Sophyx
Get your free AI Visibility Score and experience the interpretation-first approach for yourself. See exactly how ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity see your brand—and what to do about it.
Check Your AI Visibility →The Final Verdict
If you want tracking only: Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit or Profound are fine. They'll tell you whether you're visible. They won't tell you what to do about it.
If you're an enterprise with a dedicated SEO team: Addlly might work. You probably have people who can interpret the data themselves.
If you want to actually improve your visibility: Sophyx is the only tool I've found that provides interpretation, not just data. It tells you what AI sees, why you're invisible, and exactly what to fix—prioritized by impact.
I'm biased. I built Sophyx because nothing else worked for me or my clients.
But I've also tested everything else. I've spent the money. I've done the comparisons. And I'm confident that if you actually want to appear in ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity recommendations—not just monitor that you don't—Sophyx is the tool that will get you there.