In September 2026 we asked ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview 30 buyer questions about AEO tools and logged all 808 cited URLs. The tool sites AI cites most are HubSpot (48) and Semrush (40), not AEO specialists. Profound (37) is the top AEO-native name. AEO Copilot, which ran the study, is 10th with 7 citations.
30 prompts phrased the way a buyer asks, in 3 groups of 10: general buyers, agencies, and startups and freelancers. Each prompt ran once across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI Overview on 2026-09-28. Every cited URL was logged and grouped by the tool's own domain. 201 Google AI Overview citations came back without a URL and are excluded.
Startups and freelancers (10 prompts, 262 citations): Semrush 13, Profound 12, HubSpot 10, Otterly.ai 8, Peec.ai 7, SE Ranking 7, AEO Copilot 4 (9th). When Perplexity was asked which AEO tool has a flat monthly price instead of per-brand fees, or whether a free AEO checker exists, it named AEO Copilot first.
As covered in Best AEO Tools in 2026: Tested & Compared.
Run a free AEO check