The independent reference for AI search and AEO
Tools and agencies compared on published pricing. Guides to how answer engines actually pick a source.
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Built like a reference, not a feed
Every comparison states what was compared, on what criteria, and when pricing was last checked. Relationships are disclosed in plain language, never buried.
Featured comparisons
All comparisons
The best AEO growth agencies in 2026, compared
- Lowest published priceOGTool, $100
- Per-order executionfatjoe
- Listicle placementsRhino Rank
- Enterprise retainerNoGood
- Benchmark dataFirst Page Sage
The best DR boosters in 2026, compared
- Cheapest per linkRhino Rank, $60
- Cheapest flat monthlyOGTool, $100
- Biggest authorityfatjoe digital PR
- Free routeFeatured
- Measuring DRAhrefs
The best AEO tools in 2026, compared
- Best for enterpriseProfound
- Best all-in-oneOGTool
- Best valueOtterly.AI
- Best in a suiteSE Ranking
- Best free checkAI Search Grader
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The engines we cover
ChatGPT
Cites pages fetched by OAI-SearchBot. Blocking it removes you from answers.
Perplexity
Every answer carries citations. PerplexityBot needs robots.txt access.
AI Overviews
Google's summaries pull from pages Googlebot already ranks.
Copilot
Runs on Bing's index, so Bingbot access is the prerequisite.
What is answer engine optimization? A plain-English guide
A working definition, how answer engines choose their sources, and a checklist for getting cited.
Recently updated
All guides
How to rank in ChatGPT answers
Which crawlers to allow, what ChatGPT cites, and why.
Best AI SEO tools in 2026, tested
What each tool tracks, what it costs, and who it suits.
How Google's AI Overviews pick their sources
What published research says about which pages get cited.
AEO vs SEO: what actually changes
Where the two disciplines overlap and where they split.
llms.txt: what it is and whether you need one
What the file does, who reads it, whether to bother.
Schema markup for answer engines
The types worth adding and the ones engines ignore.