ChatGPT answers, unedited

For a non-technical founder who wants “paste my brand in and tell me if AI can see me”, my pick is Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker.

🥇 Best overall: Ahrefs

Why: zero setup, no API keys, no signup, no credit card, and it checks your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. ahrefs.com

You enter your brand name, and it gives you a snapshot of:

• Whether AI mentions you
• Which topics/questions trigger mentions
• Which competitors appear instead
• Which websites AI cites alongside your brand

The free version is a limited preview, but that's fine for an initial founder-level diagnosis. ahrefs.com

Good alternatives

I would not bother with anything requiring API keys for your use case. Those tools are useful for developers/teams building automated monitoring, but they're unnecessary if your question is simply “How visible is my company to AI right now?”

My recommended 5-minute process: run Ahrefs on your brand → run it on 2–3 competitors → note the questions where competitors appear and you don't. That's much more actionable than obsessing over a single “AI visibility score.”

If you tell me what your company does + your website, I can also tell you exactly 5–10 prompts I'd use to test whether AI recommends you to potential customers.

If you’re a non-technical founder and want free + no API key + no setup, I’d start with Ahrefs’ free AI Visibility Checker.

My picks

1. ahrefs.com — best overall

• No signup or API key.
• Just enter your brand name.
• Checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode.
• Shows mentions, topics that trigger them, and cited domains.
• The free version is a snapshot rather than ongoing monitoring. Ahrefs
• edenrank.com — best if you want to test an actual buyer question

• No signup.
• Enter brand + website + one prompt.
• Runs the same prompt across 8 AI engines, including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Copilot and DeepSeek.
• Shows the actual answers and citations. EdenRank
• rank.ai — simplest “does AI mention me?” test

• No registration.
• One prompt + your domain.
• Checks ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini side-by-side.
• Particularly nice for a quick sanity check. Rank.ai

What I'd do as a founder

Don't overthink the score. Take 5–10 questions a prospective customer would actually ask, such as:

“What are the best [category] tools for a 10-person company?”

Then see:

• Are you mentioned?
• Which competitors are mentioned instead?
• Does AI cite your website?
• Which third-party sites does it trust when recommending competitors?

That gives you a much more actionable picture than an abstract “AI visibility score.”

If you give me your company + website + what you sell, I can also tell you exactly which 5 prompts I'd run first.

For a non-technical founder who wants “paste my brand/domain → get an answer”, I’d start with Ahrefs’ free AI Visibility Checker.

Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

My ranking

Ahrefs is my #1 recommendation because it has unusually broad coverage while remaining genuinely zero-setup. It uses search-backed prompts rather than simply inventing generic questions, and shows mentions, topics, and cited pages. ahrefs.comcituna.com

If I were you

Do two checks, because they answer slightly different questions:

1. Ahrefs → “Does AI actually mention/cite my company?”
2. HubSpot AEO Grader → “How does AI perceive and describe my company?” ahrefs.comcituna.com

Then manually ask ChatGPT/Perplexity a handful of buyer-intent questions, e.g.:

“What are the best [category] companies for a small business?”

“What are alternatives to [competitor]?”

“What should I use if I need [specific problem you solve]?”

That last step is important: a single “AI visibility score” can look impressive while your company still doesn't appear for the questions that actually generate customers.

Bottom line: If you only want to try one, use Ahrefs. It currently has the best combination of free + no signup + no API key + broad AI-engine coverage. ahrefs.com

If you're a non-technical founder and you want something you can use in under 5 minutes with no API keys, no code, and ideally no signup, I'd prioritize these:

If I could only pick one

Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker is probably the easiest starting point.

It checks whether your brand appears across several AI search experiences (such as ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI features), without requiring APIs or technical configuration. It's simple enough that most founders can get useful insights in a couple of minutes. marcodiversi.com

If you want actionable fixes

I'd use GeoLens or Prominara.

Instead of only saying "your visibility is low," they explain why, such as:

• AI crawlers being blocked
• missing structured data
• weak page structure
• content that's hard for LLMs to quote
• missing AI-specific signals

That makes them much more useful if you're trying to improve visibility rather than just measure it. prominara.comgeolens.online

One caveat

Nearly every free checker measures AI readiness (whether your site is likely to be crawled and cited) more than true AI visibility (how often LLMs actually recommend you). Continuous tracking across many prompts costs providers money, so the fully featured products usually become paid. sightivo.comgeonimo.com

For an early-stage startup or indie founder, a practical free workflow is:

1. Run Ahrefs to establish a baseline.
2. Run GeoLens or Prominara to identify technical and content improvements.
3. Every few weeks, manually ask ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity the top 10–20 questions your customers would ask, and note whether your company appears. This manual spot-check is still one of the most reliable no-cost ways to validate real-world visibility. geonimo.com

If you're a non-technical founder and want free + no API key + no setup, I'd start with Ahrefs’ AI Visibility Checker.

🥇 Best overall: Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

• Free
• No signup
• Just enter your brand name
• Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode
• Gives you an immediate sense of whether AI systems are actually mentioning you. ahrefs.com

Why I'd pick it: you're trying to answer the founder-level question “When potential customers ask AI about my category, does my company show up?” rather than getting buried in technical SEO metrics.

🥈 Best if you want to audit your website

Semrush AI Search Visibility Checker

Enter your domain and it checks your brand's visibility across AI search, including ChatGPT, Gemini, and Google's AI Overviews. It's also free and doesn't require signup. www.semrush.com

🥉 Best for “what's wrong with my site?”

Foglift GEO Checker

This is more of a website readiness audit: can AI crawlers access your site, understand it, and potentially cite it? It says no signup required and returns a technical/AI-readiness report. www.semrush.comfoglift.io

My recommendation for you

Don't overthink the tooling. Do this:

1. Ahrefs → “Am I mentioned?”
2. Semrush → “How visible is my brand?”
3. Foglift → “Why might AI have trouble understanding/citing my site?”

That gives you a useful baseline in ~10 minutes without an API, developer, installation, or paid subscription.

One important distinction: “AI visibility” isn't the same as “AI-readiness.” A technical checker can tell you that your site is crawlable and well structured, but that doesn't necessarily mean ChatGPT will recommend you. For a founder, actual brand mentions/citations on buyer questions are the metric I'd care about first. www.amicited.com

If you tell me what your startup does + your website, I can also tell you which free checker I'd use and the 5–10 prompts I'd test to see whether AI recommends you over competitors.

If you’re a non-technical founder and your criteria are free + no API key + no setup, I’d start with Ahrefs’ Free AI Visibility Checker.

Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

My shortlist

1. Ahrefs — best overall starting point. It checks your brand across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. You just enter your brand name. ahrefs.com

2. Loamly — best if you want to know whether AI would actually recommend you. It runs 50 industry-specific buyer prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini and shows competitors that get cited instead. No signup is required. www.loamly.ai

Loamly AI Visibility Checker

3. Foglift — best for “what should I fix on my website?” It combines AI visibility with technical SEO, crawlability, performance, security and accessibility, with no signup/API key. foglift.io

Foglift free AI visibility checker

What I'd do in your shoes

Run Ahrefs first, then Loamly. Don't obsess over the exact score—you're looking for:

1. Are you mentioned?
2. Which competitors are mentioned instead?
3. What questions cause you to appear/disappear?
4. Which sources does the AI cite when recommending competitors?

That gives you a much more useful founder-level picture than an “AI readiness” score alone.

If you tell me what your company/product does + your website, I can also tell you which of these checkers is likely to be most useful for your specific situation.

For a non-technical founder who wants “paste → see my AI visibility” with zero API keys, setup, or learning curve, I’d start with Ahrefs’ Free AI Visibility Checker. ahrefs.com

My ranking

1. 🥇 Ahrefs — easiest starting point. Enter your brand name and it gives you a free snapshot across five major AI/search surfaces, including mentions, topics, and cited domains. No signup. ahrefs.com Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

2. CitedSpy — arguably more interesting if you want to know “What does AI actually say about me?” It queries five engines and reports visibility, competitors, rankings, sentiment, and sources. No signup. www.citedspy.com CitedSpy AI Visibility Checker

3. EdenRank — particularly good for a founder because you supply one real buying question such as “best accounting software for small businesses” and see what eight AI engines return. No signup. edenrank.com EdenRank Checker

One important distinction

There are really two different things being called “AI visibility”:

• “Does AI recommend/mention my company?” → use Ahrefs, CitedSpy, or EdenRank.
• “Can AI crawlers actually access and understand my website?” → use IsVisible.ai or a similar technical audit. isvisible.ai

For a non-technical founder, I'd do Ahrefs first, then EdenRank with 3–5 real customer questions. That gives you a much more useful baseline than obsessing over a single “AI visibility score.”

If you tell me what your company sells + your website, I can also tell you exactly which free checker(s) I'd use and what prompts to test.

If you’re a non-technical founder and want free + no API key + no setup, my pick is Ahrefs’ Free AI Visibility Checker.

🥇 Best overall: Ahrefs

Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

• No signup
• No API key
• Just enter your brand name
• Checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode
• Shows how often you're mentioned, which topics trigger mentions, and which sites/pages AI cites alongside you. ahrefs.com
• Free with no stated limit on brands, although the report is a limited preview. ahrefs.com

This is the one I'd use first if your question is: “When potential customers ask AI about my category, does my company show up?”

Two good alternatives

CitedSpy — better if you want a simple competitor comparison. It checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Grok and gives you a visibility score, competitor rankings and source citations. No signup. www.citedspy.com
CitedSpy AI Visibility Checker

EdenRank — useful for a quick real-prompt test. Give it your brand, URL and one question customers might ask, and it checks eight AI engines. No signup. edenrank.com
EdenRank Free Checker

One important distinction

There are actually two different things people call “AI visibility”:

1. “Does AI recommend/mention my business?” → use Ahrefs.
2. “Can AI crawlers actually access/read my website?” → use something like IsVisible.ai, which checks robots.txt, llms.txt and AI crawler access. isvisible.ai

For a founder starting from zero, I'd do Ahrefs first, then the crawler check if your visibility looks poor.

Bottom line: Ahrefs is the easiest “paste my brand → tell me if AI knows me” option right now.

If you mean “I’m a non-technical founder, I want to paste my URL and immediately see whether AI can find/recommend my company”, my pick is:

🥇 Best overall: Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

• Free
• No signup
• No API key
• Takes seconds
• Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews
• Gives you an actual brand-visibility read rather than just checking technical SEO. ahrefs.com

Why I'd start here: it's simple enough for a founder, but the result is meaningful: Are AI systems mentioning my brand when people ask relevant questions?

If you want to know “can AI actually crawl my website?”

Try IsVisible.ai. IsVisible.ai

It checks robots.txt, llms.txt, and access by 13 AI crawlers and gives you a 0–100 score. No signup or credit card. isvisible.ai

If you want actionable website fixes

GeoLens is a good beginner-friendly option. GeoLens

It audits eight GEO criteria and gives you a prioritized list of what to fix, with no setup or signup. geolens.online

My recommendation: run Ahrefs first, then IsVisible.ai. The first answers “Do AI engines actually mention me?”; the second answers “Is there anything technically preventing them from seeing my site?”

If you tell me what your company does + your URL, I can also tell you which specific AI visibility test I'd run first and what a good result looks like.

For a non-technical founder who wants “paste my site, tell me how visible I am” with zero setup, I’d start with Ahrefs’ Free AI Visibility Checker.

My picks

1. Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker — best overall
   • No signup or API key.
   • Checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode.
   • Gives you a quick snapshot of whether your brand appears in AI answers.
   • Particularly good if you want a recognizable, established SEO company behind the tool. ahrefs.com

2. CitedSpy AI Visibility Checker — best for “are AI engines actually recommending me?”
   • No signup.
   • Checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, and Grok live.
   • More focused on mentions, competitors, rankings, sentiment, and citations than technical website health. www.citedspy.com

3. EdenRank Free Checker — best for a quick reality check
   • No signup.
   • Put in your brand + one actual customer prompt.
   • Runs that prompt across 8 AI engines and shows the answers/citations. edenrank.com

4. IsVisible.ai — best if you're worried your site is technically invisible
   • No signup/API key.
   • Checks robots.txt, llms.txt, and whether major AI crawlers can access your site.
   • More of a “can AI access my website?” test than a “will AI recommend me?” test. isvisible.ai

What I'd do in your shoes

Don't overthink GEO/AEO tooling yet. Run Ahrefs + EdenRank.

The key distinction is:

“Can AI crawl my website?” ≠ “Does AI recommend my company?”

For a founder, the second question is usually much more valuable.

If you tell me what your company does + your website, I can also tell you exactly what 5–10 questions I'd test in ChatGPT/Perplexity to get a meaningful baseline, rather than relying on a generic visibility score.

If you’re a non-technical founder and want free + no API keys + no setup, I’d start with EdenRank.

My picks

1. EdenRank AI Visibility Checker — best overall
   • No signup
   • No API key
   • Tests one real customer prompt across 8 AI engines: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, Claude, Copilot and DeepSeek.
   • Shows the actual answers and citations, rather than just giving you an opaque score. edenrank.com
   • Best for: “Would AI actually recommend my company?”

2. CitedSpy — best for competitor comparison
   • Free, no signup
   • Checks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Grok
   • Gives visibility score, competitors, rankings, sentiment and cited sources. www.citedspy.com
   • Best for: “Why is AI mentioning my competitor instead of me?”

3. No7 Software AI Visibility Check — best for website readiness
   • No signup
   • Scores your domain against things like crawler access, structured data, sitemap, llms.txt, etc.
   • Best for: “Is my website technically easy for AI systems to understand and cite?” no7software.co.uk

One important distinction

There are really two different things people call “AI visibility”:

• AI recommendation visibility: “When someone asks AI for the best companies like mine, does my company appear?”
• AI crawl/readiness: “Can AI systems access and understand my website?”

For a founder, the first one is the more important starting point. A technically perfect website doesn't necessarily mean ChatGPT will recommend you.

My recommendation: run your company through EdenRank, using an actual buying question your customers would ask, e.g. “What are the best [category] companies for [specific use case]?” Then do the same prompt yourself in ChatGPT/Perplexity and compare the results. AI answers can vary substantially between runs, so treat one score as a baseline rather than gospel. arxiv.org

If you tell me what your company does + your website, I can also tell you exactly which 5–10 prompts I'd use to test your AI visibility.

If you mean “I want to paste my website URL and immediately see whether AI recommends/cites my business”, my pick right now is Loamly’s free AI Visibility Checker.

Loamly AI Visibility Checker

Why I’d pick it for a non-technical founder

• No API keys
• No setup or account required
• Tests ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini
• Uses 50 buyer-intent prompts tailored to your industry
• Shows whether you appear and which competitors appear instead
• Gives you an actual visibility score + suggested fixes www.loamly.ai

That's more useful for a founder than a purely technical “is my site crawlable by GPTBot?” checker.

My quick ranking

Geoptie AI Visibility Checker also checks ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity and Gemini without signup. geoptie.com

IsVisible AI is particularly good if your question is “Can AI crawlers access my website?” rather than “Will AI recommend my company?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt and access for multiple AI crawlers. isvisible.ai

One important caveat: don't treat a single AI visibility score as gospel. AI answers are probabilistic and can change between runs, so the useful signal is repeatedly testing the same buyer questions and watching whether you appear relative to competitors. arxiv.org

If I were a non-technical founder, I'd start with Loamly, spend 5 minutes on it, and only move to a paid tool if I actually needed ongoing monitoring.

For a non-technical founder who wants free + no API keys + no setup, I’d start with one of these:

My pick by founder stage:

• Just launched / validating demand: → urlIsVisible AI Visibility Checkerturn0search0

Question answered: “Can AI even find me?”

• You have a website with pages, blog, docs, etc.: → urlFirecrawl AI Visibility Auditturn0search1 or urlAuditZap AI Visibility Checkerturn0search2

Question answered: “What should I fix?”

• You’re competing for customers who ask ChatGPT “what’s the best X?”: → urlLoamly AI Visibility Checkturn0search7

Question answered: “Would AI recommend me?”

One caveat: most free “AI visibility” checkers measure readiness (crawlability, structure, schema, content signals), not guaranteed placement in ChatGPT/Gemini answers. Actual AI recommendations can vary by prompt, model, location, and timing. arxiv.org

A simple founder workflow:

1. Run your domain through IsVisible.
2. Run your homepage + best landing page through Firecrawl.
3. Ask ChatGPT/Perplexity manually:
   • “Best tools for [your category]”
   • “Alternatives to [competitor]”
   • “Who are the leaders in [your market]?”
4. Track whether your company appears and what sources AI cites.

That gives you a useful baseline without paying for an AI SEO platform.

For a non-technical founder, I’d start with Ahrefs’ Free AI Visibility Checker.

urlAhrefs Free AI Visibility Checkerturn0search0 — best overall fit

• Free
• No signup
• No API keys or technical setup
• Enter your brand name, rather than configuring prompts or integrations
• Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews. ahrefs.com

My shortlist

urlSemrush AI Search Visibility Checkerturn0search3 is also free and requires no signup; it focuses more on brand visibility and competitive positioning. www.semrush.com

urlIsVisible.aiturn0search1 is particularly useful if your question is “Can ChatGPT/Claude/Perplexity actually access my website?” It checks robots.txt, llms.txt, and access for 13 AI crawlers. isvisible.ai

One important caveat: an “AI visibility score” isn't the same thing as guaranteed visibility. AI answers vary between runs, so treat these tools as a baseline, not an authoritative ranking. Research published in 2026 found substantial variability in generative-search citation results across repeated queries. arxiv.org

If I were a founder with 10 minutes: run Ahrefs first, then ask ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini ~10–15 real customer questions like “What are the best [category] tools for [use case]?” and see whether your company appears. That gives you a much more tangible reality check than obsessing over a single score.

If you mean “I want to type my company name, click a button, and immediately see whether AI recommends me”, my pick right now is:

🥇 Best overall: Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

Ahrefs Free AI Visibility Checker

• Free
• No signup required
• No API key
• Just enter your brand name
• Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews
• Results in seconds. ahrefs.com

For a non-technical founder, that's about as frictionless as it gets.

🥈 If you want a deeper “are AIs recommending me?” test

Loamly AI Visibility Checker

It runs 50 buyer-oriented prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Gemini and shows competitors/citations and suggested fixes. No signup is required. www.loamly.ai

One important distinction

Don't confuse AI visibility with AI crawlability.

For example, IsVisible.ai checks whether AI crawlers can access your website by analyzing things like robots.txt and llms.txt. That's useful technically, but it doesn't answer the founder question “Will ChatGPT recommend my company?” isvisible.ai

My recommendation: start with Ahrefs, then manually ask ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini 10–20 questions your customers actually ask. Don't obsess over a single “visibility score”—AI responses are variable, so repeated tests give a more meaningful picture. arxiv.org

If you give me your company + what you sell, I can also give you the 10 exact prompts I'd use to test your AI visibility.

For a non-technical founder who wants zero setup, no API keys, and a genuinely useful first look, my pick is Ahrefs’ free AI Visibility Checker.

urlAhrefs Free AI Visibility Checkerturn0search0

My ranking

1. Ahrefs — best overall
   • Enter your brand name and go.
   • No signup, no API key, no setup.
   • Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode.
   • Good for answering the founder question: “Does AI actually mention my company, and who beats me?” ahrefs.com

2. Discoverable — best for actual buyer recommendations
   • urlDiscoverable AI Visibility Checkerturn0search8
   • Enter your domain; it generates buyer-style prompts and checks whether AI recommends you, which competitors appear, and your citation gap.
   • No login for the initial snapshot. bediscoverable.ai

3. Semrush — best if you already use Semrush
   • urlSemrush AI Visibility Checkerturn0search3
   • Free, no signup, and focused on brand visibility across AI search. www.semrush.com

One important caveat: don't treat a single “AI visibility score” as gospel. AI answers vary between runs, so a one-time score is more of a baseline than a definitive ranking. arxiv.org

If I were you: run your company through Ahrefs first, then manually ask ChatGPT/Perplexity/Gemini 10–20 questions a prospective customer might ask about your category. The combination gives you a much better reality check than any single score.

For a non-technical founder, I’d avoid anything that asks for API keys, Google Cloud setup, tracking scripts, or developer work. The best free options right now are:

🥇 Best overall: urlAhrefs Free AI Visibility Checkerturn0search1

Best for: “Does my brand show up when customers ask AI for recommendations?”

• ✅ No signup required
• ✅ No API keys
• ✅ Just enter your brand name
• ✅ Checks visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews (according to the tool description) ahrefs.com
• Good for answering: “Would AI recommend my company over competitors?”

My pick for most founders starting out.

🥈 Best for a quick website health check: urlIsVisible.aiturn0search0

Best for: “Can AI crawlers even access my website?”

• ✅ Paste your URL
• ✅ No account or credit card
• ✅ Gives an AI accessibility score
• Checks things like robots.txt, llms.txt, and AI crawler access. isvisible.ai

Use this if you’re worried your website is invisible to AI systems technically.

🥉 Best for competitor-style insights: urlLoamly AI Visibility Checkturn0search3

Best for: “Why is my competitor appearing and I’m not?”

• ✅ No signup required
• ✅ Runs buyer-style prompts
• ✅ Shows competitors that appear instead
• Gives a score and suggested fixes. www.loamly.ai

My simple founder workflow (10 minutes)

1. Run your company through Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker

→ “Does AI know I exist?”

2. Run your website through IsVisible.ai

→ “Can AI access my site?”

3. Ask ChatGPT/Perplexity manually:
   • “What are the best [your category] companies?”
   • “Compare [your company] vs [competitor]”
   • “Who should I buy from for [problem]?”

Record whether you appear.

One caveat: AI visibility scores are still an emerging metric, and results can vary because AI answers change between runs. Treat these tools as directional signals rather than a precise ranking system. arxiv.org

If you tell me your company type (SaaS, ecommerce, local business, agency, etc.), I can suggest which checker is most useful for your situation.

If you're a non-technical founder and your goal is simply "Can I see whether ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, etc. mention my company?", you don't need API-based enterprise tools.

Here are the best free (or free-tier) options that require little to no setup:

1. Peec AI (free tier) – Probably the closest thing to "Google Search Console for AI."
   • Lets you track prompts and see whether your brand appears in responses from major AI assistants.
   • Designed for marketers rather than developers.
   • No API keys required for basic use.

2. Profound (demo/free trial)
   • One of the leaders in AI visibility ("LLM SEO").
   • More enterprise-focused, but the demo/free trial is useful for understanding how AI visibility works.
   • Best if you're evaluating paid solutions later.

3. Goodie AI
   • Offers AI search monitoring with a relatively simple interface.
   • Free tier is sufficient for small brands and early-stage startups.

4. Rankscale AI
   • Lets you test prompts across multiple AI models.
   • Useful for seeing how different assistants answer the same question.
   • No coding required.

5. Otterly.AI
   • Tracks how AI search engines mention your brand over time.
   • Has a limited free plan that's enough to get started.

If you want completely free

You can also build a simple manual workflow:

• Ask ChatGPT:
  • "What's the best CRM for small businesses?"
  • "Who are the top companies in X?"
  • "Recommend alternatives to Y."

• Ask the same questions in:
  • Claude
  • Gemini
  • Perplexity
  • Microsoft Copilot

Keep the prompts in a spreadsheet and repeat them monthly. It takes about 15–20 minutes and often reveals more actionable insights than automated scores.

My recommendation for a solo founder

I'd start with:

• Peec AI for ongoing monitoring.
• Rankscale AI for testing prompts across models.
• A simple spreadsheet with 20–30 high-intent prompts your customers would realistically ask.

That combination gives you a solid picture of your AI visibility without needing APIs, developer tools, or complex setup. As your company grows, you can decide whether an enterprise platform like Profound is worth the additional cost.

If you're a non-technical founder and want something that works in under 5 minutes, I'd prioritize tools that require no API keys, no code, and no setup.

Here's my ranking:

If I could only use one

isvisible.ai is the easiest starting point. It instantly checks whether major AI crawlers (ChatGPT/OpenAI, Claude, Perplexity, Google AI, etc.) can access your site and whether you've configured things like robots.txt and llms.txt. No account or API key is required. isvisible.ai

If you care about getting mentioned by ChatGPT

Use Loamly.

Unlike purely technical audits, it tests real buyer-style prompts across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity and shows:

• whether your brand is mentioned,
• which competitors appear instead,
• and what to improve. www.loamly.ai

If you're trying to improve your site

Use Firecrawl's AI Visibility Audit.

It evaluates things like:

• AI crawler accessibility,
• structured data,
• content citability,
• entity clarity,
• and trust signals,

then prioritizes the fixes with the biggest impact. firecrawl.vercel.app

One caveat

No AI visibility checker is a perfect "ranking checker." AI assistants are probabilistic—the same prompt can produce different answers over time—so treat any single score as a snapshot rather than a definitive ranking. Repeating checks over time gives a more reliable picture. arxiv.org

For a solo founder, I'd use this simple workflow:

1. Run isvisible.ai to catch technical blockers.
2. Run Loamly to see whether AI assistants actually mention your brand.
3. Use Firecrawl to prioritize improvements.

That combination covers both technical accessibility and real-world AI visibility without requiring any API keys, coding, or setup.

If you're a non-technical founder who just wants to see "Can AI find and recommend my company?" without API keys, code, or setup, these are the strongest free options right now:

My recommendations

1. Loamly — best overall for founders

• Tests whether AI assistants actually recommend your brand.
• Shows competitors that appear instead of you.
• Uses realistic buyer prompts rather than just checking your robots.txt.
• Takes about 2–3 minutes. www.loamly.ai

2. IsVisible.ai — best "first check"

• Completely frictionless.
• Great for confirming whether ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI can crawl your site.
• Gives a simple score and highlights blocking issues. isvisible.ai

3. AuditZap — best free audit

• Looks beyond crawler access.
• Checks things like structured data, freshness, author signals, and AI-readability.
• Prioritizes what to fix first. auditzap.io

One thing to know

These tools measure different aspects of "AI visibility":

• Technical visibility: Can AI crawlers access your content?
• Citation readiness: Is your content easy for AI to quote?
• Brand visibility: When someone asks an AI for recommendations, does it mention your company?

The last category is usually the most valuable for an early-stage startup.

If I could only use one free tool

I'd start with urlLoamly AI Visibility Checkerturn0search5, then run urlIsVisible.aiturn0search0 once to make sure there aren't any technical blockers.

If you share your startup's website, I can also tell you which of these reports will likely be the most useful for your business model and what metrics to pay attention to.

For a non-technical founder who wants free + no API keys + no setup, I’d start with these:

My recommendation for a founder:

1. Run Ahrefs first → get your baseline. ahrefs.com
2. Run Semrush second → compare the story from another dataset. www.semrush.com
3. Then manually test 10–20 questions your customers actually ask, for example:
   • “Best [category] for startups”
   • “Alternatives to [competitor]”
   • “Who offers [problem you solve]?”

A key caveat: AI visibility scores are still estimates. AI answers can change between runs, so treat these tools as directional signals, not a Google Analytics–style source of truth. arxiv.org

If you only want one click, zero learning curve: pick Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker. ahrefs.com