In short
- LLMrefs stated in a January 2026 blog post that Pro costs $79/month for 50 keywords and 500 prompts, though its live pricing card showed no price.
- LLMrefs tracks 10 AI engines, updating each keyword at least weekly: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek.
- Users seek alternatives to write exact questions instead of keyword-generated prompts, or for checks faster than weekly.
- FoundByChat is free to start and checks ChatGPT search only every 2 hours to show when pages are found, cited or rewritten, without tracking other engines, competitors or visibility scores.
For page-level index details, FoundByChat lists the title and snippet ChatGPT's search keeps. See what generative engine optimization is.
What LLMrefs does and costs
LLMrefs is a keyword-based AI search analytics platform where you enter keywords and the software generates prompts. According to LLMrefs on October 29, 2026, it tracks 10 engines: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek.
In a January 6, 2026 blog article, LLMrefs reported that its Pro plan costs $79/month for 50 keywords and 500 prompts (about 20,000 analyzed AI answers), though the live pricing card on its site showed no price. It offers a free plan with no credit card and 8 free tools, including an AI crawl checker and llms.txt generator. LLMrefs updates each keyword at least weekly and lists share-of-voice metrics, unlimited projects and team members, CSV and API access.
Why people look for an LLMrefs alternative
Teams look for an LLMrefs alternative for prompt control, update frequency or pricing. Because LLMrefs generates prompts from keywords, teams wanting to monitor exact customer questions prefer prompt-based trackers.
Update speed also matters. LLMrefs updates each keyword at least weekly, while other tools run daily, every 2 hours, or on custom hourly schedules. Smaller sites may also prefer a free starting tier or a lower-cost entry plan with live published prices, like Rankscale at $20/month (billed yearly) or Otterly.AI at $29/month.
LLMrefs alternatives compared
The table below compares FoundByChat, LLMrefs and four other AI search trackers using figures published by each company.
| Tool | Starting option | AI engines tracked | Free option | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| FoundByChat | Free to start | ChatGPT search | Yes, plus a free GEO audit with no account | Knowing when ChatGPT finds, cites or rewrites your pages |
| LLMrefs | $79/mo (per Jan 2026 blog; not on live card) | 10 (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI, DeepSeek) | Free plan (no card) + 8 free tools | Keyword-based share of voice across 10 engines |
| Rankscale | $20/mo billed yearly ($204/yr) | 17+ (including ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Copilot, DeepSeek) | Free trial of Pro | Credit-based tracking across 17+ engines with custom schedules |
| Otterly.AI | $29/mo | 4 on Lite (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity, Copilot); Claude, AI Mode, Gemini as add-ons | Free trial (no free plan) | Low-cost daily tracking of 15 prompts |
| Knowatoa | $59/mo | 3 on Starter (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode); 7 on Growth | Free trial | Combining AI search monitoring with AI content drafting |
| Peec AI | $95/mo | 3 active of 6 on Starter (ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Gemini, Naver AI); more on Enterprise | Not published | Brands and agencies needing MCP access and competitor tracking |
The alternatives
FoundByChat
FoundByChat tells site owners when ChatGPT's search finds, cites or rewrites their pages. It checks ChatGPT search only and does not track Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot or competitors, nor does it give a visibility score.
You add your website and customer questions, and FoundByChat asks ChatGPT those questions with web search on every 2 hours as a user in the United States (English) or the Netherlands (Dutch). It records whether ChatGPT's search found your page ("Found"), cited it ("Cited"), and its usual search result position. It lists "Pages in ChatGPT's index" with the title and short snippet ChatGPT keeps, and emails you on "New in the index", "Snippet changed", or "No search results" (three checks in a row with no web results).
FoundByChat is free to start with Google or an email link (no password or credit card). Its free GEO audit allows 5 audits a day with no account, fetching your page as OAI-SearchBot, rebuilding the ~200-character snippet ChatGPT keeps, checking robots.txt rules for OAI-SearchBot, GPTBot and ChatGPT-User, and scoring the page out of 100.
Rankscale
Rankscale is a credit-based AI visibility and rank tracker. Per Rankscale on October 29, 2026, Essentials is $20/month billed yearly ($204/year) for 120 credits (about 480 answers), and Pro is $99/month ($84/month billed yearly) for 1,200 credits (about 4,800 answers), with tiers up to $780/month. Search terms are unlimited at about 0.25 credit per engine per prompt. It tracks 17+ engines, schedules checks hourly to monthly across all regions, and offers 94+ check page audits, an API, white-label reports and a free Pro trial. See our Rankscale alternatives guide.
Otterly.AI
Otterly.AI monitors brand visibility, sentiment and citations in AI search and gives GEO recommendations. Per Otterly.AI on October 29, 2026, Lite is $29/month (15% off billed annually) for 15 prompts across 4 engines (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity, Microsoft Copilot), with daily tracking and unlimited seats. Claude, Google AI Mode and Gemini are paid add-ons, with a free trial but no free plan. See our Otterly.AI alternatives guide.
Knowatoa
Knowatoa monitors AI search, finds gaps and uses AI agents to draft content. Per Knowatoa on October 29, 2026, Starter costs $59/month (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode), Growth is $199/month for 7 services (adding Claude, Gemini, Meta AI, Perplexity), and Enterprise is custom. Plan question limits are unpublished, though agencies pay $0.01/query. Updates run daily with a free trial.
Peec AI
Peec AI offers AI search visibility analytics for brands and agencies. Per Peec AI on October 29, 2026, Starter is $95/month for 50 prompts, 3 active models of 6 (ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Gemini, Naver AI), 1 country and 1 project (4,500 answers/month), with unlimited users, competitors and MCP access. Higher tiers are $245, $495 and custom Enterprise (adding Perplexity, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek). No free plan or trial is listed; see our Peec AI alternatives page.
When LLMrefs is still the better pick
LLMrefs offers a keyword-first workflow that generates prompts. Its January 2026 article listed Pro at $79/month for 50 keywords and 500 prompts; LLMrefs also lists 10 engines, unlimited projects and unlimited team members.
How to choose
- Pick FoundByChat to check ChatGPT search every 2 hours and see which pages are in ChatGPT's index, what title and snippet it keeps, and when pages are found or cited.
- Match the schedule: FoundByChat checks every 2 hours, Rankscale runs hourly to monthly, Otterly.AI and Knowatoa update daily, and LLMrefs updates each keyword at least weekly.
- Compare entry pricing: Otterly.AI starts at $29/month with unlimited seats, while Rankscale starts at $204/year.
FOUNDBYCHAT
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Questions
How much does LLMrefs cost?
According to a January 6, 2026 LLMrefs blog post, the Pro plan costs $79 a month for 50 keywords and 500 prompts (about 20,000 AI answers analyzed), though the live pricing card on llmrefs.com did not show a price. It also offers a free plan with no credit card and 8 free tools.
Which AI engines does LLMrefs track?
As of October 29, 2026, LLMrefs tracks 10 AI platforms: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok, Copilot, Meta AI and DeepSeek, updating each keyword at least weekly.
Does FoundByChat track all the engines that LLMrefs tracks?
No, FoundByChat tracks ChatGPT search only. It does not track Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot or competitors, or give a visibility score. Instead, it checks your questions in ChatGPT every 2 hours and shows which of your pages are in ChatGPT's index, what snippets it keeps, and when your pages are found or cited.
What is the cheapest alternative to LLMrefs?
For ChatGPT search, FoundByChat is free to start with no credit card, and its free GEO audit allows 5 audits a day without an account. Among paid multi-engine tools, Rankscale Essentials starts at $20/month billed yearly ($204/year), followed by Otterly.AI Lite at $29/month.