Athena HQ vs Peec AI in 2026: Free GEO audit vs $95/mo 7-engine with competitive benchmarking
Athena HQ has a free Essential tier with content gap analysis and Claude coverage. Peec AI starts at $95/month covering 7 engines with transparent pricing, competitive benchmarking, and add-on pricing for more engines.
Athena HQ
Peec AI- Athena HQ has a free Essential tier with real Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) audit functionality. Peec AI offers a 7-day free trial with no credit card but no permanent free tier; pricing starts at $95/month on Starter.
- Peec AI covers 7 engines (ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok) at the platform level, with every plan limited to 3 engines by default and add-ons for more. Athena HQ covers 4 engines on every tier.
- Peec AI includes competitive benchmarking with side-by-side share-of-voice across brands as a core feature. Athena HQ includes competitor benchmarking on every tier (2 competitors on free, unlimited on Starter).
- Athena HQ unlocks API access at $295/month Starter. Peec AI unlocks the Looker Studio connector and API at the $495/month Advanced plan. For mid-tier API access on a tight budget, Athena HQ is the cheaper choice.
- Peec AI includes separate credits-based agency plans with unlimited seats but no white-label. Athena HQ does not offer white-label on any tier.
- For teams with $95-200/month budget for an AI visibility tool, Peec AI is the practical self-serve choice. For teams that want free entry plus content gap depth at $295/month, Athena HQ is the appropriate fit.
Choosing between Athena HQ and Peec AI is a question about starting budget and engine coverage, with both tools offering competitive benchmarking and content recommendations. Athena HQ is a self-serve Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform with a free Essential plan and a $295/month Starter tier tracking ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. Peec AI is an AI search analytics platform starting at $95/month with transparent pricing, 7-day free trial, and tracking any 3 of 7 engines per plan, with extra engines available as paid add-ons. Athena HQ is the right pick if you want a free starting tier plus content gap analysis with Claude coverage. Peec AI is the right pick if you have $95+/month to spend and want transparent self-serve pricing with competitive benchmarking across your choice of engines. The right pick depends on whether free entry plus 4 engines beats $95/month entry with 3-of-7 flexible engine selection.
The tools at a glance
Athena HQ
Free-to-start GEO audit platform with citation gap analysis and API access on paid plans
Athena HQ is a generative engine optimization platform built around a free GEO audit, paired with paid plans that unlock deeper analysis. It tracks brand appearances across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity on all tiers, including the free Essential plan. The standout feature is the Essential tier itself: a genuine free plan that runs a real audit of your AI citation performance, surfaces which competitors are winning in your category, and identifies content gaps that may be holding your brand back.
The paid plans focus on depth rather than coverage. Citation source tracking, unlimited competitor benchmarking, and API access unlock at the $295/month Starter tier, with no mid-priced option in between. The content gap analysis is the centerpiece of the platform: Athena HQ compares your site content coverage to the topics AI models are pulling from competitor sites, and flags specific topic areas to prioritize in your content calendar.
The main friction versus Peec AI is the absence of transparent mid-tier pricing and the locked API access. Athena HQ jumps from free to $295/month with no middle ground, while Peec AI provides transparent Starter, Pro, and Advanced tiers. For teams whose Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) programme primarily needs a free tier plus $295/month depth with API access, Athena HQ is the practical choice. For teams with $95-200/month to spend on transparent mid-tier pricing, Peec AI is the more appropriate fit.
| Feature | Essential Free | Starter $295/mo | Enterprise Contact |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI models tracked | 4 | 4 | 4 |
| GEO audit | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Content gap analysis | Basic | Full | Full |
| Citation source tracking | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Competitor benchmarking | 2 competitors | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| API access | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| White label | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Peec AI
AI visibility analytics with public pricing from $95/mo, competitive benchmarking, and a Looker Studio connector on higher tiers
Peec AI is an AI search visibility analytics platform built for marketing teams that need to track how their brand performs across AI-powered search. Unlike many tools in the category that hide pricing behind a sales call, Peec publishes its plans openly: Starter at $95/month, Pro at $245/month, and Advanced at $495/month, with a custom Enterprise tier. Annual billing takes 15 percent off, and a 7-day free trial runs without a credit card.
Each plan lets teams track 3 of 7 supported platforms: ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, Google AI Overviews, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini, and Grok. If a team needs more than three, it can add engines for $35 to $165/month each depending on tier. The two newest models, Claude Sonnet 4 and GPT-5 Search, are only available on Enterprise plans, so self-serve customers cannot track them.
The platform centers on competitive benchmarking and prompt-level analytics rather than just counting mentions. The main thing to plan around is that the integrations most data teams want, the Looker Studio connector and the API, only appear on the $495/month Advanced plan. Teams on Starter or Pro get the core tracking and competitive data but cannot pipe it into their own reporting stack. Separate from brand plans, Peec offers a credits-based agency structure with pitch workspaces for client proposals.
| Feature | Starter $95/mo | Pro $245/mo | Advanced $495/mo | Enterprise Custom |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prompts per month | 50 | 150 | 350 | Unlimited |
| AI engines included | 3 of 7 | 3 of 7 | 3 of 7 | 3 + add-ons |
| Projects | 1 | 2 | 5 | Unlimited |
| Competitive benchmarking | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Looker Studio connector | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| API access | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Unlimited seats | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| White label | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ |
Head-to-head feature comparison
| Feature | Athena HQ | Peec AI |
|---|---|---|
| AI engines tracked | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity | 7 supported (3 active per plan): ChatGPT, AI Mode, AI Overviews, Copilot, Perplexity, Gemini, Grok |
| Competitive share-of-voice | Yes | Yes (side-by-side share-of-voice) |
| Prompt-level citation data | Yes | Yes |
| Answer / content gap analysis | Yes (content gap analysis) | No |
| Category intelligence | No | Yes |
| AEO content generation | No | No |
| Crawler / AI bot log access | No | No |
| Page content audits | No | No |
| API access | Paid plans only (Starter $295/mo+) | Advanced $495/mo+ |
| Looker Studio / BI connector | No | Advanced $495/mo+ |
| White-label delivery | No | No |
| Pay-per-prompt pricing | No | No |
| Agency multi-brand support | Limited | Yes (separate agency plans) |
| Starting price | Free (Essential) | $95/mo |
Considering AI Peekaboo alongside Athena HQ and Peec AI?
Athena HQ has no white-label delivery on any tier, and Peec AI reserves API and Looker Studio connector for the $495/month Advanced plan. AI Peekaboo is the best AI visibility tool with white-label delivery plus read and write API on every plan from $50/month Starter. For agencies managing multiple clients that need both branded reports and programmatic data access from day one, AI Peekaboo is the self-serve alternative without a sales call.
Read the AI Peekaboo review →Which should you choose?
Athena HQPeec AIAthena HQPeec AIAthena HQPeec AIAthena HQAthena HQ and Peec AI both offer competitive benchmarking and prompt-level analytics, but they assume different starting budgets. Athena HQ optimizes for a free tier plus a $295/month jump with content gap depth. Peec AI optimizes for $95/month entry with transparent tiered pricing and flexible engine selection through add-ons. The deciding factor is whether free entry plus 4 engines beats $95/month entry with 3-of-7 engine choice.
Bottom line
If your priority is starting with a free GEO audit plus content recommendations with Claude coverage, Athena HQ at free or $295/month is the practical choice. If your priority is $95/month entry with transparent pricing, side-by-side competitive benchmarking, and 3-of-7 engine choice, Peec AI is the more appropriate fit. Both work well; match the tool to budget tolerance.
Frequently asked questions
How does Athena HQ compare to Peec AI for AI visibility?
Athena HQ is a self-serve Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) platform with a free Essential plan and a $295/month Starter tier tracking ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity with content gap analysis. Peec AI starts at $95/month with transparent self-serve pricing and tracks 3 of 7 supported engines per plan with paid add-ons for more. Athena HQ fits teams that want free entry plus Claude. Peec AI fits teams that want $95/month entry with flexible engine selection.
Which tool has better competitive benchmarking?
Peec AI centers competitive benchmarking with side-by-side share-of-voice across brands as a primary feature, including citation frequency, prompt performance, and model-level breakdowns. Athena HQ includes competitor benchmarking at 2 competitors on the free tier and unlimited on Starter. Both cover competitive benchmarking; Peec AI surfaces it more prominently.
Does Athena HQ include a free tier?
Yes. The Essential free plan runs a real Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) audit with content gap analysis and basic competitor benchmarking across 2 competitors. Peec AI offers a 7-day free trial but no permanent free tier. For teams that want to evaluate indefinitely on a free plan, Athena HQ is the practical choice.
Which tool has cheaper API access?
Athena HQ unlocks API access at the $295/month Starter tier. Peec AI locks the Looker Studio connector and API to the $495/month Advanced plan. For teams with engineering workflows on a sub-$500/month budget, Athena HQ is more economical.
Does Peec AI include Claude tracking?
Peec AI does not list Claude among the 7 supported engines on the public site. Athena HQ covers Claude on every tier including free. If Claude coverage is a priority for your Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) work, Athena HQ is the practical choice in this comparison.
Which tool is better for agencies managing multiple clients?
Peec AI offers separate credits-based agency plans with unlimited seats and pitch workspaces for client proposals, but no white-label reporting. Athena HQ does not include white-label on any tier. For agencies that need branded client-facing reports, AI Peekaboo from $50/month is the practical choice, with white-label included on every plan.