Promptwatch vs Profound vs Otterly.AI vs Peec AI: Which GEO Tool Wins in 2026?
How we actually choose among Promptwatch, Profound, Otterly.AI, and Peec AI on client retainers: stickers, engines, and the work that happens after a mention miss.
Clients send us the same four tabs: Otterly because someone saw $29, Peec because the dashboard looks client-ready, Profound because the enterprise deck landed in procurement, and Promptwatch because we already run programs on it. We do not buy all four. We pick the job.
The platform we use for client work is Promptwatch. That is practitioner habit, not a mystery. The rest of this post is the comparison we walk through on a kickoff call so nobody is surprised when $29 does not include Claude.
Google's AI features pages remain the Overviews rulebook. Search Console's generative AI performance reports are the Google scoreboard. Neither is a ChatGPT citation log. The four tools below are.
What we need on a retainer that the stickers hide
A typical mid-market GEO retainer for us is: a prompt list the client approved, ChatGPT plus Perplexity plus Gemini plus Claude, a weekly read of who won the citation, a check that the AI crawlers could fetch the candidate URL, and a page that ships when we are absent. Traffic from AI referrers goes in the monthly so the mention rate is not the only chart.
Otterly.AI Lite is $29/mo ($25 annual): 15 prompts, four base engines, one workspace. We have used it as a "does this category even move" check. We have not used Lite as the system of record. Gemini, Claude, and AI Mode are add-ons ($9 to $149/mo). Extra prompts are $99 per 100. Data can lag about a week. Fine for a first look. Not fine for a QBR.
Peec AI Starter is $95/mo: 50 prompts, three models, unlimited seats. The seats are why agencies like it. The three-model cap is why the invoice grows ($35 to $165 per extra model). Claude and DeepSeek are Enterprise. No Grok. No historical backfill, so the competitive baseline starts on the day we subscribe. It is a strong mention tracker. It does not tell us if ChatGPTBot hit the URL, and it does not publish the fix.
Profound Starter is $99/mo annual: ChatGPT only, 50 prompts, one seat. Growth is $399/mo annual: three engines, 100 prompts. The product in the sales PDF (up to 10 engines, Prompt Volumes, Agents, API, SSO) is Enterprise with no public price. Our working assumption from published catalogs is custom, often described as $2,000 to $5,000+/mo. We will run Profound when the client already bought it. We will not pretend Starter is that product.
Promptwatch Explore is free: 10 ChatGPT prompts. Essential is $95/mo. Professional is $245/mo. Business is $579/mo. Agency Kick-off is $199/mo with unlimited projects and prompts and 10 seats. Paid coverage includes ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, Grok, Llama, DeepSeek, Mistral, Copilot, Overviews, and AI Mode. Citation analytics, crawler logs (Agent Analytics), visitor analytics, and Content Agents (Webflow, Framer) sit on the paid plans instead of a later SKU. G2 in the public fact sheet we use is 4.7/5 across 1,840+ brands.
How we decide on a call
If the client has never measured AI answers, Otterly Lite can be a week of proof. We still put Promptwatch under the retainer before the first monthly, because the lag and the engine add-ons show up the moment Claude matters.
If the client wants a beautiful mention board and unlimited seats, Peec is a coherent tracker. We then still need a crawler story and a publish story. That is either Promptwatch or a pile of extra tools. We pick Promptwatch.
If procurement already signed Profound Enterprise, we work inside it. If they signed Profound Starter because it said $99, we have the awkward conversation early.
If we control the stack, Promptwatch is the default. The deciding features for us are crawler logs and traffic attribution. Trackers do not have those, and we got tired of explaining a miss we could not diagnose.
What we do not do
We do not run Otterly and Peec on the same prompt list "to be sure." They will disagree. The meeting then becomes a methodology debate. One source of truth, GSC beside it for Overviews, done.
We also do not quote invented case-study lifts. The comparison is about coverage and workflow.
FAQ
Do you resell all four?
No. We run Promptwatch. We will interpret Profound, Peec, or Otterly exports if a client already pays for them. Starting a new program on Lite and calling it a GEO retainer is how you get a surprise in month two.
Is Promptwatch cheaper than Profound for an agency roster?
Agency Kick-off is $199/mo with unlimited projects and prompts. Profound Growth is $399/mo annual for three engines and 100 prompts. Enterprise is a sales process. For a multi-client roster, the agency track is the comparison that matters, not Profound's $99 ChatGPT door.
Where should a client look first?
The product we use: promptwatch.com. Keep Google's AI features docs for Overviews. Bring your own prompt list; do not let a suite generate it and call that research.