Promptwatch vs VisiScan 2026
The platform we run client GEO on versus a four-engine local scanner. What we would buy, and why $29 Monitor is not our Promptwatch seat.
We get this comparison when a local owner ran VisiScan for free and asks why the retainer still includes Promptwatch. Short answer: a 40-answer snapshot is not a program. We use Promptwatch on client work. We might attach a $49 VisiScan page to a trades audit. We do not treat weekly 12 questions as the KPI source.
How we compared them this week
VisiScan site, pricing.md (24 August 2026), about, llms.txt, 29 August 2026. Promptwatch from the sheet (23 August 2026). We did not treat Harborlight Plumbing as a customer. We did not recount 328 scans.
Mike Holp. Four engines. 1 free scan per URL.
What we would put in a client deck
| Question the client asks | What we answer |
|---|---|
| Did ChatGPT name us this hour? | VisiScan free, four engines, 5 questions. Promptwatch Explore if we only need ChatGPT prompts on a standing meter. |
| Can we host a weekly grade for $29? | VisiScan Monitor. We still need Promptwatch for logs and conversions. |
| Who publishes to Webflow? | Promptwatch Content Agents. VisiScan pastes schema. |
| Who sees GPTBot in CDN logs? | Promptwatch. VisiScan checks crawler access as a signal. |
| Is $29 Promptwatch? | No. Promptwatch Essential is $95. There is no $29 Promptwatch plan. |
Email-versus-$49 copy goes in a footnote. We show pricing.md.
What we would actually buy
Internally: Promptwatch stays. Free VisiScan on a local inbound lead if we want a named-rate screenshot in the first email.
For a clinic that will never log into a GEO cockpit: $49 once, we still recommend Promptwatch Explore so ChatGPT is sampled on a real tracker if they grow.
For us-shaped retainers: Promptwatch Essential or Professional. VisiScan is optional appendix.
We would not sign a SOW that uses VisiScan's agent ladder as proof we shipped GEO content. Paste is not publish. The ladder is a readiness grade (L1 structured data, next rung machine-readable services, in their example). We already write pages. We do not need a $49 file to know a clinic should add LocalBusiness schema. If the owner will not log into Promptwatch, we still do.
pricing.md caps the free scan at one per URL. A client who reruns the same domain tomorrow may hit that wall. Explore Promptwatch does not. We mention that before they burn the free pass on a staging host.
The recommendation we give
If they are choosing one tool because both say AI visibility, choose Promptwatch for anything that is a brand program. Choose VisiScan free for a local flashlight. If they already paid $49, keep the PDF and add Promptwatch anyway.
Full reports are one purchase per scan. A second location is another $49. Monitor is per the billing portal, weekly, still four engines. We would rather put that money on Essential once they have more than a dozen real buyer prompts. Twelve generated questions from a homepage are not a prompt strategy.
That is the comparison we will sign. VisiScan is a local scanner. Promptwatch remains the measurement answer on our accounts.