{
  "version": "1.0.0",
  "createdAt": "2026-09-24",
  "title": "AI Visibility Industry Watch: Initial Competitor Registry",
  "author": "HowAICite Research",
  "canonicalUrl": "https://howaicite.com/research/industry-watch",
  "citation": "HowAICite Research. (2026). AI Visibility Industry Watch: Initial Competitor Registry (Version 1.0.0). https://howaicite.com/research/industry-watch",
  "reviewCadence": "weekly",
  "status": "watchlist",
  "methodNote": "This registry identifies products and primary-source URLs to review. It contains no independent product test or AI-answer measurement. Unknowns remain unknown until checked.",
  "signals": [
    "Product positioning and target buyer",
    "Published plans, limits and pricing (record date and currency)",
    "AI surfaces, markets, languages, sampling cadence and collection provenance",
    "Answer evidence, citations, competitor comparison and denominators",
    "Actions, automation, API/MCP/agent availability",
    "Exports, integrations, privacy and enterprise controls"
  ],
  "products": [
    {"name":"Profound","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS","url":"https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing","additionalSources":["https://www.tryprofound.com/features/answer-engine-insights/competitors","https://www.tryprofound.com/blog/go-from-insight-to-action-faster-with-the-refreshed-answer-engine-insights"],"watchReason":"Competitor analytics, answer/citation metrics and agent workflows; strong category reference.","evidenceStatus":"Primary product pages discovered; feature claims are vendor claims, not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Peec AI","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + MCP","url":"https://peec.ai/","additionalSources":["https://peec.ai/mcp"],"watchReason":"Direct overlap in multi-platform monitoring, competitor comparisons and MCP access.","evidenceStatus":"Official MCP page reviewed; product performance not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Scrunch AI","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + agent analytics","url":"https://scrunch.com/platform/monitoring/citations/","additionalSources":["https://scrunch.com/faqs/what-does-scrunch-track-for-ai-visibility-that-traditional-seo-tools-dont","https://scrunch.com/faqs/how-does-scrunch-detect-ai-bot-traffic-visiting-my-site/"],"watchReason":"Competitor benchmarking, citation analytics and connected bot/referral signals.","evidenceStatus":"Official product/FAQ pages reviewed; outcomes and scale claims not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Otterly.AI","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + API/MCP","url":"https://otterly.ai/pricing/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Low-friction paid entry, scheduled monitoring, API/MCP tiers and add-on model coverage.","evidenceStatus":"Official pricing page reviewed 2026-09-24; prices can change."},
    {"name":"Rankscale","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + API/MCP","url":"https://rankscale.ai/pricing","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Credit-based monitoring, broad engine coverage and agent/API access.","evidenceStatus":"Official pricing source queued for weekly revalidation; details not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Promptwatch","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS / free scan","url":"https://promptwatch.com/ai-visibility-report","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Free first-session audit and raw-answer/report experience compete for the same acquisition job.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; scan quality not independently tested."},
    {"name":"AthenaHQ","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + agents","url":"https://athenahq.ai/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Broad model coverage, optimization recommendations and explicit agent positioning.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; vendor claims not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Evertune","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility intelligence + agents","url":"https://www.evertune.ai/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Repeated sampling/statistical framing and downstream marketing actions are relevant measurement comparators.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; statistical claims not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Superlines","group":"Direct measurement platforms","kind":"AI visibility SaaS + API/MCP","url":"https://www.superlines.io/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Multi-market visibility intelligence and agent/API distribution.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; product not independently tested."},
    {"name":"SE Ranking / SE Visible","group":"SEO suites and adjacent platforms","kind":"SEO suite + AI visibility","url":"https://visible.seranking.com/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Real-interface measurement, established SEO distribution and reporting workflows.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; collection method must be checked per surface."},
    {"name":"HubSpot AEO","group":"SEO suites and adjacent platforms","kind":"AEO product connected to CRM/content","url":"https://www.hubspot.com/products/aeo","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Distribution through a broad marketing/CRM suite and connected recommendations/actions.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Ahrefs Brand Radar","group":"SEO suites and adjacent platforms","kind":"AI visibility data within SEO suite","url":"https://ahrefs.com/brand-radar","additionalSources":["https://help.ahrefs.com/en/articles/13192745-how-to-set-up-custom-prompts-to-track-brand-visibility-in-ai-assistants"],"watchReason":"Large existing SEO data graph and brand/AI-search reporting are adjacent substitutes.","evidenceStatus":"Official source queued for weekly revalidation; coverage and counts are vendor-defined."},
    {"name":"Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit","group":"SEO suites and adjacent platforms","kind":"AI visibility within SEO suite","url":"https://www.semrush.com/kb/1607-semrush-ai-visibility-data","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Bundled SEO-suite workflows may replace buying a standalone tracker.","evidenceStatus":"Official documentation source queued for weekly revalidation."},
    {"name":"Writesonic GEO","group":"Content and execution platforms","kind":"GEO analytics + content execution","url":"https://docs.writesonic.com/docs/different-subscription-plans-of-writesonic","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Connects visibility diagnosis with content generation and publishing-oriented workflows.","evidenceStatus":"Official documentation source queued for weekly revalidation; capability availability is plan-dependent."},
    {"name":"Gumshoe","group":"Content and execution platforms","kind":"AI visibility + persona-led content recommendations","url":"https://gumshoe.ai/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Persona/buyer-question framing and report experience overlap with HowAICite's target users.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; outputs not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Conductor","group":"Enterprise and adjacent platforms","kind":"Enterprise AEO/content platform + agent integrations","url":"https://www.conductor.com/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Enterprise AEO and content workflows plus agent ecosystem reach.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; enterprise capabilities require direct validation."},
    {"name":"Similarweb Gen AI Intelligence","group":"Enterprise and adjacent platforms","kind":"AI brand visibility + traffic intelligence","url":"https://www.similarweb.com/blog/updates/announcements/introducing-ai-brand-visibility/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Adjacent visibility/referral/traffic intelligence helps distinguish answer presence from downstream visits.","evidenceStatus":"Official announcement source queued for weekly revalidation."},
    {"name":"Brandlight","group":"Enterprise and adjacent platforms","kind":"Enterprise AI visibility and governance","url":"https://www.brandlight.ai/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Enterprise visibility, governance and procurement expectations are useful upper-market references.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; security claims require current attestations."},
    {"name":"Goodie","group":"Enterprise and adjacent platforms","kind":"AI visibility, optimization and attribution","url":"https://higoodie.com/","additionalSources":[],"watchReason":"Business-outcome/attribution positioning highlights what evidence buyers may expect.","evidenceStatus":"Official product source queued for weekly revalidation; attribution claims not independently verified."}
  ],
  "agentEcosystem": [
    {"name":"Peec AI MCP","url":"https://peec.ai/mcp","kind":"SaaS data exposed to conversational clients","evidenceStatus":"Official product page reviewed; authorization and action scope should be tested before comparison."},
    {"name":"Otterly.AI API/MCP","url":"https://otterly.ai/pricing/","kind":"API/MCP access within paid SaaS plans","evidenceStatus":"Official pricing page reviewed; plan availability can change."},
    {"name":"Profound Agents","url":"https://www.tryprofound.com/pricing","kind":"Agent workflows inside a full SaaS platform","evidenceStatus":"Official vendor claims; behavior and safeguards not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Beamtrace MCP","url":"https://mcp.so/servers/beamtrace","kind":"Directory-listed remote MCP","evidenceStatus":"Discovery-directory listing only; not evidence of security, usage or registry acceptance."},
    {"name":"TofuBofu MCP","url":"https://mcp.so/servers/tofubofu-188ffe","kind":"Directory-listed remote MCP scanner","evidenceStatus":"Discovery-directory listing only; not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Sleepwalker AI MCP","url":"https://chat.mcp.so/server/sleepwalker-ai/followanton","kind":"Directory-listed MCP/app/API/CLI","evidenceStatus":"Discovery-directory listing only; not independently tested."},
    {"name":"Zerply MCP","url":"https://chat.mcp.so/server/zerply","kind":"Directory-listed remote MCP","evidenceStatus":"Discovery-directory listing only; not independently tested."}
  ]
}