AthenaHQ vs OptimizeGEO (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AthenaHQ grades higher than OptimizeGEO: 2.2 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 · graded Oct 23, 2026 and Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
AthenaHQ grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
AthenaHQ
Credit-based AI search tracking with content optimization agents
OptimizeGEO
GEO platform for AI brand visibility, shopping and ads
Which one is for you
Pick AthenaHQ if
- Fits if you want to look at real AI answers about your brand before paying anything
- Works for shops checking their products in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Gemini shopping results
Look elsewhere if
- Pricey if you outgrow the free credits, as the next step is $245 a month on yearly billing
- Tight if you track lots of prompts every day, because every answer spends a credit
- Skip it if you need Claude, AI Mode or Grok on the free plan, as they start on Starter
- Watch out: the API and extra credits on Starter are add-ons priced only on request
- Not for you if you need SSO, audit logs or multi-region tracking without an Enterprise contract
Pick OptimizeGEO if
- Fits if you have a marketing budget in four figures a month and a 12-month plan is fine
- Works for a company that wants a dedicated account manager and SSO, which come with Pro
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you are an individual or small team, as Standard is $499 a month for 75 prompts
- Not for you if you want to try it first, as no free plan or trial is listed
- Tight if you need more than 1 domain or 1 country, as each extra region costs $99 or $149 a month
- Pricey if you add prompts: $10 a month for each extra 10
- Watch out: API and SSO are Pro or Custom only, and Custom starts at $4,999 a month
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAAthenaHQFair | 1.8GPAOptimizeGEOWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | DStarter is $245 a month billed annually, $295 monthly, for 3,600 credits. That sits in this category's dearest tenth, which starts at $129, and the API and extra credits are add-ons priced only on request. | D$499 a month on Standard against a category middle of $49 and a dearest tenth that starts at $129, with a 12-month minimum on top. |
| Free plan and trial | CA free plan, Essential, with 300 credits on ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot and unlimited users. But one credit is one AI answer, so 10 prompts on 5 models spend 50 credits a run. You'll hit the wall fast. | FNo free plan and no trial; the pricing page says a trial is not listed and points to email. |
| Features | BUp to 11 models on Starter, Claude, AI Mode and Grok among them, with competitor benchmarks, sentiment and source insights. It adds an optimization agent, AI shopping results and robots.txt and llms.txt controls. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the core job. | BPersona research, recommendations, an action centre with agents, traffic attribution and a long engine list. Each plan covers one domain and one country. |
| Ease of use | CNo rating on record. Credits take some working out: there's a whole calculator just for estimating how prompts, locations, models and cadence add up. | CNo store rating on record, and it ties into analytics, CDN and CMS accounts before it is useful. |
| Platforms and integrations | BWeb only, with no desktop or phone app. It links to Google Analytics, Search Console, WordPress, Shopify and Webflow, and works inside ChatGPT or Claude over MCP. The API is a paid add-on. | BWeb app with Google Analytics, Cloudflare, AWS, Fastly, Vercel, Webflow and WordPress connections. API access is on the Custom plan only. |
| Best for | a free start on credit-based AI answer tracking | AI visibility programmes with a big budget |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: AthenaHQ and OptimizeGEO. How we grade
Price against what you get
AthenaHQ starts at $245 a month and scores 2.7 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. OptimizeGEO starts at $499 a month and scores 2.7.
They score the same, and AthenaHQ starts $254 a month lower. Of the other AI search visibility tools on the chart, 1 scores higher than AthenaHQ for less, and 1 scores higher than OptimizeGEO for less.
Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged
What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →
- The best score at each price
- Has a free plan
- No free plan
Where they differ
- AthenaHQ also covers AI agents.
- OptimizeGEO also covers reports.
At a glance
| AthenaHQ | OptimizeGEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free plan | Paid |
| Starts at | $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly) | $499 per month for 75 prompts, 3 AI models, 12-month minimum |
| Free plan | Essential plan: $25 of credit (300 credits, 1 credit = 1 AI response) across ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot, with unlimited users. | None |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | AthenaHQ | OptimizeGEO |
| Price read from | athenahq.ai | optimizegeo.ai |
| Checked | Oct 23, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
AthenaHQ
- Everything runs on credits: 3,600 a month on Starter. A free credit calculator helps estimate use by prompts, locations, models and cadence.
- API access and extra credits on Starter are paid add-ons whose prices are given only on request.
- The free Essential plan covers 5 models; Claude, AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral need Starter.
- SSO, audit logs, multi-region tracking and BI dashboards come only with Enterprise.
OptimizeGEO
- Standard and Pro require a 12-month minimum commitment; the page says yearly payment gets 2 months free.
- Extra prompts cost $10 per month for each 10, and an extra city or region costs $99 a month on Standard or $149 on Pro.
- The agencies tab lists separate one-time brand packs (ONE at $49 for 1 brand, TEN at $199 for 10 brands) and $499 or $1,999 a month client workspaces.
- Each plan tracks one domain and one country; API access and SSO are listed for Pro or Custom only.
Key features
AthenaHQ
- AI answer monitoring
- Analyzes prompts and responses for brand mentions, competitor benchmarking and real-time sentiment across up to 11 models on Starter.
- Sources and citation intelligence
- Shows which sources AI answers draw on and where competitors are cited instead of you.
- Content optimization agent
- Recommends on-page and off-page actions and rewrites content against brand guidelines; drafts can be published to WordPress, Shopify and other CMSs.
- Shopping insights
- Shows how a site's products appear in AI shopping results in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Gemini carousels, with position and competitor pricing.
- AI crawler controls
- Manages AI crawler access through a generated robots.txt and llms.txt.
- MCP and analytics connections
- Connects Google Analytics and Search Console to tie AI visibility to traffic, and works inside ChatGPT or Claude through MCP.
OptimizeGEO
- Persona intelligence
- Generates prompts from audience personas and measures brand visibility, share of voice, sentiment and citations.
- Cross-channel recommendations
- Turns visibility data into suggestions for owned, earned and paid media, including AI shopping and technical GEO and SEO site fixes.
- Action Center and agents
- Prioritizes recommendations and offers AI agents for technical optimization, content, product pages, off-page work and advertising, with human expert guidance.
- AI traffic and attribution
- Plans include AI traffic and attribution reporting, connected to Google Analytics.
- Engines covered
- The site names ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Copilot and Google AI Overviews as the engines it measures; the number of models in your plan depends on the tier (3 or 4).
Plans
AthenaHQ
Essential$0
300 credits on 5 models, unlimited users, prompt and source analysis, content recommendations and the Athena AI agent.
Starter$245
per month for 3,600 credits, billed annually ($295 monthly)
11 models including Claude, AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral; unlimited topics, prompts and competitors, CSV export and the optimization agent.
EnterpriseCustom
Custom credits and websites, API access, knowledge base and claim review, multi-region tracking, BI dashboards, SAML SSO, audit logs and a 2-hour SLA.
OptimizeGEO
Standard$499
per month for 75 prompts, 3 AI models, 12-month minimum
Weekly prompt analysis, 25 competitors, 30 articles a month, 5 recommendations every 2 weeks, up to 25 seats and email support. 1 domain and 1 country.
Pro$1,999
per month for 200 prompts, 4 AI models, 12-month minimum
Analysis every 3 days, 50 competitors, unlimited articles, 50 recommendations every 2 weeks, up to 50 seats, a dedicated account manager and single sign-on.
Custom$4,999
per month and up
Everything in Pro plus customizable prompt tracking and frequency, unlimited projects and API access. Sold through sales.
Ways to pay less
AthenaHQ
- Annual discount
17% off with annual billing
AthenaHQ's plans page takes 17% off for annual billing, described as two months free: Starter is $245 a month instead of $295.
OptimizeGEO
- Annual discount
2 months free with yearly payment
The pricing page says paying yearly on Standard or Pro gives 2 months free.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, AthenaHQ or OptimizeGEO?
As of Nov 13, 2026, AthenaHQ is cheaper to start with: $245 a month, against $499 a month for OptimizeGEO. AthenaHQ starts at $245 per month, billed annually ($295 billed monthly), and OptimizeGEO starts at $499 per month for 75 prompts, 3 AI models, 12-month minimum.
Which has a free plan, AthenaHQ or OptimizeGEO?
As of Nov 13, 2026, only AthenaHQ has a free plan. OptimizeGEO does not.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.