What is the best free AEO audit tool?

For a whole site, dotmap: it is free during beta and has a model score every page on whether it answers the question first and whether a passage could be quoted. For single pages, Google's Rich Results Test and PageSpeed Insights cover structured data and speed, but neither judges the content.

Is there a free GEO tool?

Yes, for auditing. dotmap scores every page for AI answer readiness for free during beta, and Semrush's free account includes site-wide AI crawler checks for up to 100 pages. Tracking brand mentions across many prompts is almost always paid; the free version is asking ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini yourself.

What is the difference between AEO and GEO?

They overlap. AEO, answer engine optimization, is about making a page the one an engine quotes as the answer. GEO, generative engine optimization, is about being named and cited in answers written by AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. A page that answers clearly, is easy to crawl and is trusted helps both.

Do I need special markup or an llms.txt file for AI search?

Google says no special markup or file is needed to appear in its AI features; the same SEO basics apply. Other engines publish less guidance. Clear answers near the top of a page, crawlable content and accurate structured data are the safe bets.

Can free tools replace a paid AI visibility tracker?

For finding and fixing problems, mostly yes. For measuring share of voice across hundreds of prompts over time, no. Many teams start free and add a tracker once AI search is a channel they report on.

alternatives // free tools

The best free AEO and GEO audit tools

No single free tool covers SEO, AEO and GEO. A good free stack is dotmap to find which pages are weak for search and AI answers, Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools for real search data, Screaming Frog for deep technical crawls, and a few questions asked directly in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini to see who gets named. Tracking AI mentions at scale is almost always paid.

Audit your site free See the list

at a glance

Free tools, what they cover, and the limit.

Tool	Covers	Free limit
dotmap	SEO, AEO, GEO	Free during beta, up to 1,000 pages per signed-in crawl
Google Search Console	SEO, some AEO	Free for sites you verify
Bing Webmaster Tools	SEO, some GEO	Free for sites you verify
Screaming Frog SEO Spider	SEO; AEO with your own setup	Free up to 500 URLs per crawl
Ahrefs Webmaster Tools	SEO	Free for sites you verify, with a monthly crawl allowance
Semrush free account	SEO, site-wide AI checks	Site Audit up to 100 pages
Google Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator	SEO, AEO	Free, any public URL
PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse	SEO	Free, any public URL
Asking the AI engines yourself	GEO	Free with a ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini account

dotmap

Free: Free during beta, up to 1,000 pages per signed-in crawl
What it checks: Crawls a whole site in the browser and has a model read every page: twelve judgments per page, including content depth, search-intent match, whether the page answers first and whether a passage could be quoted by an AI engine, plus eighteen technical checks, Lighthouse scores and AI keyword research.
Limits: Scores are estimates of readiness, not rankings or citations. No rank tracking or backlinks. We make dotmap, so weigh this entry accordingly.

Google Search Console

Free: Free for sites you verify
What it checks: Real clicks, impressions, queries and indexing status from Google. Traffic from AI Overviews and AI Mode is counted in the Performance report along with other web search traffic.
Limits: Only Google, only sites you own, and AI features are not reported separately. It shows what happened, not which page to change.

Bing Webmaster Tools

Free: Free for sites you verify
What it checks: Indexing, crawl diagnostics and search performance from Bing, whose index also powers Microsoft Copilot. Supports IndexNow for faster indexing.
Limits: Bing data only, and only for sites you own.

Screaming Frog SEO Spider

Compared with dotmap

Free: Free up to 500 URLs per crawl
What it checks: A desktop crawler for deep technical checks: redirects, canonicals, hreflang, JavaScript rendering and custom extraction. It can send pages to an AI model if you add your own API key and write the prompts.
Limits: Needs an install. Content and AI answer readiness are only judged if you build the prompts yourself.

Ahrefs Webmaster Tools

Compared with dotmap

Free: Free for sites you verify, with a monthly crawl allowance
What it checks: Ahrefs Site Audit's technical and on-page checks, plus backlink and organic keyword data for your own site.
Limits: Only sites you can verify. AI mention tracking (Brand Radar) is a paid product.

Semrush free account

Compared with dotmap

Free: Site Audit up to 100 pages
What it checks: A rule-based Site Audit that includes an AI Search category with site-wide checks such as llms.txt and AI crawler access.
Limits: 100 pages on a free account. The AI Visibility Toolkit for tracking prompts is paid, with no free trial.

Google Rich Results Test and the Schema.org validator

Free: Free, any public URL
What it checks: Check that structured data is valid and which Google rich results a page is eligible for.
Limits: One URL at a time. Valid markup does not make a page more likely to be quoted on its own.

PageSpeed Insights and Lighthouse

Free: Free, any public URL
What it checks: Core Web Vitals, performance, accessibility and basic SEO checks for a page.
Limits: One URL at a time, and nothing about content quality or AI answers.

Asking the AI engines yourself

Free: Free with a ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini account
What it checks: Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini the questions your buyers ask, such as "what are the best tools for [your category]?", and note who is named and which pages are cited.
Limits: Answers vary between runs, accounts and locations, so treat a handful of checks as a sample, not a measurement.

not free, worth knowing

Paid AI visibility tools.

These measure whether AI engines mention your brand across many prompts. None has a free plan.

Otterly.AIAI search monitoring and a GEO audit. 14-day free trial, then plans priced by the number of prompts tracked.
Semrush AI Visibility ToolkitPrompt tracking and brand performance in ChatGPT and Google AI Mode. Paid subscription, no free trial.
Profound and Peec AIAI visibility trackers for brands and agencies. Paid, priced mostly by prompts and engines tracked.

a free stack

Which free tool for which job.

Job	Use
Find weak pages and what to fix, for search and AI answers	dotmap
Confirm what Google actually sent you	Google Search Console
Cover Bing and Copilot	Bing Webmaster Tools
Deep technical crawl of a tricky site	Screaming Frog (500 URLs free)
Check structured data and page speed	Rich Results Test and PageSpeed Insights
See whether AI engines name you	Ask ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini yourself

faq

Questions about free AEO and GEO tools

Details about other tools come from their public pages as of October 2026. Free limits change, so check each tool before relying on it.

What is the best free AEO audit tool?: For a whole site, dotmap: it is free during beta and has a model score every page on whether it answers the question first and whether a passage could be quoted. For single pages, Google's Rich Results Test and PageSpeed Insights cover structured data and speed, but neither judges the content.
Is there a free GEO tool?: Yes, for auditing. dotmap scores every page for AI answer readiness for free during beta, and Semrush's free account includes site-wide AI crawler checks for up to 100 pages. Tracking brand mentions across many prompts is almost always paid; the free version is asking ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini yourself.
What is the difference between AEO and GEO?: They overlap. AEO, answer engine optimization, is about making a page the one an engine quotes as the answer. GEO, generative engine optimization, is about being named and cited in answers written by AI engines such as ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews. A page that answers clearly, is easy to crawl and is trusted helps both.
Do I need special markup or an llms.txt file for AI search?: Google says no special markup or file is needed to appear in its AI features; the same SEO basics apply. Other engines publish less guidance. Clear answers near the top of a page, crawlable content and accurate structured data are the safe bets.
Can free tools replace a paid AI visibility tracker?: For finding and fixing problems, mostly yes. For measuring share of voice across hundreds of prompts over time, no. Many teams start free and add a tracker once AI search is a channel they report on.

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