LLM monitoring is the practice of tracking what large language models say and cite about your brand: which engines mention you, how you rank against competitors, and crucially which sources they pull from. It matters because when a buyer asks ChatGPT or Perplexity for a recommendation, the model builds its answer from a concentrated set of cited sources, and you are either inside them or you are not. This guide compares the eight best LLM monitoring tools for 2026, with a focus on citation tracking and the data depth that separates them. Honeyb, first on the list, is our own tool, so judge the rest on their merits.
What LLM monitoring actually tracks
The whole point is the sources. Reddit alone is 40.1 per cent of all AI citations, and being cited is not the same as being named: Semrush found 62 per cent of AI citations never surface the brand behind them. A good LLM monitoring tool tracks both the mention and the citation behind it.
Share of AI citations
Most-cited domains in AI answers
And the strongest lever for changing what an LLM says is off your own site. AI visibility correlates most with third-party mentions and video, not on-page work, according to Ahrefs, so monitoring has to watch the whole web, not just your rankings.
How we compared them
We weighted citation tracking (does it show which sources the model used), model coverage, API access for teams that want the raw data, and price relative to who each tool is built for.
| Tool | Best for | Citation tracking | API access | Starting price |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Honeyb | Growing brands | Yes | No | Free check |
| Profound | Enterprise | Yes | Yes | $399/mo |
| Semrush AI Visibility | Existing Semrush users | Yes | Yes | Add-on |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Existing Ahrefs users | Yes | Yes | Ahrefs plans |
| AthenaHQ | Teams and agencies | Partial | Partial | $295/mo |
| Peec AI | Multilingual mid-market | Partial | No | $89/mo |
| SE Ranking | SEO teams | No | Yes | $55/mo |
| Otterly AI | SMBs | No | No | $29/mo |
The 8 best LLM monitoring tools
### 1. Honeyb
Honeyb monitors all four major models daily and, importantly, tracks the source citations behind each answer, so you see not just whether you are mentioned but which pages the model trusted. It scores visibility over time and turns citation gaps into fixes, starting with a free check. This is our own tool.
### 2. Profound
Profound offers the deepest enterprise-grade monitoring, including citation analysis and API access for teams that want the raw data. It is priced for large budgets, from around $399 a month. See Honeyb vs Profound.
### 3. Semrush AI Visibility
Semrush's AI Visibility toolkit adds LLM monitoring, including citation tracking and API access, to its established SEO suite. It suits teams already living in Semrush who want AI data in the same place.
### 4. Ahrefs Brand Radar
Want to see this in action?
See how every major AI model talks about your brand. Free to start.
Ahrefs Brand Radar tracks AI share of voice and mentions across AI answers, YouTube and Reddit, with the citation and web-mention data Ahrefs is known for, exposed via its API. It is included in Ahrefs plans.
### 5. AthenaHQ
AthenaHQ wraps monitoring in generative engine optimisation workflows for teams, with partial citation tracking and API access. From around $295 a month.
### 6. Peec AI
Peec AI monitors the major engines with strong multilingual coverage and partial citation tracking, a good fit for mid-market brands operating across languages. From about $89 a month.
### 7. SE Ranking
SE Ranking adds LLM tracking to its SEO platform with API access, though it does not expose source citations. From around $55 a month for the wider suite.
### 8. Otterly AI
Otterly AI is the budget entry, from $29 a month, covering mention monitoring across ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot. It does not expose source citations, so it fits when you mainly need to know whether you appear.
How to choose
If citation tracking is your priority, Honeyb, Profound, Semrush and Ahrefs lead. If you need the raw data via API, Profound, Semrush, Ahrefs and SE Ranking expose it. If budget is the constraint, Otterly and Honeyb's free check are the entry points. And if you want daily all-model monitoring with citations and recommendations without enterprise pricing, that is where Honeyb fits.
The caveat that applies to all of them
LLM answers are volatile. The same query changes roughly 70 per cent of the time, and two identical queries return the same brand list under a 1-in-100 chance (SparkToro). Monitor the trend across a fixed prompt set, not a single reading.
See where you stand with a free AI visibility check, and for the wider roundup see the 9 best AI brand monitoring tools.
