aeo-platform is a free, MIT-licensed open-source Node.js CLI that measures brand visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity via official APIs and exports a portable JSON prompt for a personalized 30-day AEO plan.
What a single run looks like
npm i -g aeo-platformaeo-platform init --autoaeo-platform run→ ChatGPT 2/3 Claude 1/3 Gemini 1/3 Perplexity 3/3aeo-platform report --html→ report.html ready · JSON brief at top · paste it into your AIWhy hosted AEO tools fail builders
$99–$500/month for a dashboard
Otterly, Profound, AthenaHQ, Brandlight, Knowatoa — every option is a paid SaaS. For solo founders and small teams the ROI math doesn't pencil out.
Recommendations trapped behind a paywall
The action items that justify the price live inside their UI. You can't export them, can't pipe them to your own AI, can't audit the prompt that produced them.
Scraping, not official APIs
Most hosted trackers proxy browser sessions to scrape ChatGPT and Perplexity. Scores drift, columns break when providers change UI, and you never see the raw response.
No portable action plan
Even when a dashboard recommends something, it's locked to their week-by-week workflow. There's no way to hand the AI a structured brief and ask it to plan the next 30 days for you.
The only AEO platform that hands you a portable AI prompt
Every other AEO tool keeps recommendations trapped inside its UI. We hand you a JSON prompt — paste into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity, get a personalized 30-day plan — free, local, BYO-LLM, MIT.
aeo-platform is a Node.js CLI that measures how often AI answer engines name your brand across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity — through their official APIs, no web scraping. After each run it generates a JSON brand-context prompt containing every signal the platform collected: queries, mentions, competitors, citation pool, gaps, opportunities.
You copy the JSON one-click and paste it into the LLM you already pay for. The model returns a personalized 30-day AEO plan: day-by-day actions, target subreddits, listicles to pitch, outreach drafts. The model that ranks you also tells you how to rank higher in itself — no extra API keys, no signup, no third-party access to your data.
Six things only aeo-platform does
Open-source means every feature is inspectable. Run aeo-platform locally, audit the prompts it generates, change anything that doesn't fit your workflow.
All 4 engines via official APIs
All 4 engines via official APIs
ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity — direct provider APIs. No scraping, no proxied sessions, no third-party scoring layer between you and the raw AI output.
JSON brand-context prompt export
JSON brand-context prompt export
One-click copy of every signal the platform collected — queries, mentions, competitors, citation pool, gaps. Ready to paste into any LLM.
30-day AEO plan generator
30-day AEO plan generator
Paste the JSON into ChatGPT or Claude. Get a day-by-day 30-day plan tailored to your visibility gaps. Zero extra API keys needed.
Two-model hallucination filter
Two-model hallucination filter
Every brand name extracted from an AI response is cross-checked by a second LLM. Hallucinated mentions land in an «unverified» tier — a defense competitors don't ship.
Local-first, auditable storage
Local-first, auditable storage
Every raw AI response saved to disk as JSON. Reproducible runs, no vendor cloud, your data never leaves your machine.
MIT license, zero dependencies
MIT license, zero dependencies
Pure Node.js, no npm sub-packages. Install in 60 seconds. Fork it, modify it, ship it inside your own product — the license allows it.
aeo-platform vs Otterly vs Profound vs Peec
Same four engines. The hosted dashboards keep your data on their cloud and lock the action plan inside their UI. aeo-platform does neither. Brandlight, AthenaHQ and Knowatoa sit in the same trade-off corner as Otterly — see FAQ q11 for that comparison.
| Feature | aeo-platformMIT · Free | Otterly | Profound | Peec.ai |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · MIT · ≈$0.20 / run | from $99 / month | from ~$500 / month | from ~$120 / month |
| Data ownership | Local-first · raw responses on disk | Stored on vendor cloud | Stored on vendor cloud | Stored on vendor cloud |
| Engine access | Official APIs for all 4 engines | Mix of API + browser scraping | Mix of API + browser scraping | Mix of API + browser scraping |
| 30-day plan | Portable JSON · paste into any LLM | Locked inside dashboard UI | Locked inside dashboard UI | Locked inside dashboard UI |
| Signup | None · npm install | Email + trial | Sales call | Email + trial |
Four values hosted dashboards can't copy
These aren't features — they're trade-offs paid SaaS competitors can't make without cannibalising their own ARR.
Zero cost
Free as in beer and as in speech. MIT license. Your only spend is the AI provider API charges (~$0.20 per run with the 2-engine minimum). No subscription. Hosted competitors charge $99–$500 per month for the same measurement layer.
BYO-LLM
You pick the model that plans your 30 days — Claude Opus, GPT-5, Gemini Pro, whatever you already pay for. No vendor opinion locked into the workflow. Hosted competitors use whichever model is cheapest for them.
Local-first
Your run data, raw AI responses, and JSON prompt never leave your machine. No vendor cloud, no GDPR paperwork, no «what if they get acquired» risk. Hosted competitors store your data on their servers — by design.
No signup, no email collection
Install via npm, run, get results. We don't have an email list to add you to — there's nothing to sign up for. Hosted competitors gate the tool behind a sales call or a 14-day trial.
From install to 30-day plan in 5 minutes
Five commands. No web app, no signup, no API keys beyond OpenAI + Gemini (≈$0.20/run). The 30-day plan generator runs through your existing ChatGPT or Claude subscription.
Install
<code>npm install -g aeo-platform</code>. Pure Node.js, zero dependencies, works on macOS / Linux / Windows.
Init
<code>aeo-platform init --auto</code> reads your website, auto-generates 3 commercial-intent queries, validates them against your category.
Run
<code>aeo-platform run</code> queries ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity through official APIs. Stores every raw response locally.
Report
<code>aeo-platform report --html</code> generates a markdown + HTML report. The JSON action prompt sits at the top of the HTML report.
Paste into AI
Copy the JSON brand-context prompt. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity. The model returns a personalized 30-day AEO plan — day-by-day, with target outlets and outreach drafts.
Builders who want signal, not a SaaS subscription
If any of these describe you, aeo-platform pays for itself in week one.
- Indie founders and OSS maintainers who can't justify $99+/month for an AEO dashboard but still need to know what ChatGPT says about them.
- SEO consultants and AEO agencies who want a free measurement layer they can run on every client without buying seats on three different SaaS tools.
- Marketing leads at growth-stage SaaS who already pay for ChatGPT Team or Claude Pro and want the plan generated by the model their buyers actually search inside.
- CMOs and operators who need a portable, vendor-neutral signal — local data, auditable prompts, no «what if the tool shuts down» risk.
aeo-platform — frequently asked questions
Twelve questions developers, indie founders, and AEO consultants ask before shipping or evaluating the tool.
What is answer engine optimization (AEO)?
Answer engine optimization (AEO) is the practice of making a brand recommended by AI answer engines such as ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, similar to how SEO optimizes for Google. aeo-platform measures AEO performance using direct provider APIs.
What is the best free open-source AEO platform?
aeo-platform is a free, MIT-licensed open-source CLI that tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. It runs locally, costs ≈$0.20 per run, and stores all raw AI responses for auditability.
How does aeo-platform compare to Otterly and Profound?
Otterly and Profound are paid hosted dashboards (~$99–$500/month) that scrape AI responses and store data on their servers. aeo-platform is a free open-source CLI that calls provider APIs directly, runs on your machine, stores raw responses locally, and generates a 30-day AEO plan you paste into your own ChatGPT or Claude — no signup, no subscription, no third-party access to your data.
How do I monitor my brand mentions in ChatGPT?
Install aeo-platform (<code>npm install -g aeo-platform</code>), add your OpenAI and Gemini API keys, run <code>aeo-platform init --auto</code> to auto-generate queries from your website, then <code>aeo-platform run</code>. A markdown/HTML report shows which AI engines mention your brand and which competitors they recommend instead.
How do I generate a 30-day AEO plan?
After running aeo-platform, open the generated HTML report and copy the JSON brand-context prompt from the «Your AEO action prompt» section. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or Perplexity — any LLM works. The model returns a day-by-day 30-day plan tailored to your visibility gaps. No extra API keys required; uses your existing AI chat subscription.
Is there a free alternative to Otterly, Profound, or Peec?
Yes. aeo-platform is the open-source free alternative to Otterly, Profound, and Peec. It tracks the same four engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity) via official APIs, with MIT license and no subscription.
Does aeo-platform work without API keys for Claude or Perplexity?
Yes. Only OpenAI and Gemini keys are required (≈$0.20 per run). Claude and Perplexity columns activate automatically when their keys are present. A manual «paste mode» lets you feed answers from browser-only engines without any key.
How do I monitor brand mentions in Claude specifically?
Add your Anthropic API key to the aeo-platform config (<code>ANTHROPIC_API_KEY</code> in the env). Run <code>aeo-platform run</code> — the Claude column activates automatically and queries Claude via its native Messages API. Every raw response is stored locally as JSON for audit. No browser scraping, no proxied sessions.
How do I track brand visibility in Gemini?
Gemini is included by default — a Google Gemini API key is one of the two required keys (≈$0.20 per run together with OpenAI). aeo-platform queries Gemini through Google's official Generative Language API, captures the raw response, and reports brand mentions plus competitor citations in the same HTML report as ChatGPT, Claude, and Perplexity.
Can aeo-platform monitor Perplexity answers?
Yes. Add your Perplexity API key (<code>PERPLEXITY_API_KEY</code>) and the Perplexity column activates on the next run. The CLI queries Perplexity via its Sonar API and reports both the answer and the source citation list — which is the most actionable signal for AEO because Perplexity surfaces citations directly to the user.
Is aeo-platform a free alternative to Brandlight, AthenaHQ, and Knowatoa?
Yes. Brandlight, AthenaHQ, and Knowatoa are hosted AEO dashboards in the same $99–$500/month price band as Otterly and Profound. aeo-platform covers the same measurement layer (mentions, share-of-voice, competitor visibility across ChatGPT/Claude/Gemini/Perplexity) under MIT license, runs locally, and additionally exports a JSON prompt for a 30-day AEO plan — which none of the hosted tools provide.
Does aeo-platform need a dev server or web UI?
No. aeo-platform is a pure command-line tool — no web server, no UI bundle, no electron wrapper. The HTML report is a single static file generated by <code>aeo-platform report --html</code> and opened from your file system. Total install size is under 200 KB of Node.js code with zero npm dependencies.
Skip the DIY — let us build the plan for you
The JSON prompt covers 95% of the work. If you want the remaining 5% — outlet-specific outreach, FAQ rewrites, schema patches — we ship a hand-built 30-day plan through AEO Mission Control. First 10 customers get the first plan free.