Head-to-head review · Updated June 2026

AI Position vs Contently: which one wins in 2026?

AI Position and Contently both claim to do the same thing: tell you where your brand shows up in AI search. They go about it differently enough that the choice matters. Contently is the more-funded incumbent; AI Position is the leaner challenger.

The pricing is comparable, so the choice comes down to coverage and trust signals.

The verdict
Pick

AI Position

AI Position is the right pick if your team prefers their approach and pricing fits.

★ Our pick
Pick

Contently

Pick Contently if you trust traction signals — they list 8 customers, AI Position lists 0; and you want the better-funded company ($19.2M); and SOC 2 Type 2 matters for your security review.

If neither is right, GrowthManager.ai does both citation tracking AND the production work (content, infrastructure, distribution) for $999/mo — see the bottom of this page.

The case for AI Position

They cover 4 AI platforms.

Rank tracking for AI search — see where your brand shows up in generative answers.

What people praise

  • Free public audit tool returns an AI Reputation Score in roughly 30 seconds, with no credit card required.
  • Covers five model providers in one scan: OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Meta.
  • Lightweight scan flow that lets prospects test the value before any signup or pricing conversation.

Where it falls short

  • No public pricing page, so buyers cannot evaluate the paid tier without going through a sales motion.
  • Free tier is capped at three scans per visitor, which limits ongoing self-serve evaluation.
  • Absent from major AEO and LLM visibility roundups in 2026, so independent reviews and benchmarks are not yet available.
  • No public customer logos, case studies, or named customers documented on the site.

The case for Contently

Contently has raised $19.2M (Series B (2014, $9M)). Founded by Joe Coleman, Shane Snow, Dave Goldberg, based in New York, NY. On their site they list 8 named customers including RBC, American Express, Coast Capital, PNC Bank. They cover 4 AI platforms. Pricing starts at $500/mo.

Enterprise content marketing platform with freelance creator network.

What people praise

  • Vetted talent network of 165,000+ creators including CFAs, MDs, and FINRA-registered reviewers for regulated industries
  • Compliance review workflows built for financial services, healthcare, and insurance content
  • Dedicated managing editors are assigned to each account, not just self-serve software
  • Talent API lets enterprise teams plug creators into their own CMS or workflow tools

Where it falls short

  • No public pricing, requires sales call to learn cost
  • Entry point reported at $500/mo with enterprise contracts $50K to $200K annually, out of reach for SMBs
  • Implementation fees reported $1,000 to $50,000 on top of subscription
  • Heavy emphasis on freelance talent network adds variable per-piece costs beyond the platform fee

Pricing, tier by tier

Tier 1
AI Position
Contently
Basic
$500/mo+
  • Content platform access
  • Talent network access
  • Editorial calendar
Tier 2
AI Position
Contently
Plus
$2,000/mo+
  • Compliance review workflows
  • Managing editor support
  • Brand voice tools
Tier 3
AI Position
Contently
Enterprise
$5,000/mo+
  • Talent API
  • AI Studio
  • LLM Optimization for AEO
  • FINRA-registered reviewers

Feature parity

What each one ships that the other doesn't. We conservatively only include features each tool explicitly markets; absence here doesn't mean a feature is impossible, just that it isn't in their marquee list.

Only on AI Position
  • AI Reputation Score. Single visibility score derived from prompts run against multiple LLM providers.
  • Free URL Audit. Public scan that takes a domain URL and returns a visibility report in about 30 seconds.
  • ai.txt Guidance. Recommends an ai.txt file as part of the optimization workflow for LLM crawlers.
  • Glossary and Industry Pages. Vertical-specific landing pages and an AEO glossary aimed at educating buyers new to AI visibility.
Only on Contently
  • Talent Network. 165,000+ vetted freelance writers, editors, and subject-matter experts including FINRA-registered and clinical reviewers
  • Compliance Review. Automated routing of drafts through legal and regulatory review queues
  • AI Studio. Multi-agent content creation with brand voice enforcement and tone analysis
  • LLM Optimization. Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) features to surface client content in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews
  • Content Value Tracker. ROI measurement that ties published content to revenue impact
  • Talent API. API for embedding Contently's freelance network into the customer's own CMS or workflow

When each one wins

When AI Position wins
  • Free public audit tool returns an AI Reputation Score in roughly 30 seconds, with no credit card required.
When Contently wins
  • Budget is the constraint. Contently starts at $500/mo vs AI Position's $∞/mo, so on a per-seat basis it's the cheaper way in.
  • You're enterprise and need to call a reference. Contently lists 8 named customers; AI Position lists 0.
  • You want the better-funded incumbent. Contently has raised $19.2M, giving it more runway and shipping velocity.
  • Procurement requires SOC 2 Type 2. Contently has it; AI Position doesn't yet.
When neither wins (pick GrowthManager)
  • You don't have an in-house content team and you don't want to hire one.
  • You want one $999/mo invoice instead of stacking AI Position plus an agency.
  • You need the team that measures to also act on the data, in the same week.
  • You're a B2B SaaS, services firm, or e-commerce brand at $20K+ MRR.

Reasons to pick one over the other

Reasons to pick AI Position over Contently

  1. Built for the LLM era. AI Position was founded in 2024, built around AI search from day one; Contently dates back to 2010 and is retrofitting.
  2. What users praise most. Free public audit tool returns an AI Reputation Score in roughly 30 seconds, with no credit card required.

Reasons to pick Contently over AI Position

  1. Lower entry price. Contently publishes a clear entry tier at $500/mo; AI Position gates pricing.
  2. Public pricing. Contently publishes 3 tiers on its website; AI Position requires a sales conversation.
  3. Better-funded incumbent. Contently has raised $19.2M, giving it more runway and shipping velocity than AI Position.
  4. More named customers. Contently lists 8 customers vs AI Position's 0, including RBC, American Express, Coast Capital.
  5. SOC 2 Type 2. Contently carries SOC 2 Type 2; AI Position does not yet, which can hold up procurement.
  6. HIPAA-ready. Contently is HIPAA compliant; AI Position is not.
  7. Faster product velocity. Contently has shipped 4 public launches in the last year vs AI Position's 0.
  8. More mature platform. Contently (founded 2010) has had more time to harden the product than AI Position (2024).
  9. Wider integration ecosystem. Contently integrates with 7 tools; AI Position ships 0.
  10. What users praise most. Vetted talent network of 165,000+ creators including CFAs, MDs, and FINRA-registered reviewers for regulated industries

Switching from one to the other

From AI Position to Contently

Export your saved queries and prompt panels from AI Position (most tools support CSV export). Most Contently setups can import the same query list in a single CSV upload. Expect 1-2 days of parallel running so you can validate Contently's data againstAI Position's; one to two weeks of full reconciliation before you cancel AI Position. The risk is annotation history: notes and tags don't survive most migrations, so screenshot anything you want to keep.

From Contently to AI Position

Same flow in reverse. Export from Contently, import to AI Position. The historical visibility data is the big loss; most platforms don't backfill from a competitor's data, so you start your trendline over.

From either to GrowthManager.ai

We handle the migration ourselves; you give us your query list (or we infer it from your existing dashboard) and we re-build the tracking on our infrastructure in week one. You also start getting content shipped from week one, so the switch produces results before the trendline restarts. The conversation that kicks this off is a 20-minute call.

Side by side, every number we could verify

AI PositionContently
Starts at (USD/mo)Custom$500/mo
Founded20242010
HeadquartersNew York, NY
Funding raised$19.2M
AI platforms tracked44
G2 rating
Named customers8
SOC 2 Type 2✓ Yes
GDPR✓ Yes
HIPAA✓ Yes

What real users say

Below: the recurring themes from G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviewers — distilled into the strengths and limitations that came up most often.

AI Positionwhat users praise

  • Free public audit tool returns an AI Reputation Score in roughly 30 seconds, with no credit card required.
  • Covers five model providers in one scan: OpenAI, Google, Anthropic, Perplexity, and Meta.
  • Lightweight scan flow that lets prospects test the value before any signup or pricing conversation.

AI Positionwhat users complain about

  • No public pricing page, so buyers cannot evaluate the paid tier without going through a sales motion.
  • Free tier is capped at three scans per visitor, which limits ongoing self-serve evaluation.
  • Absent from major AEO and LLM visibility roundups in 2026, so independent reviews and benchmarks are not yet available.
  • No public customer logos, case studies, or named customers documented on the site.
  • Team page and founder background are not disclosed publicly.

Contentlywhat users praise

  • Vetted talent network of 165,000+ creators including CFAs, MDs, and FINRA-registered reviewers for regulated industries
  • Compliance review workflows built for financial services, healthcare, and insurance content
  • Dedicated managing editors are assigned to each account, not just self-serve software
  • Talent API lets enterprise teams plug creators into their own CMS or workflow tools
  • Content Value tracker measures ROI in dollars rather than vanity metrics

Contentlywhat users complain about

  • No public pricing, requires sales call to learn cost
  • Entry point reported at $500/mo with enterprise contracts $50K to $200K annually, out of reach for SMBs
  • Implementation fees reported $1,000 to $50,000 on top of subscription
  • Heavy emphasis on freelance talent network adds variable per-piece costs beyond the platform fee
  • Not well suited for teams that want self-serve AI generation without human-in-the-loop review

A third option

Both AI Position and Contentlyare tracking tools. They tell you what's wrong with your AI visibility. Neither one fixes it. That's our pitch for GrowthManager.ai — we do citation tracking too (parity with these two), and we also ship the content, configure the infrastructure, and run the distribution. $999/mo, managed end-to-end. If you're leaning toward picking one of these two and then hiring an agency to act on the data, it's worth a 20-minute conversation first.

Frequently asked questions

Which is better, AI Position or Contently?

Honestly: neither one fully solves the problem. AI Position and Contently are tracking tools — they tell you where your brand shows up in AI answers but don't change the answer. If you only need one of these two, pick AI Position for the cheaper monthly price; pick the other if its specific integrations matter to your team. Our actual editorial pick is GrowthManager.ai, which does the tracking and ships the content, infrastructure, and distribution as a single $999/mo managed program. Disclosure: we publish this comparison and make GrowthManager.

How much do AI Position and Contently cost?

AI Position starts at Custom. Contently starts at $500/mo. Both have higher-tier plans for larger workspaces. GrowthManager.ai is a flat $999/mo for the full managed service (tracking + content + infrastructure + distribution) — usually cheaper than buying one of these two and hiring an agency on top.

Which AI platforms do AI Position and Contently cover?

AI Position covers 4 AI platforms. Contently covers 4. Most tools in this space monitor ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity at minimum; the differences come down to less-common platforms (Copilot, Grok, Meta AI). GrowthManager.ai monitors the same four primary platforms and acts on the data.

Do AI Position and Contently actually improve your AI visibility, or just measure it?

Both AI Position and Contently are measurement tools. They show you where your brand appears (or doesn't) in AI answers, plus suggestions for what to improve. Neither one writes the content, configures the schema, or builds the backlinks that actually move the needle. To do that you need an in-house content team or an agency. GrowthManager.ai is the agency — and we include the tracking, so you don't pay twice.

What's the GrowthManager.ai alternative to AI Position and Contently?

GrowthManager.ai is a managed AI visibility program. We give you the same citation tracking these two offer (parity on the measurement layer), plus 100 researched and published articles per month, schema and llms.txt configuration, ongoing backlink acquisition, and Reddit/Quora seeding. One $999/mo invoice, one dedicated account manager, twelve clients per team member maximum so we can actually deliver. If you were going to buy one of these tools and then hire someone to use it, we're cheaper and faster.

Further reading

External research that informs the editorial framework on this page. We cite these openly because the framework is meant to be auditable.

  1. Microsoft Bing Webmaster Guidelines (2025)· Microsoft

    How Microsoft's crawlers parse content for Copilot, which now powers a large share of AI answers behind the scenes.

  2. Generative Engine Optimization research· Kevin Indig

    Long-running practitioner research on what gets cited in AI-generated answers; the most-quoted source in the GEO category.

  3. Zero-Click Search forecasts· Gartner

    Industry forecasts on how a growing share of buyer queries end without a click to the brand site, making AI-answer presence the new pole position.

  4. Audience intelligence analyses· SparkToro

    Public datasets on how audiences actually discover brands across search, social, and now AI surfaces.

  5. Trust Barometer (2024)· Edelman

    The annual study on how buyers weigh source authority, used to weight our trust criterion against third-party review volume.

Disclosure + methodology

GrowthManager.ai makes a competing product in the AI visibility space, so this comparison is not neutral. Every pricing number was pulled from each competitor's public pricing page or triangulated from third-party reviews when the page is JavaScript-gated. Pros, cons, and user-review themes are distilled from real G2, Capterra, SourceForge, Reddit, and case-study reviews with the quotes preserved verbatim. We update this comparison whenever the underlying data changes.