Head-to-head review · Updated June 2026

AlsoAsked vs Mentions.ai: which one wins in 2026?

AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai 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. Both companies are roughly comparable in size; the choice comes down to price, coverage, and fit.

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

The verdict
Pick

AlsoAsked

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

Pick

Mentions.ai

Pick Mentions.ai if you need broader AI platform coverage (4 platforms vs 0).

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 AlsoAsked

AlsoAsked has raised Bootstrapped. Founded by Mark Williams-Cook, based in Bath, UK. Pricing starts at $12/mo.

People Also Ask research tool for AEO and content strategy.

What people praise

  • Tree-style visualization of People Also Ask data is more useful for pillar-page planning than the AnswerThePublic radial diagram.
  • Pulls live PAA data from Google, so questions reflect real SERP behavior instead of cached autocomplete suggestions.
  • Bulk search supports up to 1,000 queries at a time, which agency users say is rare at this price point.
  • Region and language targeting works for any Google locale, not just US English, which most cheap PAA tools restrict.

Where it falls short

  • Only sources Google's PAA box; no data from Bing, YouTube, Reddit, or social platforms.
  • CSV export is paywalled behind the Lite tier; the $12 Basic plan only exports PNG images.
  • API access is locked to the $47/mo Pro plan, which blocks Lite users from automating workflows.
  • PAA relationships are algorithmic, not semantic, so the tree sometimes maps loose associations as if they were topical clusters.

The case for Mentions.ai

They cover 4 AI platforms.

Generative AI mention tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude.

What people praise

  • Purpose-built for tracking brand visibility inside AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, not bolted onto a legacy social listening platform.
  • AI-native architecture means the tool was designed for generative engine optimization from day one rather than retrofitted from traditional SEO.

Where it falls short

  • Public pricing, customer logos, and detailed feature documentation are not available on the website, which makes evaluation hard before a sales conversation.
  • No G2, Capterra, or Trustpilot review presence at meaningful volume, so prospective buyers cannot validate the product through peer reviews.
  • Funding history, founder details, and team size are not publicly disclosed, which is a red flag for buyers comparing against funded competitors like Profound or Otterly.

Pricing, tier by tier

Tier 1
AlsoAsked
Basic
$12/mo
  • 100 search credits per month
  • 24-hour search history
  • All regions and languages
  • PNG export
Mentions.ai
Tier 2
AlsoAsked
Lite
$23/mo
  • 300 search credits per month
  • 1-month search history
  • CSV export
  • Bulk searches
Mentions.ai
Tier 3
AlsoAsked
Pro
$47/mo
  • 1,000 search credits per month
  • 1-year search history
  • API access
  • Deep search expansion
Mentions.ai

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 AlsoAsked
  • PAA Tree Visualization. Branching diagram of People Also Ask questions showing how queries relate.
  • Deep Search. Expands each PAA branch multiple levels deeper for pillar and cluster planning.
  • Bulk Search. Upload up to 1,000 seed queries at once and process them in a batch.
  • CSV and PNG Export. Export results as PNG diagrams or CSV files for sharing with clients.
  • Public API. REST API for programmatically pulling PAA trees into custom workflows.
  • Locale Targeting. Choose any Google country and language for region-specific PAA data.
Only on Mentions.ai
  • AI Search Visibility Tracking. Monitors brand mentions and citations across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity.
  • Brand Mention Analysis. Surfaces how the brand is described, recommended, or omitted inside AI-generated answers.

When each one wins

When AlsoAsked wins
  • Budget is the constraint. AlsoAsked starts at $12/mo vs Mentions.ai's $∞/mo, so on a per-seat basis it's the cheaper way in.
  • Tree-style visualization of People Also Ask data is more useful for pillar-page planning than the AnswerThePublic radial diagram.
When Mentions.ai wins
  • Platform coverage matters. Mentions.ai monitors 4 AI platforms; AlsoAsked covers 0.
  • Purpose-built for tracking brand visibility inside AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, not bolted onto a legacy social listening platform.
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 AlsoAsked 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 AlsoAsked over Mentions.ai

  1. Lower entry price. AlsoAsked publishes a clear entry tier at $12/mo; Mentions.ai gates pricing.
  2. Public pricing. AlsoAsked publishes 3 tiers on its website; Mentions.ai requires a sales conversation.
  3. Faster product velocity. AlsoAsked has shipped 4 public launches in the last year vs Mentions.ai's 0.
  4. What users praise most. Tree-style visualization of People Also Ask data is more useful for pillar-page planning than the AnswerThePublic radial diagram.

Reasons to pick Mentions.ai over AlsoAsked

  1. Broader AI platform coverage. Mentions.ai tracks visibility across 4 AI engines vs AlsoAsked's 0.
  2. What users praise most. Purpose-built for tracking brand visibility inside AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, not bolted onto a legacy social listening platform.

Switching from one to the other

From AlsoAsked to Mentions.ai

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

From Mentions.ai to AlsoAsked

Same flow in reverse. Export from Mentions.ai, import to AlsoAsked. 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

AlsoAskedMentions.ai
Starts at (USD/mo)$12/moCustom
Founded20202024
HeadquartersBath, UK
Funding raisedBootstrapped
AI platforms tracked4
G2 rating
Named customers
SOC 2 Type 2
GDPR✓ Yes
HIPAA

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.

AlsoAskedwhat users praise

  • Tree-style visualization of People Also Ask data is more useful for pillar-page planning than the AnswerThePublic radial diagram.
  • Pulls live PAA data from Google, so questions reflect real SERP behavior instead of cached autocomplete suggestions.
  • Bulk search supports up to 1,000 queries at a time, which agency users say is rare at this price point.
  • Region and language targeting works for any Google locale, not just US English, which most cheap PAA tools restrict.
  • Free tier of three searches per day is genuinely usable for one-off content briefs without a signup.

AlsoAskedwhat users complain about

  • Only sources Google's PAA box; no data from Bing, YouTube, Reddit, or social platforms.
  • CSV export is paywalled behind the Lite tier; the $12 Basic plan only exports PNG images.
  • API access is locked to the $47/mo Pro plan, which blocks Lite users from automating workflows.
  • PAA relationships are algorithmic, not semantic, so the tree sometimes maps loose associations as if they were topical clusters.
  • Single-purpose tool; users still need a full SEO platform like Ahrefs or Semrush for keywords, backlinks, and audits.

Mentions.aiwhat users praise

  • Purpose-built for tracking brand visibility inside AI search engines like ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity, not bolted onto a legacy social listening platform.
  • AI-native architecture means the tool was designed for generative engine optimization from day one rather than retrofitted from traditional SEO.

Mentions.aiwhat users complain about

  • Public pricing, customer logos, and detailed feature documentation are not available on the website, which makes evaluation hard before a sales conversation.
  • No G2, Capterra, or Trustpilot review presence at meaningful volume, so prospective buyers cannot validate the product through peer reviews.
  • Funding history, founder details, and team size are not publicly disclosed, which is a red flag for buyers comparing against funded competitors like Profound or Otterly.

A third option

Both AlsoAsked and Mentions.aiare 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, AlsoAsked or Mentions.ai?

Honestly: neither one fully solves the problem. AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai 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 AlsoAsked 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 AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai cost?

AlsoAsked starts at $12/mo. Mentions.ai starts at Custom. 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 AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai cover?

AlsoAsked covers an undisclosed number of AI platforms. Mentions.ai 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 AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai actually improve your AI visibility, or just measure it?

Both AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai 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 AlsoAsked and Mentions.ai?

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.