Pick
Mention
Pick Mention if you want the cheaper option ($49/mo vs $129/mo).
Head-to-head review · Updated June 2026
Mention vs SE Ranking: which one wins in 2026?
Mention and SE Ranking 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.
Mention is cheaper out the gate, but that's not the only thing that matters. The right pick depends on which dimension matters most for you.
The verdict
Pick
SE Ranking
Pick SE Ranking if you want the cheaper option ($129/mo vs $49/mo).
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 Mention
Founded by Edouard Reinach, based in Paris, France. Pricing starts at $49/mo.
Real-time media monitoring and social listening for brands and PR teams.
What people praise
- Coverage spans 1B+ sources including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube plus 75+ review sites like Google, Trustpilot, and Amazon.
- Boolean search operators and advanced filtering let teams cut signal from noise in ways the cheaper alternatives like Brand24 cannot match.
- Spike Alerts catch unusual mention volume early so PR teams can respond to crises within minutes, not hours.
- Historical data goes back up to two years before project creation, useful when retroactively benchmarking a campaign.
Where it falls short
- Self-serve Solo, Pro, and Pro Plus tiers were discontinued in July 2025, leaving Company at $599/mo as the only option for new customers.
- Publishing and social engagement features were retired in January 2026, with users redirected to Agorapulse, which doubled the tool stack for many teams.
- Trustpilot reviews flag slow and unhelpful customer support, especially around billing disputes.
- The $599/mo Company plan requires annual commitment with no monthly option, which excludes solopreneurs and small agencies.
The case for SE Ranking
SE Ranking has raised Bootstrapped. Founded by Dmitri Lipnitsky, based in Palo Alto, CA. Pricing starts at $129/mo.
Mid-market SEO platform with keyword tracking, audits, and AI Overviews monitoring.
What people praise
- Rank tracker is praised for daily updates across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and YouTube with reliable historical data.
- Significantly cheaper than Semrush and Ahrefs at the same project and keyword volumes.
- All-in-one feature set (rank, keyword, backlink, site audit) rare at this price point per G2 reviewers.
- White-label reporting and agency pack make it a popular agency choice for client-facing dashboards.
Where it falls short
- Keyword database depth is smaller than Semrush or Ahrefs, especially for non-English markets per reviewers.
- Backlink index is smaller and less fresh than Ahrefs, so it is better as a complement than a replacement.
- Site audit reports more false positives than competitors per some Capterra reviews.
- UI loads slowly with large keyword sets according to repeated G2 mentions.
Pricing, tier by tier
Tier 1
Mention
Solo (legacy)
$49/mo
- Basic real-time monitoring
- Limited keyword alerts
- Single user
SE Ranking
Core
$129/mo
- 10 projects and 1 manager seat
- 2,000 keywords tracked daily
- 100 prompts tracked
- 5 domains in GEO research
Tier 2
Mention
Pro (legacy)
$99/mo
- Boolean search
- More keyword alerts
- Sentiment analysis
- Multi-user
SE Ranking
Growth
$279/mo
- 30 projects and 3 manager seats
- 5,000 keywords and 250 prompts daily
- 15 domains in GEO research
- 2M pages/month in site audit
Tier 3
Mention
Pro Plus (legacy)
$179/mo
- Higher keyword and alert limits
- Share of Voice reporting
- Competitor benchmarking
- Multi-user collaboration
SE Ranking
Enterprise
Custom
- Custom keyword and project limits
- Custom API quotas
- Custom SLA
- Dedicated account manager
Tier 4
Mention
Company
$599/mo
- Real-time monitoring across 1B+ sources
- Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, YouTube coverage
- Review monitoring across 75+ platforms including Google, Trustpilot, Amazon
- Advanced Boolean search
SE Ranking
—
—
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 Mention
- Real-Time Mention Monitoring. Streams mentions from 1B+ sources across web, news, blogs, and social platforms as they happen.
- Boolean Search Builder. Advanced query syntax for keyword combinations, exclusions, country and language filters.
- Sentiment Analysis. Auto-classifies mentions as positive, negative, or neutral with manual override.
- Spike Alerts. Detects sudden mention volume increases and notifies the team for crisis response or trend capture.
- Share of Voice Reporting. Benchmarks brand mention share against named competitors with custom dashboards and 100+ metrics.
- Review Site Monitoring. Pulls reviews from 75+ platforms including Google, Trustpilot, Amazon, and TripAdvisor into a single feed.
Only on SE Ranking
- Rank Tracker. Daily updates across Google, Bing, Yahoo, YouTube, and Maps with historical position graphs.
- Keyword Research. Suggestions, related and long-tail keywords, plus difficulty and volume across 188 countries.
- Competitor Research. Compare organic and paid traffic, keyword overlap, and historical changes versus a competitor domain.
- Website Audit. Crawls up to 2M pages/month for technical SEO issues with prioritized fix recommendations.
- Backlink Checker and Monitor. Tracks gained and lost backlinks with toxic-link analysis.
- AI Search Tracker. Add-on that monitors brand mentions in AI Overviews and generative search results.
When each one wins
When Mention wins
- Budget is the constraint. Mention starts at $49/mo vs SE Ranking's $129/mo, so on a per-seat basis it's the cheaper way in.
- Coverage spans 1B+ sources including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube plus 75+ review sites like Google, Trustpilot, and Amazon.
When SE Ranking wins
- Rank tracker is praised for daily updates across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and YouTube with reliable historical data.
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 Mention 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 Mention over SE Ranking
- Lower entry price. Mention starts at $49/mo vs SE Ranking's $129/mo.
- More plan flexibility. Mention offers 4 pricing tiers vs SE Ranking's 3, so there's a better chance one fits your team size.
- What users praise most. Coverage spans 1B+ sources including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube plus 75+ review sites like Google, Trustpilot, and Amazon.
- EU data residency. Mention is HQ'd in Paris, France, which simplifies GDPR data-processor agreements for European buyers.
Reasons to pick SE Ranking over Mention
- More verified reviews. SE Ranking has 2,396 G2 reviews vs Mention's none on file, so the average rating carries more weight.
- What users praise most. Rank tracker is praised for daily updates across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and YouTube with reliable historical data.
Switching from one to the other
From Mention to SE Ranking
Export your saved queries and prompt panels from Mention (most tools support CSV export). Most SE Ranking setups can import the same query list in a single CSV upload. Expect 1-2 days of parallel running so you can validate SE Ranking's data againstMention's; one to two weeks of full reconciliation before you cancel Mention. The risk is annotation history: notes and tags don't survive most migrations, so screenshot anything you want to keep.
From SE Ranking to Mention
Same flow in reverse. Export from SE Ranking, import to Mention. 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
| Mention | SE Ranking | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at (USD/mo) | $49/mo | $129/mo |
| Founded | 2012 | 2013 |
| Headquarters | Paris, France | Palo Alto, CA |
| Funding raised | — | Bootstrapped |
| AI platforms tracked | — | — |
| G2 rating | — | 4.7 / 5 (2396 reviews) |
| Named customers | — | — |
| SOC 2 Type 2 | — | — |
| GDPR | ✓ Yes | ✓ 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.
Mention — what users praise
- Coverage spans 1B+ sources including Facebook, Instagram, X, Reddit, TikTok, Pinterest, and YouTube plus 75+ review sites like Google, Trustpilot, and Amazon.
- Boolean search operators and advanced filtering let teams cut signal from noise in ways the cheaper alternatives like Brand24 cannot match.
- Spike Alerts catch unusual mention volume early so PR teams can respond to crises within minutes, not hours.
- Historical data goes back up to two years before project creation, useful when retroactively benchmarking a campaign.
- Real-time monitoring feed pulls new mentions in as they happen, which reviewers consistently call out as best-in-class.
Mention — what users complain about
- Self-serve Solo, Pro, and Pro Plus tiers were discontinued in July 2025, leaving Company at $599/mo as the only option for new customers.
- Publishing and social engagement features were retired in January 2026, with users redirected to Agorapulse, which doubled the tool stack for many teams.
- Trustpilot reviews flag slow and unhelpful customer support, especially around billing disputes.
- The $599/mo Company plan requires annual commitment with no monthly option, which excludes solopreneurs and small agencies.
- Reviewers warn that mentions can be missed if Boolean searches are not configured carefully - the tool is powerful but not plug-and-play.
SE Ranking — what users praise
- Rank tracker is praised for daily updates across Google, Bing, Yahoo, and YouTube with reliable historical data.
- Significantly cheaper than Semrush and Ahrefs at the same project and keyword volumes.
- All-in-one feature set (rank, keyword, backlink, site audit) rare at this price point per G2 reviewers.
- White-label reporting and agency pack make it a popular agency choice for client-facing dashboards.
- Native GA4, Search Console, and Looker Studio integrations are reported as quick to set up.
SE Ranking — what users complain about
- Keyword database depth is smaller than Semrush or Ahrefs, especially for non-English markets per reviewers.
- Backlink index is smaller and less fresh than Ahrefs, so it is better as a complement than a replacement.
- Site audit reports more false positives than competitors per some Capterra reviews.
- UI loads slowly with large keyword sets according to repeated G2 mentions.
- AI Search add-on costs $89/mo extra on top of the base plan, increasing total cost of ownership.
A third option
Both Mention and SE Rankingare 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.
Other comparisons in this space
Same shape, different pairs. Pick a comparison that shares a tool with this one.
Frequently asked questions
Which is better, Mention or SE Ranking?
Honestly: neither one fully solves the problem. Mention and SE Ranking 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 Mention 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 Mention and SE Ranking cost?
Mention starts at $49/mo. SE Ranking starts at $129/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.
Do Mention and SE Ranking actually improve your AI visibility, or just measure it?
Both Mention and SE Ranking 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 Mention and SE Ranking?
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Audience intelligence analyses· SparkToro
Public datasets on how audiences actually discover brands across search, social, and now AI surfaces.
- 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.