AEO Tracker vs SearchMention: Shopify AI Visibility Apps Compared (2026)
Choose SearchMention if you want weekly monitoring together with competitor tracking, a catalog readiness audit and AI referral visits. Choose AEO Tracker if your main job is a weekly record of your store's mentions and cited sources, with an ongoing Free plan and four-engine tracking from $9.99 monthly. Confirm SearchMention's offer before subscribing: its Shopify listing and standalone website describe different prices and engine coverage.
We make AEO Tracker. This is a comparison of published offers, not a hands-on test of the other product. Every row was checked on 5 October 2026. Unspecified means the source does not tell us, rather than that a feature is absent.
AEO (answer engine optimization) and GEO (generative engine optimization) both concern visibility in AI answers. Compare the measurement you need and the work each tool helps you do, rather than treating all visibility scores as equivalent.
Two published offers need clarification
The Shopify listing and standalone website are both live, but they do not describe the same Starter price or engine allowance. The table preserves that difference. It does not silently apply standalone features or prices to the Shopify subscription.
SearchMention and AEO Tracker side by side
| What to compare | SearchMention | AEO Tracker | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monthly plans, USD | Shopify listing: Starter $29, Growth $99. The standalone homepage says Starter starts at $49. These are different published offers. | Free; Starter $9.99; Growth $29.99; Pro $99.99. | 5 October 2026 |
| Ongoing free plan | No ongoing free plan in the Shopify listing. The standalone homepage advertises starting free and a free readiness scan; do not assume that is a free recurring Shopify monitoring plan. | Five ChatGPT questions weekly. New installs first receive a 14-day Starter preview. | 5 October 2026 |
| Questions and allowance | Shopify Starter: 20 questions, 1,000 audited pages and three competitors. Growth: 50 questions, 5,000 pages and five competitors. | Free 5; Starter 10; Growth 30; Pro 40 weekly questions. Each pinned country variant uses one slot. | 5 October 2026 |
| Engines | Listing description names ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity without plan-specific allocation. Standalone FAQ says trial/Starter have ChatGPT and Google AI Overview, with Gemini and Perplexity added on Growth/Agency. Confirm the purchased plan. | Free: ChatGPT. Starter and Growth: ChatGPT, Google AI Overview, Gemini and Perplexity. Pro adds Claude and Grok. | 5 October 2026 |
| Check schedule | Both Shopify plans state weekly monitoring. | Weekly on every plan. | 5 October 2026 |
| Live web search stated? | Yes on the standalone homepage: it says chat checks call providers with web search enabled and Google AI Overview is read from real Google results. The Shopify listing does not explain the method. | Yes. Chat services use web search through software connections; Google AI Overview is read from Google search results. | 5 October 2026 |
| Sources shown | Standalone homepage describes captured citations and paid analysis of cited competitor pages. The Shopify listing does not specify that display. | Stored answers and cited sources. Paid plans add source insights for each engine. | 5 October 2026 |
| Countries or markets | The standalone homepage describes Google results for the store country and language. Extra-country allowances are not stated in the Shopify plans. | Home market on Free and Starter; extra-country question variants on Growth and Pro. | 5 October 2026 |
| Reviews and rating | No reviews yet; no customer rating established. | No reviews yet; no customer rating established. | 5 October 2026 |
| Launch date | 21 May 2026 in the Shopify listing. | 28 August 2026. | 5 October 2026 |
| Developer | Remmote Labs LLC in the Shopify listing. | Flexsta. | 5 October 2026 |
What SearchMention does that AEO Tracker doesn't
SearchMention's Shopify plans include tracked competitors, large page-readiness audits and AI referral traffic tracking. The listing describes a web pixel that measures shoppers clicking through from AI assistants. Its standalone website also connects cited product pages to readiness fixes and competitor-source analysis. AEO Tracker does not offer competitor tracking, traffic attribution or automated catalog fixes.
What AEO Tracker does differently
AEO Tracker focuses on a weekly record of the buying questions you choose: whether your store was named, its position when an answer ranks recommendations, and the sources cited. It drafts editable questions from your catalog and leaves your storefront unchanged.
Its ongoing Free plan checks five questions on ChatGPT. Starter adds Google AI Overview, Gemini and Perplexity for $9.99 monthly. It does not offer competitor tracking, automatic content changes or revenue attribution.
Search-enabled software checks are samples for particular models and markets. They do not reproduce every shopper's personalized chat or guarantee recommendations or sales.
When SearchMention is the better pick
SearchMention may suit you if identifying catalog issues and measuring AI referral visits matter as much as measuring answers. Check which offer applies to a Shopify install and which engines your subscription actually includes. AEO Tracker is a simpler choice if you mainly need a consistent weekly measurement record.
Compare the wider set of Shopify AEO tracking apps. Ask how each question and engine consumes the plan allowance before subscribing.
Frequently asked questions
How much does SearchMention cost for Shopify?
Its Shopify listing shows Starter at $29 monthly and Growth at $99. Its standalone homepage describes a different Starter price of $49. Confirm the exact offer you will subscribe to rather than mixing the two.
Does SearchMention run live web searches?
Its standalone homepage explicitly says it calls chat providers with web search enabled and reads Google AI Overview from Google results. The Shopify listing does not explain that method. This comparison does not claim its checks come from memory.
Does AEO Tracker track competitors or AI referral visits?
No. AEO Tracker records your store's mentions, recommendation positions when present, and cited sources. It does not offer competitor tracking or referral attribution.
Does SearchMention Starter include Gemini and Perplexity?
The Shopify listing names those assistants in its description but does not allocate them by plan. The standalone FAQ says Starter has ChatGPT and Google AI Overview, with Gemini and Perplexity on higher plans. Ask which coverage applies to your purchase.
Sources and scope
Checked 5 October 2026: SearchMention Shopify listing, SearchMention standalone homepage and FAQ, and AEO Tracker listing. Our plan allowances come from the current app plan definitions. Monthly USD offers are compared without annual discounts. Reviews and offers can change; a feature absent from a listing is not assumed absent from the product.