AthenaHQ vs Otterly AI: Best GEO Tool for SaaS Teams
One costs $295 per month. The other starts at $29.
Both promise to help you dominate AI search. But they are built for very different stages of the GEO journey.
If you are running a SaaS company and trying to figure out where your brand shows up in ChatGPT, Perplexity, or Google AI Overviews, this comparison will save you from wasting money on the wrong tool.
The Fundamental Difference
AthenaHQ is built for action. Otterly AI is built for monitoring.
AthenaHQ gives you visibility data plus recommendations on what to fix. It tells you which content to restructure, which FAQs to add, and which outreach opportunities to pursue. Their Action Center automates a lot of the thinking.
Otterly tracks where you show up, which URLs get cited, and how your visibility changes over time. You decide what to do with that information.
For a scrappy SaaS team just starting with generative engine optimization, Otterly might be enough. For a team ready to operationalize GEO across their content strategy, AthenaHQ offers more depth.
Quick Comparison
| Feature | AthenaHQ | Otterly AI |
|---|---|---|
| Starting Price | $295/month | $29/month |
| Pricing Model | Credit-based | Prompt-based |
| AI Platforms Tracked | 8+ | 7 |
| Action Recommendations | Yes | No |
| Citation Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Sentiment Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| GEO Audit Tools | Yes | Yes |
| Content Generation | Yes (40 credits each) | No |
| Competitor Benchmarking | Yes | Yes |
| Best For | Mid-to-enterprise SaaS | Early-stage SaaS |
That pricing gap is significant. Let me break down what you actually get for the money.
AthenaHQ: The Premium Play
AthenaHQ was founded by former Google Search and DeepMind engineers. Y Combinator backed them with $2.2 million in seed funding. The pedigree shows in the product depth.
Their Olympus Dashboard tracks Share of Voice and gives you a unified GEO score that combines citation count, sentiment, traffic impact, and query types. It is genuinely useful for understanding your position relative to competitors.
But here is the catch: the credit system.
AthenaHQ runs on credits. One credit equals one AI response. If you check a single query across four AI models, that is four credits gone.
With their $295 monthly plan, you get 3,500 credits. Sounds like a lot until you do the math.
Tip: If you monitor 50 prompts across 5 AI engines weekly, that burns through roughly 1,000 credits per month. Double your frequency to twice weekly, and you are at 2,000 credits. Add content generation (40 credits per asset) and you can hit the ceiling fast.
Overage costs hit $100 per 1,250 additional credits. For active SaaS teams running aggressive AI SEO strategies, that bill climbs quickly.
The good news: AthenaHQ includes features that justify the premium for the right team. AI Blindspot Detection identifies where AI engines struggle to answer questions about your brand. Dynamic AI Crawling finds hidden parts of your website that AI cannot see.
Their Action Center is where the real value lives. Instead of just showing you data, it suggests specific fixes. Content restructuring. FAQ additions. Schema improvements. Strategic outreach targets.
For SaaS teams ready to train LLMs to prefer their brand, these recommendations compress months of experimentation into actionable tasks.
Otterly AI: The Accessible Choice
Otterly AI takes a different approach. Simple. Affordable. Focused on visibility monitoring.
At $29 per month for 15 prompts, Otterly is accessible to almost any SaaS team. The Standard plan at $189 gives you 100 prompts. Pro at $989 covers 1,000 prompts.
No credit math. No overage surprises. Each prompt tracks across all supported platforms – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Gemini, Claude, and Copilot.
The citation tracking is excellent. For every AI-generated response, Otterly shows which URLs were cited and their position in the answer. This is critical for understanding which content formats LLMs prefer.
Brand Reports track mentions, coverage, and domain citations automatically. You can create reports for your brand and competitors, then watch how things shift week over week.
The GEO audit tools run SWOT analysis and identify tactic gaps. Helpful for teams building their first AEO checklist.
What Otterly does not do: tell you how to fix problems.
It shows you the data. You figure out the strategy. For experienced SaaS marketers who know how to interpret visibility metrics, that is fine. For teams new to GEO, the lack of actionable recommendations can be paralyzing.
I covered this in depth in my Otterly AI review – it excels at monitoring but stops short of optimization guidance.
Pricing Deep Dive
This is where most SaaS teams make the wrong decision. Let me make it concrete.
AthenaHQ Annual Pricing:
- Lite: $270/month (billed annually) – 3,500 credits
- Growth: $545/month – ~8,000 credits
- Enterprise: $2,000+/month – Custom
Otterly AI Pricing:
- Lite: $29/month – 15 prompts
- Standard: $189/month – 100 prompts
- Pro: $989/month – 1,000 prompts
| Scenario | AthenaHQ Cost | Otterly Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Track 15 prompts, 5 engines, weekly | ~$295/month | $29/month |
| Track 100 prompts, 5 engines, weekly | ~$400-500/month | $189/month |
| Track 100 prompts, 5 engines, 2x weekly | ~$600-700/month | $189/month |
The math favors Otterly on pure monitoring. But if AthenaHQ’s recommendations save you 10 hours of strategy work per month, the premium might pay for itself.
Tip: Most early-stage SaaS teams should start with Otterly to validate that AI search visibility actually matters for their business. Graduate to AthenaHQ when you have budget for optimization, not just observation.
Platform Coverage Comparison
Both tools track the major AI engines, but the depth varies.
| AI Platform | AthenaHQ | Otterly AI |
|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | Yes | Yes |
| Google AI Overviews | Yes | Yes |
| Google AI Mode | Yes | Yes |
| Perplexity | Yes | Yes |
| Gemini | Yes | Yes |
| Claude | Yes | Yes |
| Copilot | Yes | Yes |
| Grok | Yes | No |
AthenaHQ also supports multi-language and multi-region tracking at higher tiers. If your SaaS serves international markets, that matters for semantic search optimization.
What SaaS Teams Actually Need
I have audited dozens of SaaS companies on their AI search visibility. Here is what I have learned.
Most teams do not need enterprise GEO tools yet. They need answers to basic questions:
- Does AI mention us at all?
- Which competitors show up instead?
- What content gets cited?
- Is sentiment positive or negative?
Otterly answers all of these at a price point that does not require CFO approval.
The teams that benefit from AthenaHQ share common traits. They have already validated that AI search drives meaningful traffic. They have content teams ready to act on recommendations. They need to report GEO metrics to leadership with polished dashboards.
If you are still figuring out how AEO differs from traditional SEO, AthenaHQ is overkill.
Strengths and Weaknesses
AthenaHQ Strengths:
- Actionable recommendations, not just data
- AI Blindspot Detection finds content gaps
- Unified GEO score simplifies reporting
- Founded by Google Search and DeepMind alumni
- Multi-language and regional support
AthenaHQ Weaknesses:
- Credit system creates unpredictable costs
- No free trial on monthly plans
- Steep learning curve
- Overkill for early-stage teams
- Content generation burns credits fast
Otterly AI Strengths:
- Simple, predictable pricing
- Excellent citation tracking
- Easy to understand interface
- Free trial available
- Prompt-based model scales linearly
Otterly AI Weaknesses:
- No optimization recommendations
- Monitoring only, no action guidance
- Missing Grok coverage
- Requires external tools for content fixes
- Less depth on competitive analysis
My Recommendation for SaaS Teams
For early-stage SaaS (under $5M ARR), start with Otterly AI.
Use the $29 Lite plan to track your top 15 prompts. Focus on prompts that match how real users ask questions in AI search. Monitor for three months. Build baseline data.
If you consistently see competitors mentioned where you should be, if citation patterns reveal content gaps, if the data proves AI search matters for your category – then consider graduating to something more powerful.
For growth-stage SaaS ($5M-50M ARR), AthenaHQ makes sense if you have the team to act on insights.
The Action Center recommendations are only valuable if someone implements them. If your content team is already stretched thin, you are paying for suggestions that sit in a dashboard unexecuted.
I wrote about this dynamic in my AthenaHQ review – the tool is powerful, but only for teams ready to operationalize GEO.
For enterprise SaaS, talk to both vendors.
At enterprise scale, you need custom integrations, dedicated support, and flexible contracts. Both AthenaHQ and Otterly offer enterprise tiers with white-label options. Evaluate based on your specific tech stack and reporting needs.
The Verdict
AthenaHQ is the better tool. Otterly AI is the better value.
That sounds contradictory. It is not.
AthenaHQ delivers deeper insights, actionable recommendations, and a more sophisticated view of your AI search presence. If budget is not the primary constraint and you have a team ready to execute, it accelerates your GEO program.
Otterly delivers 80% of the visibility insights at 10% of the cost. For SaaS teams that need to prove AI search matters before investing heavily, it is the smarter starting point.
The mistake I see most often: teams buying AthenaHQ too early, then letting the subscription run while nobody acts on the recommendations. Expensive dashboards collecting dust.
Start with monitoring. Validate the opportunity. Graduate to optimization when the data justifies the investment.
Summary Table
| Criteria | AthenaHQ | Otterly AI |
|---|---|---|
| Best For | Growth/Enterprise SaaS | Early-stage SaaS |
| Starting Price | $295/month | $29/month |
| Pricing Model | Credits (usage-based) | Prompts (predictable) |
| Learning Curve | Moderate-High | Low |
| Action Guidance | Yes | No |
| Citation Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Free Trial | Annual only | Yes |
| Team Size Needed | Content team required | Solo marketer friendly |
Both tools serve the same goal: making your brand visible in AI-powered search. The right choice depends on where you are in the journey.
Need help figuring out which GEO approach makes sense for your SaaS? I have built visibility programs for companies from seed stage to enterprise. Reach out if you want an honest assessment of where AI search fits in your growth strategy.
