Otterly.ai vs Surfer SEO
A dedicated AI search visibility tracker -- monitors how a brand appears across ChatGPT, Gemini and other AI engines, priced by the number of prompts tracked. Content optimisation scored against what currently ranks, now extending into tracking brand visibility inside AI answers.
At a glance
| Otterly.ai | Surfer SEO | |
|---|---|---|
| Entry price | $25/mo | $49/mo |
| Free tier | No | No |
| Plans offered | 7 | 6 |
| Team pricing | Not published | Not published |
| Vendor | Otterly.ai | Surfer |
| Best for | Brands wanting to know how they are described in AI answers without an enterprise commitment | Content teams publishing regularly against competitive queries |
| Main trade-off | Prompts are the real constraint and 15 on the Lite tier is very few -- extra prompts cost $99/month on top | Every headline price requires annual billing |
The short answer
Choose Otterly.ai if brands wanting to know how they are described in ai answers without an enterprise commitment. Choose Surfer SEO if content teams publishing regularly against competitive queries. The rest of this page is the detail behind that.
Pricing
Otterly.ai
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Lite (annual) | $25/mo | 15 search prompts · 4 AI search engines · 15% annual discount |
| Lite (monthly) | $29/mo | 15 search prompts · 4 AI search engines tracked |
| Standard (annual) | $160/mo | 100 search prompts · API and MCP access · Agent Analytics |
| Standard (monthly) | $189/mo | 100 search prompts · API and MCP access |
| Premium (annual) | $422/mo | 400 search prompts · 1M Agent Analytics events |
| Premium (monthly) | $489/mo | 400 search prompts · Enhanced API requests |
| Enterprise | $1000/mo | Starting price · Customisable features · Dedicated support |
Pricing verified
Surfer SEO
| Plan | Price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Discovery | $49/mo | Billed yearly · 120 documents · 10 pages tracked · Surfy AI assistant |
| Standard | $99/mo | Billed yearly · 360 documents · 25 AI prompts tracked weekly · WordPress and Google Docs integration |
| AI Search Analytics | $158/mo | Billed yearly · Tracks ChatGPT, Gemini and AI Overviews · 100 AI prompts daily · 5 brand spaces |
| Pro | $182/mo | Billed yearly · 360 documents · 50 AI prompts daily · Internal linking · Content ideas |
| Peace of Mind | $299/mo | Billed yearly · Unlimited documents (fair use) · API access · Dedicated success manager |
| Enterprise | $999/mo | Custom limits · White-label · SSO |
Pricing verified
Otterly.ai
Strengths
- Unlimited team members on every tier, including the $29 entry plan -- unusual in a category that normally charges per seat
- A genuinely cheap way in at $29, where most dedicated competitors start in the hundreds or do not publish prices at all
- Daily tracking and 50+ country support across all tiers
- API and MCP access from the Standard tier, so results can feed your own tooling
Trade-offs
- Prompts are the real constraint and 15 on the Lite tier is very few -- extra prompts cost $99/month on top
- Individual AI engines are priced as add-ons: Claude runs $29-439/month and Google AI Mode $9-149/month, so the headline price is rarely the final one
- The jump from Lite to Standard is $29 to $189 with nothing between
- No free plan, only a trial
Otterly.ai: who it suits
Buy it if
- Brands wanting to know how they are described in AI answers without an enterprise commitment
- Agencies tracking a defined set of prompts across several clients
- Teams that want the data in their own systems via API
Skip it if
- Anyone tracking a broad keyword set -- this is priced per prompt, and a large set gets expensive quickly
- Teams wanting classic rank tracking, which this does not replace
- Anyone needing an established tool, since this whole category is new and unproven
Visit Otterly.aifrom $25/mo
Surfer SEO
Strengths
- Optimisation scored against pages that actually rank, rather than generic advice
- WordPress and Google Docs integration puts the score where writing already happens
- One of the few tools measuring visibility inside AI answers as well as classic search
- Internal linking suggestions from the Pro tier are genuinely useful at scale
Trade-offs
- Every headline price requires annual billing
- No free plan, only a trial
- Six tiers with overlapping features make it hard to work out which you need
- Optimising to a content score encourages writing for the tool rather than the reader
Surfer SEO: who it suits
Buy it if
- Content teams publishing regularly against competitive queries
- Agencies managing optimisation across many client sites
- SEO teams adding generative engine optimisation to their remit
Skip it if
- Anyone wanting a tool that writes -- this scores and guides, it does not draft from a brief
- Occasional publishers, since 120 documents a year on the entry tier costs $588 up front
- Writers who would rather not let a content score dictate structure
Visit Surfer SEOfrom $49/mo
Common questions
- Is Otterly.ai or Surfer SEO cheaper?
- Otterly.ai starts at $25/mo and Surfer SEO at $49/mo. Otterly.ai is cheaper at entry level, though the allowances differ.
- Who should not use Otterly.ai?
- Anyone tracking a broad keyword set -- this is priced per prompt, and a large set gets expensive quickly. Teams wanting classic rank tracking, which this does not replace. Anyone needing an established tool, since this whole category is new and unproven.
- Who should not use Surfer SEO?
- Anyone wanting a tool that writes -- this scores and guides, it does not draft from a brief. Occasional publishers, since 120 documents a year on the entry tier costs $588 up front. Writers who would rather not let a content score dictate structure.
- Does Otterly.ai or Surfer SEO have a free tier?
- Neither offers a free tier, so evaluating either means paying for at least one month.