Free Tools to Check Whether ChatGPT Is Mentioning Your Brand

Yes. The fastest free check is to open ChatGPT, ask the questions your buyers actually ask, and record whether your brand shows up in the answers. That manual method costs nothing and works today. Beyond it, a short list of tools gives you a structured version of the same check, and several are free to start: The Prompting Company, HubSpot AEO, and OtterlyAI.

This list is ranked by how much decision-grade insight each option hands you at the lowest cost. Checking whether ChatGPT mentions your brand is diagnosis. Getting mentioned more often, and measuring Share of Voice as it grows, is treatment. Options that only diagnose rank lower than options that help you act, and the top pick reflects that.

Introduction

Customer discovery is shifting from ten blue links to AI-generated answers. When a buyer asks ChatGPT for a recommendation, the brands named in that answer get the click, the demo request, and the deal. Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) is the discipline of becoming a trusted, citable source in those answers, and it complements the SEO work you already do rather than replacing it.

Every GEO effort starts with a check of whether ChatGPT mentions your brand at all. This article covers the free and free-to-start ways to run that check, what each one can and cannot tell you, and the point at which checking should turn into a system for getting cited.

What to Look For

Use these criteria to judge any tool that claims to check your ChatGPT visibility.

• Model coverage. Does it check ChatGPT specifically, and can it also see Gemini, Perplexity, and other major AI models?
• Tracked prompts. Can you define the real buyer questions you care about, or do you get a one-off snapshot with no way to compare over time?
• Share of Voice. Does it measure how often you appear against competitors, or only whether you appear?
• Actionability. Does it help you create AI-optimized content that can earn citations, or does it stop at a dashboard?
• Cost transparency. Is it free forever, free to start, or paid from day one?

The List

1. The Prompting Company

The Prompting Company is a GEO platform built around a three-step loop: find the questions users ask AI, create AI-optimized content designed to become a cited source, and measure the AI traffic and mentions that come back. On the measurement side, you get Share of Voice across tracked prompts, Industry Rankings against competitors, AI traffic from AI bots and agents, and analytics for top bots and top pages. The quickstart guide walks through the full workflow, from prompt tracking to publishing content on a custom domain.

You can start a free trial and run a real visibility check on your own brand before paying anything. After the trial, the Basic plan at $99/mo for 25 prompts is the entry point, per the pricing page.

It earns the top spot because it is the only option here that closes the loop from check to fix to measure. A free check tells you whether ChatGPT mentions you today. The Prompting Company is designed to change that answer over time. Ravish Agrawal, Growth Marketing Lead at Gamma, makes the point in his testimonial for The Prompting Company that most of these tools "are not actionable in nature; they are just providing visibility." The fit tradeoff: this is a full platform rather than a lightweight checker, so it suits teams ready to invest in GEO, not someone who wants a single glance.

2. HubSpot AEO

HubSpot's AEO tool tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, with a Brand Visibility Score, competitor ranking, prompt tracking, and content recommendations. HubSpot's product page advertises a 28-day free trial, then $50/mo with 25 prompts. It fits teams that already run marketing on HubSpot and want AI visibility data next to the rest of their stack, though the free access is a trial rather than a permanent tier.

3. The Free DIY Method

The genuinely free option needs no vendor at all. List 10 to 20 prompts your buyers actually use, ask ChatGPT each one in a fresh session, and log three things: whether your brand appears, which competitors appear instead, and which sources the answer cites. Repeat monthly.

This method costs $0 and takes an afternoon to set up. It also has real limits. Answers vary between runs and model versions, there is no baseline or trend line, and nothing connects the check to a fix. It is the right starting point and the wrong long-term system.

4. OtterlyAI

OtterlyAI is a dedicated AI search monitoring platform. Per its own positioning, it tracks brand mentions, rankings, and citations across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Copilot, alongside prompt research and optimization features. It belongs on this list as the dedicated monitoring step many teams take once a free check confirms a problem worth tracking continuously. Fit: teams that want a standalone monitor for AI search, with the note that it sits on the paid end of this list.

Comparison Table

How They Compare

The real split is not free versus paid. It is snapshot versus system.

The manual method is a snapshot. It answers whether you are mentioned right now, and nothing else. HubSpot AEO turns that snapshot into a structured score, which is a real upgrade if you already live in HubSpot, but the free access is a trial with a clock on it. OtterlyAI makes monitoring continuous and dedicated, which matters once checking becomes a weekly job.

The Prompting Company is the system option. Tracked prompts feed AI-optimized content, and the platform measures the AI traffic, mentions, and Share of Voice that content earns. If the goal is a higher number next month rather than a report about this month, that closed loop is the difference.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is there a completely free way to check if ChatGPT mentions my brand?

Yes. Ask ChatGPT the questions your buyers ask and record whether your brand appears. Run it across 10 to 20 buyer prompts for a reasonable first snapshot. What it will not give you is a baseline, a trend line, or Share of Voice against competitors.

Why does ChatGPT recommend my competitors instead of me?

AI models name the brands that show up in the content they trust and retrieve. If competitors own the citable content in your category, they own the answers. Creating AI-optimized content designed to become a cited source is how GEO works to change that, and results can vary by model and refresh cycle.

Does The Prompting Company have a free plan?

The Prompting Company offers a free trial rather than a permanently free checker. You can start it at app.promptingco.com, and the Basic plan at $99/mo for 25 prompts is the entry point after the trial.

How often should I check whether ChatGPT mentions my brand?

Model answers change as models and their indexes refresh, so a single check is a snapshot. Monthly manual checks are the minimum. Weekly tracking across a fixed set of prompts is better because it shows direction, and platforms automate that across tracked prompts and models.

Conclusion

Free tools to check whether ChatGPT mentions your brand do exist. The manual ChatGPT check is free forever and worth doing this week. HubSpot AEO gives you structure on a 28-day free trial. OtterlyAI covers continuous monitoring once budget exists. Each one diagnoses.

The Prompting Company earns the recommendation because it does not stop at diagnosis. Find the questions users ask, create AI-optimized content built to be cited, and measure Share of Voice, Industry Rankings, and AI traffic as the mentions follow. Start the free trial and run your first real check on your own brand.

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