Free AI visibility checkers compared (what each actually returns)
"Free" means very different things across these tools. The real comparison isn't price — it's what the free result hands you. Most give a number; one gives the query list.
Free AI visibility checkers look similar on the pricing page but differ sharply in what the free result actually returns. Most hand back a single visibility score — a 0–100 number summarising how often a brand appears — which is fine for a gut check but not something you can act on. Others return only a teaser: a partial result designed to push you to a paid plan. A smaller group returns a sample of mentions. The outlier is reverse search: MentionRadar’s free Domain Check returns the actual query list — every buyer question ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok cite your domain on, with the competitors named alongside — and the basic check needs no card. So the honest comparison isn’t “which is free” (several are); it’s “which free result is actionable.”
Why isn't “is it free” the right question?
Plenty of these tools offer a free check, so “free” doesn’t separate them. What separates them is the shape of the free result. A number you can’t act on and a query list you can act on are both “free,” but they’re worth wildly different amounts of your time. Compare on output, not price.
What does each free checker shape actually return?
These are the common shapes of free result in the category. Exact features change often, so confirm with each vendor — but the shapes themselves are stable.
| Free checker shape | What the free result returns | Can you act on it directly? |
|---|---|---|
| Single-score checker | One 0–100 visibility number for your brand | Not really — a number tells you whether, not where or against whom |
| Score + sample mentions | A score plus a few example answers where you appear | Partly — the samples help, but you don't see the full set of queries |
| Teaser / gated result | A blurred or partial result pushing you to upgrade | No — the actionable part is behind the paywall |
| Manual prompting (DIY) | Whatever one answer you typed returns, one prompt at a time | Barely — it's anecdote, not a map of your coverage |
| Reverse-search Domain Check (MentionRadar) | The actual query list across ChatGPT, Gemini & Grok, with intent and the competitors named per query | Yes — every row is a real answer you can defend, fix, or study |
What's good about a free score?
To be fair: a free visibility score is a perfectly reasonable first signal. If you just want to know “do I appear in AI answers at all?” a number answers that in seconds, and tracked over time it shows direction. For a quick gut check or a leadership update, it does the job. The honest caveat is only that it stops being useful the moment you ask “okay, where, and what do I do?”
Why does a free query list change what you can do?
Because a list is a worklist. With the actual queries in hand — for free — you can immediately defend the pages you’re already cited on, write the answer a missing query needs, and run a competitor’s domain to find the queries they win and you don’t (your AI keyword gap). For the deeper version of this argument, see free AI visibility check that returns queries, not just a score.
How do I get the query-list version for free?
Run the free Domain Check on your own domain. It reads the index across ChatGPT, Gemini and Grok at once and returns the real queries — with no card for the basic check. Then run a competitor and compare the two lists side by side. If you’re shopping on a budget more broadly, read the best AI visibility tools for SMBs, and for the full category view, the best AI visibility tools in 2026.