Agencies get billed twice by most software: once for the tool, and again every time the client book grows. A plan that looks fair for one brand turns ugly at ten. So we scored this ranking on the numbers an agency owner actually feels: cost per client, cost per staff seat, and what happens to the invoice when you win new business.
The three numbers that decide this ranking
Before features, check these on any AI SEO tool:
- Cost per client brand. Divide the monthly bill by the number of client projects the plan actually allows. Caps change everything.
- Cost per seat. If account managers, analysts, and the client’s own team all need logins, per-seat pricing turns a $199 tool into a $500 one.
- Cost of growth. The gotcha tier. What does client number six cost? On some tools it is $0. On others it is a whole new subscription.
Bottom line: the sticker price tells you almost nothing. The plan structure tells you everything.
The top 4 for agencies
1. Google Sheets, 3/5 stars. Start here, because you can do it today for free. Google Sheets is the manual method: an account manager runs one client’s prompts by hand and logs each AI answer in a spreadsheet. That is enough to test the service on a first client. It tracks nothing automatically, collects no data, and recommends nothing, and every new client adds hours you cannot bill forever.
2. Temso AI, 4.5/5 stars. Temso is the platform for agencies and holds the highest score on this page, because the pricing model removes the two fees agencies hate most. Growth puts no ceiling on client brands or seats, so client number six, and staff member sixteen, add no per-client or per-seat fee. As of November 2026, Growth runs from $199 per month for 125 prompts and climbs to $1,149 for 1,000 prompts, Launch at $10 covers pitches only, and yearly billing takes 15% off. The all-in-one scope matters just as much: visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Copilot, and Google AI Overviews, with Perplexity and other engines as add-ons, plus site audits, bot analytics, and mention work in the same product, with content as a $149 per client brand/mo add-on. That is one line item to rebill per client instead of four tools to reconcile. When delivery capacity runs short, the platform’s agent will clear that recommendation queue on its own. Temso promises it will never compete with you for your clients. Honest caveat: it is a younger brand than the incumbent suites, and the integration catalog is smaller.
3. Peec AI, 4/5 stars. Peec is a strong option for agencies. Unlimited seats on every plan, and free pitch workspaces that let you walk into a prospect meeting with their AI visibility data already on screen. Daily tracking across 8+ engines is genuinely strong. Watch the fine print, though: project counts are capped per tier, several engine models are paid add-ons, and pricing is published in euros, which complicates clean dollar rebilling. And it is monitoring only, so your team still does all the fixing.
4. Otterly.AI, 4.0/5 stars. For a small shop testing whether clients will pay for AI visibility, Otterly is the cheapest paid entry: $29 per month for the 15-prompt Lite plan as of July 2026, with automated weekly reports that drop straight into a client deck. Budget for the jump to $189 Standard once prompts run out, and remember there is no execution layer.
The per-client math, five-client scenario
| Tool | Setup for 5 clients | Monthly cost (as of July 2026) |
|---|---|---|
| Google Sheets | 1 shared file, 5 client tabs, all run by hand | $0, plus staff hours on every run |
| Temso AI | 1 account, 5 projects on Growth | $199, about $40 per client |
| Otterly.AI | 1 Standard account, 100 prompts split 5 ways | $189, about 20 prompts each |
| Peec AI | 1 account, tier sized to 5 projects | Euro pricing plus engine add-ons |
| Otto SEO | Agency tier for white-label and project room | Around $999 |
| Profound | 5 separate Growth accounts | About $1,995 |
Bottom line: the spread between the cheapest and priciest paid way to serve the same five clients is roughly 10x.
Contract gotchas to check before you sign
- Seat audits. Some vendors reserve the right to charge for client-side logins. Get seat terms in writing.
- Project definitions. Ask whether a client with three domains counts as one project or three.
- Add-on creep. Engine add-ons, extra prompts, and extra domains are where a $199 quote becomes $400. Price the add-ons before you pitch the retainer.
- Rebilling rights. Confirm you can white-label or reshare reports. Otto SEO gates white-label behind its $399 Pro tier; check every vendor’s terms.
Our full test notes and scoring weights live on the leaderboard and the methodology page. Bottom line: start with a free Google Sheets log on your first client. Once you bill clients for AI SEO work, Temso AI is the only paid roster tool with no per-client or per-seat fees, Peec AI is the strongest pure-monitoring alternative, and Otterly.AI is the cheap way to prove the service line before you scale it.
