199 Million Prompts and Counting: The AI Visibility Database Nobody Else Has
Ahrefs Brand Radar
$199/mo per AI index or $699/mo all 6 platforms (+ $129/mo Ahrefs base required)
SEO teams already on Ahrefs wanting AI visibility from the largest prompt database
The definitive choice for teams that want raw intelligence on what real users are actually asking AI. The 199M+ prompt database is a competitive moat. The price reflects that advantage, and whether it's worth it depends on how much you value deep visibility intelligence.
199 Million Prompts and Counting: The AI Visibility Database Nobody Else Has
What It Does, What It Costs, and Who It’s For
Brand Radar is Ahrefs’ AI visibility module, built on a foundation of 199 million real, search-backed prompts. Instead of tracking synthetic queries, it monitors brand mentions and citations across six AI platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode) using actual user behavior. It’s an add-on to the Ahrefs base subscription, meaning you’re paying for depth on top of an existing SEO investment.
Metadata
| Attribute | Details |
|---|---|
| Last Updated | April 2026 |
| Category | All-in-One SEO + AI, Enterprise AI Visibility |
| Pricing | $199/mo per platform or $699/mo all 6 (+ $129/mo Ahrefs base minimum) |
| Best For | SEO teams already on Ahrefs wanting AI visibility from the largest prompt database |
| Website | ahrefs.com/brand-radar |
The Short Version
If you’re an Ahrefs subscriber and you want the most full database of real user queries driving AI citations, Brand Radar is unmatched. The 199M+ prompt intelligence is a moat no competitor has closed. The price is high, but the data depth reflects it. Missing Claude and Grok is a notable gap. New custom prompt tracking (January 2026) and social platform expansion (YouTube, TikTok, Reddit) move the value needle up.
What Ahrefs Brand Radar Does
Brand Radar plugs AI visibility into the Ahrefs stack. You add your brand name, select which of six AI platforms to monitor, and the system tracks mentions, share of voice, and citation patterns against competitors using a database built from 199 million real search queries.
Most AI visibility tools track synthetic prompts—pre-written test queries. Brand Radar is built on actual user searches funneled through AI engines, meaning the prompts you’re tracking reflect real behavior, not hypothesis. That’s a meaningful distinction, though both approaches have trade-offs.
But the tracking goes beyond “was I mentioned”—it surfaces share of voice metrics. If you’re cited in 46% of AI conversations for your category, ranked first among competitors, that’s a different story than 3% mentions with everyone else absent. Competitive context is built in.
What You Get
Prompt Database & Monitoring: The 199M+ prompt backbone gives Brand Radar unmatched coverage. You see which real queries mention your brand, where they mention it, and how often. Custom prompts (new in January 2026) let you monitor specific queries you care about.
Six AI Platforms: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and AI Mode. Note: Claude and Grok are absent, a gap for teams relying on those engines.
Share of Voice Tracking: Competitive visibility metrics show your brand’s relative presence. Are you ahead or behind in each AI engine? The percentages give you context for prioritization.
Social Media Expansion (2026): The platform now tracks brand mentions in YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit search results within Google—expanding visibility beyond pure AI platforms into the broader conversation.
API Access: Custom prompt integrations are available for teams building their own workflows or embedding Brand Radar data into internal tools.
Specs and Capabilities
Is Ahrefs Brand Radar a monitoring, auditing, or optimization tool?
Monitoring, built as an add-on to the Ahrefs SEO stack rather than a standalone product.
Brand Radar tracks mentions, citations, and share of voice across six AI engines using a database of 199 million real search-backed prompts rather than synthetic test queries. That distinction shapes the tool’s identity: the evidence layer is built on actual user behavior, which gives competitive intelligence a different weight than sampled prompts.
Not a standalone purchase. Brand Radar requires an active Ahrefs subscription ($129+/month base), and the add-on sits inside the Ahrefs interface rather than operating as its own product. That’s the deliberate choice: AI visibility is a module inside the SEO workflow teams already run.
Which AI surfaces does Ahrefs Brand Radar cover?
Six. ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode.
Claude and Grok are absent, which is a notable gap as those platforms gain adoption. For teams prioritizing Claude or Grok coverage, Ahrefs Brand Radar doesn’t fit. The coverage is six of the eight-plus engines most comprehensive tools track.
The 2026 social media expansion added YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit mention tracking within Google results. That’s not AI visibility in the pure sense, but it extends Brand Radar’s signal across adjacent discovery channels where users research brands before asking AI for recommendations.
What kinds of evidence does Ahrefs Brand Radar produce?
The distinctive evidence is the prompt database itself: 199 million real search-backed prompts that drive AI citations.
Most visibility tools run synthetic test queries. Brand Radar queries against actual user behavior, meaning the prompts you track reflect real discovery intent rather than hypotheses. That’s a meaningful distinction when you’re trying to understand what customers actually ask.
Share of voice metrics show competitive positioning. If you’re cited in 46% of AI conversations in your category and ranked first among competitors, that’s a different story than 3% presence with everyone else absent. The context is built in.
Custom prompts (January 2026 addition) let you track specific vertical-specific queries beyond the standard dataset, priced at $50/month per question. For teams with defined priorities, that closes a gap in the original product.
How deep does Ahrefs Brand Radar’s reporting go?
Advanced, with Ahrefs-grade data depth. The 199M+ prompt foundation gives the reporting unusual breadth, and the cross-reference with Ahrefs’ traditional SEO data (rankings, backlinks, keyword performance) adds context most standalone AI tools can’t match.
You get share of voice over time, competitive positioning by engine, prompt-level analysis, and API access for custom workflows. The reporting is built for SEO professionals already used to the Ahrefs interface.
What’s missing: revenue attribution. Brand Radar shows visibility and share of voice. It doesn’t correlate those metrics to conversions or sales the way AthenaHQ does. For teams needing the revenue loop, pair with GA4-integrated analytics work or look at a different tool.
How often does Ahrefs Brand Radar refresh its findings?
Daily. Monitoring queries run against the prompt database on a continuous schedule, and dashboards reflect daily updates.
For SEO teams operating on weekly reporting cycles, daily is the right cadence. Fresh enough for competitive movement, stable enough to avoid hour-to-hour noise. Custom prompts also update daily.
Not real-time like Profound or Conductor, which push continuous updates as citations change. For most Ahrefs workflow rhythms, daily is exactly the expected speed.
Does Ahrefs Brand Radar have a free plan?
No. The $129/month Ahrefs base subscription is mandatory, and Brand Radar sits on top as a $199 to 699 per month add-on depending on engine coverage.
The minimum investment is $328/month (Ahrefs base + one AI engine). Full six-engine coverage runs $828/month total. That’s the steepest entry price in the monitoring category, which matches Ahrefs’ enterprise positioning.
For teams not already on Ahrefs, the math rarely works. Brand Radar’s value is deepest when you’re layering AI visibility onto existing Ahrefs usage rather than signing up for the whole stack for the AI module alone.
Does Ahrefs Brand Radar support local businesses?
No. The pricing floor ($328/month minimum) and Ahrefs-first interface both filter out local SMBs.
A local plumber or law firm could technically subscribe, but the 199M+ prompt database is sized for brands competing in categories broader than single-city service work. The feature set optimizes for multi-market competitive analysis, not local visibility.
For local AI visibility, Nightwatch’s zip-code-precise rank tracking plus its AI monitoring add-on fits closer. Brand Radar’s sophistication starts paying off when a brand has multi-market footprint and enough competitive complexity to justify prompt-database-level evidence.
Does Ahrefs Brand Radar work for agencies?
Yes, particularly agencies managing multiple brands on the Ahrefs stack. The per-account cost amortizes across client portfolios, which makes the math work for agencies charging mid-market or enterprise retainers.
For agencies running ten-plus Ahrefs accounts, adding Brand Radar as a layer gives client reporting a depth that standalone AI tools can’t match. Traditional SEO signals plus AI visibility plus backlink intelligence all flow through one interface, which compresses reporting time.
What’s missing for agency work: dedicated white-label client dashboards. Brand Radar lives inside the Ahrefs interface, not behind agency-branded wrappers. Agencies report to clients through exports or custom integrations rather than native branded portals.
Pricing
| Plan | Monthly Cost | Per Platform | Coverage | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual Index | $199 | 1 AI platform | Single focus | Targeted monitoring of one engine |
| All 6 Platforms | $699 | 6 AI platforms | ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot, AI Overviews, AI Mode | Full AI visibility breadth |
| Custom Prompts Add-on | $50 | Per question | Unlimited custom tracking | Teams with specific query priorities |
| Base Ahrefs Required | $129+ | Base subscription | Full Ahrefs suite + Brand Radar access | Access to Ahrefs tools |
Watch out for: The base requirement. Brand Radar is not standalone—you must have an active Ahrefs subscription starting at $129/month. That means the minimum investment is $828/month ($129 base + $699 all platforms). For teams not already in the Ahrefs stack, that’s a steep entry price.
Custom prompts cost $50/month and are worth it if you have more than five specific queries you want to monitor. The feature launched in January 2026 and fills a real gap for teams with vertical-specific priorities.
For current pricing and plan details, visit ahrefs.com/brand-radar.
What Users Are Saying
Teams already on Ahrefs praise the 199M+ prompt database as a genuine competitive advantage—the sheer volume of real queries is something no other tool can match. The share of voice metrics are consistently cited as actionable. The January 2026 addition of custom prompts resolved a major limitation for teams with specific monitoring priorities.
The complaint you hear most often: the price. For teams not on Ahrefs, the $128/month base + $699 add-on is a hard sell. Some users also note the absence of Claude and Grok as a material gap, especially as those platforms gain adoption.
Strengths
- 199M+ real-query prompt database is unmatched. No competitor has built this breadth of actual user behavior into AI visibility. That foundation matters.
- Share of voice metrics give competitive context built in. You’re not just tracking mentions; you’re tracking market position.
- Ahrefs integration means you can cross-reference AI visibility with traditional SEO data, backlinks, and keyword performance in one interface.
- Custom prompt tracking (January 2026) lets you monitor queries beyond the standard dataset, solving the “we care about this specific question” problem.
- Social platform expansion to YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit (2026 launch) broadens the visibility picture beyond pure AI into adjacent discovery channels.
Where It Has Room to Grow
- Claude and Grok are missing. For teams prioritizing those platforms, this is a notable gap. The coverage is 6 of 8+ major engines, not full.
- High minimum commitment. The $129/month Ahrefs base is mandatory. For teams using Brand Radar alone, the $828–$1,148 total monthly cost is steep. A standalone version might open up a broader customer base.
- Custom prompts cost extra. The $50/month add-on is reasonable, but teams monitoring dozens of vertical-specific queries can see costs climb quickly.
- UI is Ahrefs-first. Brand Radar lives within the larger Ahrefs interface. For teams treating AI visibility as their primary focus, the UX sometimes feels like a module rather than a first-class tool.
- Platform limitations in early 2026. YouTube, TikTok, and Reddit tracking is new and still being refined. Some users report occasional data gaps or delays in updates.
Who Should Use Ahrefs Brand Radar
SEO teams already on Ahrefs who want to add AI visibility depth. Agencies and in-house teams managing multiple brands where the $129+ base cost gets amortized across accounts. Companies competing in high-intent categories where understanding the “real” queries driving AI recommendations is strategically important. Teams that prioritize data fullness over cost.
Who Should Skip It
Teams looking for a standalone, single-focus AI visibility tool that tracks mentions without a full SEO suite attached. Startups or small agencies where the $828/month minimum is cost-prohibitive. Companies heavily reliant on Claude or Grok that need those platforms tracked from day one. Teams where price sensitivity outweighs the 199M+ database advantage.
How It Compares
Versus AthenaHQ: AthenaHQ gives you revenue attribution; Brand Radar gives you 199M+ prompts. Both are strong, different bets. AthenaHQ is simpler pricing and better for e-commerce ROI. Brand Radar is better for raw visibility intelligence and competitive context.
Versus SE Ranking: SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO suite at $65–$279/mo. Brand Radar is AI-visibility-first and more expensive, but with unmatched prompt coverage. SE Ranking is the better value for teams wanting traditional SEO + AI in one. Brand Radar is the better choice for AI-deep organizations already on Ahrefs.
Versus Profound: Both are enterprise-grade AI visibility plays. Profound is more GEO-focused and revenue-modeled; Brand Radar is more SEO-integrated and prompt-data-focused. Choose based on whether you’re prioritizing GEO strategy or integrating AI visibility into existing SEO workflows.
The Verdict
Brand Radar is the intelligence play for AI visibility. The 199M+ real-query database is a genuine moat, and the share of voice metrics are actionable. For teams already on Ahrefs, it’s a logical addition. For teams considering a fresh investment, the $828/month minimum is a barrier—you need to want Ahrefs’ full SEO suite, not just the AI module.
The missing Claude and Grok coverage is a gap, but not a dealbreaker if those platforms aren’t core to your strategy. The custom prompt add-on (January 2026) solved a real pain point. The social platform tracking is a nice expansion.
If your question is “who is asking what questions in AI, and are we showing up in the answers,” Brand Radar is the deepest tool available. Whether the investment makes sense depends on how central that question is to your strategy and whether you’re already committed to the Ahrefs stack.
Alternatives
- AthenaHQ — Revenue attribution focus, simpler pricing, best for e-commerce ROI
- SE Ranking — All-in-one SEO with AI tracking, $65–$279/mo, better for generalist teams
- Profround — Enterprise GEO with revenue modeling, higher price, deeper customization
Tool Website: ahrefs.com/brand-radar
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