Free and Open-Source AI-Visibility Tools
The 6 AI-visibility and GEO tools in our index with no paid tier at all — free, self-hosted or bring-your-own-API-key products, not a discounted or Enterprise-gated "free plan" bolted onto an otherwise-paid product.
Our flagship landscape report splits the 44 tools it tracks into four pricing segments; the smallest and most distinct is the 6 tools with no paid tier at all — the opposite pricing model from every other segment in our index, where the ongoing cost is either zero or small, variable API usage, not a subscription. Four of the six (auto-geo, Canonry, Syntropic AI Visibility Audit, GEOrank) are self-hosted or CLI-based and require the user's own LLM/DataForSEO API keys; Archytas AISpy is a free downloadable desktop app on the same bring-your-own-key model; RankLens is the odd one out — a free *hosted* SaaS, not self-hosted software.
The "free" label hides real differences worth checking before picking one. Canonry's free core is FSL-1.1-ALv2 "source-available" — not an OSI-approved open-source license until each release converts to Apache-2.0 two years later — while auto-geo, Syntropic AI Visibility Audit and GEOrank ship under genuine OSI licenses (MIT or Apache-2.0) from day one. RankLens has been free "during Beta" for about 20 months with no published pricing roadmap, and has zero independent reviews on any platform we checked. GEOrank's own hosted demo gates its interactive diagnostic and Q&A tools behind a sign-up that currently only accepts a Chinese mobile phone number — its 5 no-login generator tools and the self-hosted Docker Compose stack are the parts that are actually free to use without that friction.
Why this collection
A tool earns a place here only if its own CitedIndex listing shows no priced, published paid tier of any kind — including no custom-quoted "Enterprise" add-on layered on top of the free core (that pattern — geoSurge, for example — is a different, priced segment, not this one). A time-limited free trial or an ongoing free tier alongside a real paid plan does not qualify; the entire product must be free (or bring-your-own-API-key) with nothing to buy.
- Canonry
Free, self-hosted, agent-first AEO platform: tracks AI-engine citations and executes the fixes.
The fullest-featured entry here: a real dashboard, CLI, 118+-endpoint API and 67-tool MCP adapter, free and source-available (FSL-1.1-ALv2, converts to Apache-2.0 two years after each release) — though its Embedded/Managed agency layers are separate, custom-quoted add-ons on top of the free core.
- auto-geo
Free, MIT-licensed CLI that audits, generates, and fixes pages for AI-engine citation, then measures whether it worked.
MIT-licensed and genuinely open source from day one — the only tool in this set (or this index) that closes the full loop of audit, generate, fix AND measure citations, but it doesn't track Google AI Overviews at all, the one engine most paid rivals lead with.
- Archytas AISpy
A free, downloadable desktop app that tracks brand visibility across ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity and Google AI Overviews/AI Mode, bring your own API keys, no subscription.
A free downloadable desktop app (Windows/Apple Silicon Mac), not self-hosted server software — no account, subscription or API-based install at all, just bring your own OpenAI/Anthropic/Google/Perplexity keys and run it locally.
- RankLens
SEO Vendor's multi-sampling AI-visibility tracker for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude, Grok, DeepSeek and Llama, free, with a DOI-registered methodology paper.
The one hosted SaaS in this set rather than self-hosted software — free "during Beta" for about 20 months with no published pricing roadmap, backed by a rare DOI-registered validation paper, but with zero independent reviews found on any platform.
- Syntropic AI Visibility Audit
Open-source, self-hosted AI-visibility audit: see whether ChatGPT, Gemini and Google's AI answers recommend your brand or a named competitor, then export a client-ready PDF.
Apache-licensed and self-hosted via Docker Compose, purpose-built for ecommerce brand-vs-competitor audits with a client-ready exported PDF — a narrower, single-report tool rather than an ongoing dashboard.
- GEOrank
A free, open-source GEO diagnostic-and-content-tooling workbench with a Claude Agent Skill for running a self-hosted instance from an AI agent.
Apache-2.0 licensed and self-hosted via Docker Compose, plus a Claude Agent Skill so an AI coding agent can run diagnostics against a self-hosted instance directly — but the hosted demo's interactive diagnostic and Q&A tools require a sign-up gated behind a Chinese mobile phone number; only 5 no-login generator tools and the self-hosted stack are friction-free.