HubSpot launched AEO — a platform for tracking brand mentions in ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity with CRM integration — positioning it as an alternative to the standalone tool Otterly. The key difference: HubSpot AEO is built into the marketing platform and allows you to create content immediately to close visibility gaps, while Otterly offers broader engine coverage (including Google AI Overviews and Microsoft Copilot) and an API for data export, but requires a separate workflow to process insights. For Russian brands, this raises questions about adapting Western AEO tools to local AI assistants and CRM systems.
What AEO platforms measure and why brands need it
Both platforms solve one problem: they show whether your brand name appears in responses from generative AI models to user queries and in what context. HubSpot AEO tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, uses CRM data to generate relevant prompts, and delivers content recommendations within the same system where your team manages campaigns and works with leads. Otterly covers ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot as standard, with Gemini and Claude as paid add-ons. It offers weekly citation monitoring at the URL level and exports reports to Looker Studio or via API.
The practical difference for a marketer: HubSpot generates prompts based on company profile, competitors, and your customer database from CRM — no need to manually build a query library. Otterly offers a Query Fan Out Tool: you enter one prompt, and the system shows a set of related questions that AI might generate from your original query. This is useful for building a topic map from scratch, but requires manual filtering and prioritization.
If an AEO tool isn't connected to your CRM, you see an increase in mentions but don't understand which ones drive leads and impact your sales funnel.
Workflow integration: embedded or standalone
HubSpot AEO integrates into Marketing Hub and Content Hub: when you discover a visibility gap for a key prompt, you immediately create an article, schedule it for LinkedIn, or set up automation for leads coming from that query. AEO data and campaign metrics live in one system — you can connect visibility changes to specific content or competitor actions without exporting to spreadsheets.
Otterly doesn't offer CRM integration or content creation tools. After getting an insight, you switch to your CMS, publish the material, then return to Otterly to track position changes. For teams with an established workflow and their own analytics infrastructure, this is manageable. For those looking to minimize context switching and connect AEO data to the sales pipeline, this gap slows down response time.
Otterly compensates for this with integration flexibility: Looker Studio for custom dashboards, a public API to send data to BI systems, and an MCP server for natural language queries to visibility data from Claude or Cursor. If your brand has its own data infrastructure, Otterly lets you embed AEO metrics into existing reporting. HubSpot doesn't offer this flexibility — you work within the platform ecosystem.
Cost and engine coverage: where the trade-offs begin
HubSpot AEO costs $50 per month as a standalone tool, with a 28-day trial limited to 25 prompts without a card. The full HubSpot for Marketers package (Marketing Hub + Content Hub + AEO) starts at $900 per month. Otterly offers three plans: Lite at $29 (15 prompts, 4 base engines), Standard at $189 (100 prompts, 5,000 URL audits per month, API with 2,000 request limit), and Premium at $399 (500 prompts, 25,000 audits, 10,000 API requests). Important detail: Gemini and Claude aren't included in Otterly's base plans — they're paid add-ons that increase the total cost.
For a small team needing to track up to 15 prompts, Otterly Lite at $29 covers basic monitoring. If you need CRM integration and a low prompt volume, HubSpot AEO at $50 provides workflow connectivity that no Otterly plan offers. For teams with 100+ prompts, URL audit needs, and API access, Otterly Standard at $189 delivers functionality not available in HubSpot AEO's standalone version — but will require a separate insight processing workflow.
Connecting AI search visibility to business results
HubSpot cites internal data: leads from AI search convert three times faster than those from traditional organic search. This only works if AEO data is connected to CRM: you see which prompts drive leads, how they move through the funnel, and whether mention growth impacts closed deals. In HubSpot, this connection is native — contact properties update automatically when triggered by an AEO campaign.
Otterly has no such connection. To assess pipeline impact, you export data via API, merge it with CRM data in a BI system, and build an attribution model manually. For companies with mature analytics, this is solvable; for teams without data engineers, it's a significant hurdle.
Competitive intelligence works similarly: both platforms show share of voice and competitor mention frequency. HubSpot lets you filter sources by type (owned content, competitor, third-party media, social, partnerships) and format (blog, news, product pages, social). Otterly tracks citations at the domain and specific URL level on a weekly basis, which provides detail for content audits but doesn't link this to actions within your marketing platform.
Adapting to the Russian market: limitations and alternatives
Both platforms focus on Western AI engines. For Russian brands, this means: if your audience uses ChatGPT or Perplexity via VPN, the data will be relevant; if main traffic comes through Yandex Search with GigaChat or other local assistants, coverage will be incomplete. As of publication, neither HubSpot AEO nor Otterly supports monitoring Russian-language AI assistants.
If your brand serves an international market or English-speaking audience, the tools apply directly. For a local market, it makes sense to track mentions in available engines as a signal of content quality: material cited by ChatGPT is likely structured in a way that both traditional SEO algorithms and future local AI models will value.
AEO platform selection checklist
- Determine your prompt volume: under 15 — Otterly Lite; up to 50 with CRM integration needed — HubSpot AEO; over 100 with API required — Otterly Standard.
- Check which engines your audience uses: if Google AI Overviews or Microsoft Copilot are critical — Otterly; if ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity suffice — both work.
- Evaluate your current workflow: if your team already uses HubSpot — native integration is built in; if you use a different CRM and have BI infrastructure — Otterly offers more flexibility through its API.
- Assess your attribution needs: if linking visibility to lead conversion is essential — HubSpot; if monitoring and reporting are enough — Otterly.
- Consider audience geography: for international campaigns, both tools work fully; for Russia, they serve as a content quality indicator and preparation for future local AEO solutions.
Frequently asked questions
Can AEO platforms be used alongside traditional SEO
Yes, they complement each other. SEO optimizes for traditional search engine results (crawlability, keywords, backlinks), while AEO optimizes for citations in generative model responses. The same page might rank in Google and be cited by ChatGPT, or work in only one channel. AEO visibility gaps often overlap with organic content gaps: if there's no clear answer to a user's question, neither search engines nor AI will surface your brand.
How to measure ROI from AEO tool investments
If the platform integrates with CRM (like HubSpot AEO), track lead conversion from prompts to closed deals and compare their LTV to leads from other channels. If you use a standalone solution (Otterly), export data via API, merge it with CRM data, and calculate attribution manually. Interim metrics: growth in share of voice, increase in citations of your content, decrease in competitor mentions in responses to target prompts.
Should Russian brands invest in AEO now
If your brand serves an international or English-speaking audience — yes, the tools apply directly. For a local market, AEO monitoring is useful as a content quality indicator: structured, authoritative materials cited by Western AI models will likely perform well in traditional SEO and will be ready for integration with future Russian AI assistants once local AEO solutions emerge.
In Brief
- HubSpot AEO is built into the CRM and marketing platform, enabling you to create content and link visibility to your pipeline immediately; Otterly is a standalone tool with API and broader search engine coverage, but without CRM integration.
- HubSpot tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity for $50 per month, while Otterly covers 4 engines at its base tier (Gemini and Claude available as add-ons) ranging from $29 to $399 depending on prompt volume and API limits.
- According to HubSpot data, leads from AI search convert 3x faster, but you can only measure this by integrating AEO data with your CRM.
- Both platforms focus on Western AI search engines; for the Russian market, they work as a content quality indicator and preparation for the emergence of local AEO solutions.
- Your choice depends on workflow: if your team uses HubSpot, native integration saves time; if you have BI infrastructure and need flexibility, Otterly's API offers greater opportunities for custom analytics.
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