Zene vs Ahrefs Brand Radar
Brand Radar is Ahrefs' AI-visibility product, built on a prebuilt index of AI answers rather than only the prompts you choose. Ahrefs has shipped quickly in 2026: bot analytics, an MCP server and API with AI-response metrics, and an "AI adjusted volume" estimate per platform. If you're comparing it with Zene, you're comparing a large data index with a focused tracker.
In one line: Ahrefs is index-first, Zene is fix-first. Brand Radar lets you look up how any brand shows up across a large set of AI answers. Zene tracks the questions you pick across five engines from a free plan and, on Pro, turns each gap into a prioritized action with drafts.
Choose Zene if…
- You want a free plan that keeps tracking - Ahrefs offers a free checker but no trial
- You want Claude, Perplexity and Grok included at $19/mo, with 2 brands and 15 questions shared across them
- You want drafted fixes and an outreach list inside the tracker, not a separate agent product
- You don't need an SEO suite and want a lower monthly bill
Choose Ahrefs Brand Radar if…
- Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and Copilot matter to you - Brand Radar tracks them; Zene doesn't yet
- You want answers from a large prebuilt prompt index, plus volume estimates per platform
- You want an MCP server and API with AI-response metrics
- You want an agent (Agent A) that drafts content and publishes to WordPress and other CMSs
The comparison, in one table.
| Zene | Ahrefs Brand Radar | |
|---|---|---|
| Engines tracked | ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, Grok | AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Copilot; Claude on higher tiers or via custom prompts |
| Free plan / trial | Free forever: 1 brand, 10 questions, ChatGPT + Gemini, scans on demand, no card | No trial. Free AI visibility checker: brand name only, no signup, top 5 results per section |
| Entry price | $0; Pro $19/mo (2 brands, 15 questions, all 5 engines) | $199/mo per platform index, $699 for all (Sep 2026); UK page shows £159 and £560 |
| Higher tiers | Growth $49/mo: 5 brands, 40 questions, PDF reports, Slack/Teams/webhook alerts, 3 markets. Agency $99/mo: unlimited brands, 75 questions, white-label reports, REST API, Zapier, Looker Studio, 10 markets | Custom-prompt packs ($50-250; UK page from £40) |
| Refresh | Daily on paid plans (Gemini and Grok answers refresh daily, ChatGPT's every 3 days, Claude and Perplexity weekly); Free scans on demand | Not stated on the public pages we checked |
| Prompt data | Question discovery from real search demand (People Also Ask, related searches, autocomplete) | 449M+ prompt-platform pairs: AI Overviews 315M, AI Mode 12.7M, and about 30M People Also Ask-based prompts on each of ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Copilot. AI adjusted volume per platform |
| Fixes | Pro: prioritized action plan, content drafts (brief, FAQ, schema, llms.txt), outreach list | Agent A ($99/mo, separate product) drafts content and publishes to WordPress and other CMSs |
| Integrations | Read-only MCP server from Pro; Slack, Teams and webhook alerts from Growth; the REST API, Zapier, Looker Studio and MCP write tools on Agency | MCP and API with AI-response metrics; Agent A lists 35+ connectors |
| Crawler analytics | AI-crawler log drains (Vercel, Cloudflare, JSON) on every plan | Bot Analytics with spoofed-bot detection (since June 2026) |
| Best for | Founders, small teams and agencies tracking several brands on a budget | SEO teams that want AI data inside Ahrefs |
Facts as of October 4, 2026, from Ahrefs Brand Radar's public pages (sources below). Both products ship fast - verify current details at ahrefs.com and on our pricing page.
Where Ahrefs is stronger
Coverage and data. Brand Radar covers Google AI Overviews, AI Mode and Copilot alongside ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity - Zene doesn't track the Google surfaces or Copilot yet. Because it works from a prebuilt index, you can look up a brand without writing prompts first, and its free checker shows real AI mentions for any brand name with no signup. Ahrefs also ships an MCP server, bot analytics with spoofed-bot detection, YouTube, TikTok and Reddit sources (in beta) and "AI adjusted volume", an estimate of demand per platform. Its separate Agent A product drafts content, publishes to WordPress and other CMSs, and runs scheduled Brand Radar checks including hallucination detection.
Where Zene is different
Zene puts tracking and fixes in one plan. Pro covers 2 brands and 15 questions shared across them across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity and Grok, and every scan ends in a prioritized action plan with drafts: a content brief, FAQ copy, schema JSON-LD, an llms.txt, plus a list of cited sources where competitors appear. Claude and Grok are included at entry, where Brand Radar reserves Claude for higher tiers or custom prompts.
Pricing
Zene: Free, Pro $19/month, Growth $49/month, Agency $99/month ($190/$490/$990 yearly), in USD. Ahrefs' own pages give differing figures: our September 2026 check found $199 a month per platform index and $699 for all platforms, while the UK Brand Radar page showed £159 and £560 in October. Custom prompts cost extra, and Agent A is $99 a month on top.
How to choose
If you already use Ahrefs and need Google's AI surfaces with an index you can query on day one, Brand Radar fits. If you want five engines, several brands and drafted fixes for a fraction of one index, start with Zene's free plan.
Sources · facts as of October 4, 2026
Every Ahrefs Brand Radar fact on this page comes from these public pages, checked on October 4, 2026. Zene's side comes from our pricing page and methodology. Spot something outdated? Tell us and we'll fix it.
Common questions.
Yes, for teams that want AI visibility tracking without an SEO suite. Zene starts free and Pro is $19/mo with Claude, Perplexity and Grok included; Brand Radar starts at $199/mo per platform index and adds Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, Copilot and a large prompt index.
Zene: free plan, Pro $19/mo, Growth $49/mo, Agency $99/mo. Ahrefs: $199/mo per platform index or $699 for all platforms (September 2026 check); its UK page showed £159 and £560 on 2026-10-04. Ahrefs' own pages differ, so check before buying.
No trial was listed on the public pages we checked. Ahrefs offers a free AI visibility checker that takes a brand name with no signup and shows the top results per section. Zene has a free plan with ongoing tracking on ChatGPT and Gemini.
Through a separate product. Ahrefs Agent A ($99/mo) drafts content and publishes to WordPress and other CMSs. Zene Pro drafts a content brief, FAQ copy, schema JSON-LD and an llms.txt inside the tracker, but doesn't publish to a CMS.
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