Historical July 2026 score. Panel evidence and limits.
Review · No. 08 0
Ahrefs Brand Radar
Brand Radar has expanded beyond the July panel. Its 7.0 score is historical; current platform coverage and pricing need a fresh test.
What works
- Custom prompts can be scheduled daily, weekly or monthly across supported AI platforms
- The AI Visibility Index connects brand mentions and cited pages with wider search and source research
- Current documentation describes seven AI platform groups, subject to platform-specific limits
What doesn't
- Custom prompts and index access are distinct purchases, starting at $50 and $199 per month respectively
- Index chatbot data refreshes monthly; custom-prompt freshness depends on the chosen schedule
- Grok is temporarily not collecting new data and Claude custom checks consume eight checks each
September 2026 fact check: Brand Radar now combines a large AI Visibility Index with custom prompt tracking. Ahrefs lists custom prompts from $50 per month and index access from $199 per month . The July price and “domain-based only” description no longer represent the current offer.
Two ways to measure visibility
The index lets a team explore mentions, citations and cited pages across a large set of search-backed questions without building a panel first. Custom prompts answer a different question: what happened on the exact buyer questions you selected? Ahrefs says custom checks can run daily, weekly or monthly; the index and the custom panel should not be treated as the same sample. See the current Brand Radar guide .
Ahrefs describes seven AI platform groups. That headline needs context: Grok is temporarily not supplying new data, and Claude is available for custom prompts only, with each Claude check consuming eight checks. The entry custom tier includes 2,500 checks per month, not 2,500 distinct prompts after platform and location choices. Ahrefs explains these limits .
Where it earns its place
Brand Radar is most useful when the question is broader than “did our page get cited?”: which outside sources appear in answers, how competitors show up, and whether your existing search work overlaps with AI visibility. Its search, cited-page and offsite-source views give an SEO or digital-PR team context for choosing the next place to investigate.
Where to be careful
Pricing depends on which of the two workflows you need. The $50 custom-prompt tier does not buy the full index, and the index starts at $199 per month. Ahrefs says its chatbot indexes refresh monthly, while custom prompt freshness follows the selected schedule. Check the platform mix and total checks in a trial before comparing the entry prices. See Ahrefs’ plan and cadence details .
Our 7.0/10 score and No. 8 placement come from the July 2026 panel. We have not rerun that same panel against the expanded product. Use the score as historical context; use current vendor documentation and a trial to decide whether the present offer fits your workflow. Read our scoring method .
Ahrefs Brand Radar — questions and answers
Does Ahrefs Brand Radar track custom prompts?
- Yes. Ahrefs says users can monitor selected prompts daily, weekly or monthly. Its entry custom-prompt tier starts at $50 per month for 2,500 checks; a check is not the same as a prompt when several platforms or locations are selected.
What is the difference between custom prompts and the AI Visibility Index?
- Custom prompts monitor questions you choose. The AI Visibility Index is a separate, large search-backed dataset for exploring brands and cited sources. Ahrefs lists the index from $199 per month.
Is the 7.0 score a current retest?
- No. The 7.0 score comes from The AEO Report’s July 2026 panel. This September fact check updates vendor-reported features and pricing, but the panel has not been rerun.