Elmo
FreemiumOpen-source AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and 10+ models
By Tanmay Verma, Founder · Last verified 05 Jul 2026
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Added 4d ago
77/100Safe BetIn short
Elmo — Open-source AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and 10+ models. Best for Marketing teams seeking to track brand mentions across AI answer engines, SEO professionals specializing in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Agencies that want to offer white-label AI visibility tracking to clients. Free to start; paid plans from $1950/mo.
Is Elmo actually worth it?
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Editorial Verdict
Best for
Marketing teams seeking to track brand mentions across AI answer enginesSEO professionals specializing in Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)Agencies that want to offer white-label AI visibility tracking to clientsPrivacy-conscious organizations requiring self-hosted, zero-vendor-lock-in solutions
Not ideal for
Organizations wanting a fully managed, no-setup SaaS solution (cloud hosting is still coming soon)Teams that need CRM integrations or advertising workflow automation (no ad platform integrations yet)Users looking for a zero-infrastructure, cloud-only tool without Docker or CLI setupThose seeking built-in content generation or automated outreach beyond citations tracking
The best free option for teams willing to self-host AI visibility tracking. No per-prompt limits and broad model coverage, but cloud hosting is still in queue. If you want a plug-and-play SaaS, wait or pay for off-site AEO services.
Compare with: Elmo vs Mangools, Elmo vs EverBee, Elmo vs SE Ranking
Last verified: July 2026
What's new in Elmo
Checked 2 days agoAcross the latest 6 updates: 3 feature updates, 1 changelog entry and 2 news mentions.
FeatureChangelog·7 days agoNewest
v0.2.14: CLI upgrade, DataForSEO and Oxylabs providers
Adds elmo upgrade, DataForSEO (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini) and Oxylabs providers.
FeatureChangelog·26 days ago
v0.2.13: Citation dashboard, Google Shopping breakdown, Query Fan-Out
Adds citation categories, Google Shopping breakdown, Query Fan-Out section, and API breaking changes.
FeatureChangelog·Jun 7
v0.2.11: Share of Voice and Opportunities pages, CLI improvements
New Share of Voice and Opportunities pages; CLI pinning and help updates.
ChangelogChangelog·Jun 7
v0.2.12: Bug fix for BrightData stuck processing
Fixes BrightData occasional stuck processing.
NewsBlog·Jun 3
Citation Volatility: How Much Do the Sources AI Cites Change Over Time?
Study on churn of domains cited by AI over time.
NewsBlog·Jun 2
The Best AEO Tools for AI Visibility (2026 Guide)
Compares Elmo, Profound, Peec AI, and others for AEO.
What independent users actually report about Elmo
We ran a structured research pass across product reviews, community discussions, and post-purchase forum threads to surface the patterns vendors won't publish themselves. Below: the recurring strengths, the hidden costs people mention most, and the cohort that consistently regrets adopting this tool.
66 mentions across 6 sources (Hacker News, Product Hunt, Bluesky, Stack Overflow, GitHub, Lemmy).
13% positive87% critical
Recurring strengths
- +Fully open-source under MIT license, no vendor lock-in.
- +Self-hosted ensures complete data ownership and privacy.
- +Unlimited prompts and brand tracking on self-hosted plan.
- +Tracks visibility across 10+ AI models including ChatGPT and Perplexity.
- +Offers share-of-voice and opportunity analysis pages.
Recurring frustrations
- −Extremely low community adoption and user reviews.
- −Name generates massive search noise, making it hard to find.
- −Requires Docker and self-hosting, not beginner-friendly.
- −No cloud or managed hosting option yet.
- −Support is limited due to early-stage and open-source nature.
Patterns worth knowing
Positive early reception on Product Hunt with praise for open-source and self-hosting.
Seen on Product Hunt
Overwhelming name confusion with Sesame Street and Elon Musk references across all platforms.
Seen on Hacker News, Bluesky, Lemmy, Stack Overflow, GitHub
Learning curve
intermediateProductive in ~A few hours to days
Hidden costs people mention
- • Self-hosting requires your own infrastructure and compute costs.
- • Off-site AEO service and white-label pricing are not publicly disclosed.
Viability Score
77/100
Safe BetHow likely is Elmo to still be operational in 12 months? Based on 4 signals — momentum (how recently it shipped), wrapper dependency, revenue model, and web presence.
momentum
55
funding runway
80
website health
90
wrapper dependency
100
Last calculated: July 2026
How we score →Key Features
- AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Grok, Mistral, Perplexity, Copilot, DeepSeek, Google AI Mode,
- Dashboard with visibility trends, citation categories, and key metrics
- Per-prompt visibility scores with trend lines and competitor comparison
- Citation analysis: top domains/URLs, new and dropped sources, category breakdown
- Prompt management with full-text search, tagging, and visibility tracking
- Competitor intelligence: mention rates, dominance across prompts
- Deep dive into individual AI responses: exact text, brands mentioned, sources cited
- Trend analysis over months with YoY comparisons
- Share of Voice and Opportunities pages (v0.2.11)
- Query Fan-Out section showing searches AI engines run for your prompts (v0.2.13)
- Google Shopping breakdown in citation dashboard (v0.2.13)
- Multiple brand support in local-mode deployments (v0.2.13)
- CLI for quick deployment with elmo upgrade command (v0.2.14)
- DataForSEO and Oxylabs scrapers (v0.2.14)
- Off-site AEO service (paid) with guest posts on high-authority sites
About Elmo
FreemiumIntermediateAPI availableWeb · CLI · API
Elmo is an open-source Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) platform that monitors how AI models mention your brand, which competitors appear alongside you, and which sources are cited. It is a self-hosted alternative to proprietary tools like Profound, Peec, and Otterly. Designed for marketing teams, SEO professionals, and agencies, Elmo periodically queries AI models with your configured prompts and tracks brand mentions, competitor appearances, and cited URLs over time. It runs as a Docker Compose stack on your own infrastructure, so your data stays yours. Key features include a dashboard for visibility trends, per-prompt visibility scores with competitor comparisons, citation analysis (domain/URL, new/dropped), prompt search and tagging, and a deep-dive view of individual AI responses. Recent updates add DataForSEO and Oxylabs scrapers, a Query Fan-Out section, Google Shopping breakdown, and multi-brand support. Elmo is fully open source (MIT license) with no vendor lock-in, unlimited prompts in self-hosted mode, and a CLI for quick deployment. Cloud hosting is coming soon; for now, self-host for free.
Behind the Verdict
Elmo fills a clear gap: it's the only open-source AEO tool that tracks mentions across a wide range of AI answer engines. If your team can manage Docker and a PostgreSQL database, the self-hosted tier gives you unlimited prompts and full data control—no per-seat pricing. Privacy-conscious orgs will appreciate that nothing leaves their infrastructure. The CLI is straightforward, and the recent v0.2.14 adds elmo upgrade for seamless updates. We'd reach for this when we need to compare brand visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and others without locking into a monthly subscription. The competitor ranking table and citation breakdown are particularly useful for AEO audits. Where it bites: cloud hosting is still 'coming soon,' so there's no turnkey SaaS option. Setup requires some technical chops—Docker and API keys (OpenRouter or direct model keys) are mandatory. It also lacks CRM integrations or any ad platform automation, so it's purely a monitoring tool. Compared to Profound or Peec, Elmo is cheaper (free self-hosted) but demands infrastructure effort. The paid Off-Site AEO service is expensive but might be worth it for brands that want hands-off guest posting on high-authority sites. In practice, we'd recommend Elmo for in-house teams that have dev support and want to avoid vendor lock-in. If you need a managed dashboard tomorrow, wait for the cloud version or look elsewhere.
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Use Cases
- Monitor your brand's visibility across 10+ AI models automatically on a recurring schedule
- Analyze which sources AI models cite when mentioning your brand and identify new citation opportunities
- Compare your brand's AI mention rate against competitors for specific prompts over time
- Drill into individual AI responses to see exactly what each model said and which brands were referenced
- Track the impact of content changes on AI visibility using trend lines over months
- Generate white-label visibility dashboards for agency clients with custom branding and multi-tenancy
Models Under the Hood
ChatGPTClaudeGeminiGrokMistralPerplexityCopilotDeepSeekGoogle AI ModeGoogle AI Overviews
Limitations
- Elmo is primarily self-hosted; cloud hosting is not yet available (coming soon).
- Setup requires Docker and CLI familiarity, which may be a barrier for non-technical users.
- The free self-hosted version has no usage caps, but you must provide your own AI API keys and pay for infrastructure.
- The Off-Site AEO service is a separate paid add-on and not included in the free tier.
12-month cost
Project the real annual outlay, including the implied monthly cost when only an annual tier is published.
Annual total
Free
Over 12 months
Effective monthly
—
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Vendor list price only. Add-on usage, seat overages, and contract minimums are surfaced under Hidden costs & gotchas.
Integrations
Resources & Guides
Frequently Asked Questions
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