Disclosure SellOnLLM builds the free visibility checker, Chrome AEO extension, and Shopify AI analytics app referenced below. We still map adjacent tools honestly—merchants usually need a stack.
The ecommerce AI visibility stack (3 layers)
- Mention / citation checks — Are you named or linked for “best X for Y” prompts your shoppers ask AI?
- Page readiness — Can models extract product facts, FAQs, policies, and schema from PDPs and collections?
- Attribution — When AI does send traffic, can you see sessions and orders in Shopify / GA4?
Buying only a GEO dashboard skips layers 2 and 3. Buying only theme apps skips layer 1. Winning brands do all three—often with free or under-$30 tools before enterprise suites.
Quick comparison for merchants
| Need | Best fit | Price band |
|---|---|---|
| Free “do we show up?” report | SellOnLLM AI Visibility Checker | $0 |
| PDP / collection AEO audit in Chrome | SellOnLLM extension | Free audit; paid content/monitor |
| AI-referred sessions & orders | SellOnLLM Shopify app | See App Store listing |
| Weekly monitor + competitor page watch | SellOnLLM Unlimited | ~$10/mo |
| Broad GEO dashboards (multi-engine) | Otterly, Peec, Profound, etc. | Mid-market → enterprise |
| Classic SEO demand research | Ahrefs / Semrush / Similarweb | Existing SEO budget |
| Ground-truth queries & indexing | Google Search Console + GA4 | $0 |
1. Free & under $30 — start here
SellOnLLM (checker + extension + monitoring)
Purpose-built for the merchant path: run a free domain check on buyer prompts, audit any PDP from Chrome, optionally monitor weekly, and watch competitor landing pages change. Pair with our ChatGPT recommendation guide for prompt ideas by category.
Google Search Console + GA4
Still mandatory. AI referral paths are messy (often land in Direct), so treat “AI Assistant” channel groups as directional and reconcile with Shopify sessions. Use GA + GSC chat if you want narrative diagnostics without building Looker dashboards.
llms.txt + free technical audits
Publish a clean llms.txt, run a free LLM audit, and score trust signals with the E-E-A-T scanner. These do not replace citation sampling—they remove crawl and clarity blockers that keep you invisible.
2. Shopify-native AI traffic
Visibility tools that only chart ChatGPT mentions miss revenue. Merchants should attribute AI-influenced visits and orders inside Shopify. Install the LLM Analytics Shopify app, then compare weeks where you improved PDPs or won new citations.
3. Mid-market GEO suites (when budget exists)
Otterly, Peec, Profound and similar products excel when you need large prompt sets, multi-engine share-of-voice, and client reporting. They are usually overkill before you have:
- A baseline score on 5–10 real buyer prompts
- Schema, reviews, shipping/returns clarity on money pages
- Someone who will act on the report weekly
Deep dives: Otterly vs Peec, Peec vs Profound, SellOnLLM vs Otterly, SellOnLLM vs Peec.
4. What ecommerce prompts to track
- “Best [category] for [persona / use case]”
- “[Your brand] alternatives” / “[Competitor] vs [you]”
- “Best [product type] under $[price]”
- Gift and seasonal variants your ads already buy
If you score 0 on those, fix content and entity clarity before expanding prompt volume in a GEO suite. More context: D2C industry page.
Recommended starter stack (D2C)
- Free SellOnLLM check → share the result with your team
- Chrome audit on top 10 PDPs + homepage
- Shopify AI analytics app for attribution
- $10/mo monitoring once you care about week-over-week moves
- Add Otterly/Peec only if you outgrow that and need suite reporting