SurfacedBy vs Gumshoe AI
Gumshoe generates persona-driven audit reports; SurfacedBy runs continuous daily monitoring with an action loop. Different jobs, honestly compared.
The Quick Verdict
Gumshoe AI and SurfacedBy answer different day-to-day questions. Gumshoe is audit-shaped: you define buyer personas, it reverse-engineers the prompts those personas would ask, runs them across 11 claimed model families, and hands you a report with full transcripts. That makes it a strong fit for agencies and consultants doing project-based work, and its 3 free report runs make evaluation easy. But its recurring tiers monitor narrow snapshots (4 personas, 5 prompts, 4 models) between monthly full audits, and it has no GA4 integration, no traffic attribution, and no way to tie citations to revenue. SurfacedBy is monitoring-shaped: daily checks across your full tracked prompt set, executive briefs, 8 recommendation types, native conversion attribution, and a closed loop of content, community engagement, and outreach you approve, starting at $25/mo. If you sell audits, Gumshoe is a good report generator. If you own a brand's AI visibility week over week, SurfacedBy is built for that job.
Feature Comparison
How the two platforms compare across monitoring, insights, pricing, and integrations.
| Feature | SurfacedBy | Gumshoe AI |
|---|---|---|
| Monitoring | ||
| AI platforms monitored | 5 included by tier | 11 model families claimed (no Copilot) |
| Claude (Anthropic) tracking | All paid plans | |
| Google AI Mode | Professional+ | |
| Check frequency | Daily Check + Full Check | Weekly snapshots ($99), daily snapshots ($299); full audit monthly |
| Prompt discovery | AI-discovered from your domain, ongoing | Reverse-engineered from 4 to 8 buyer personas |
| Analytics & Insights | ||
| AI Visibility Score | Brand, persona, topic, and model visibility | |
| Citation tracking | Citation Audit (Pro) | |
| Sentiment Analysis | Full breakdown | Recently added (Pro) |
| AI Content Readiness Score | Automated on every scan (30 to 250 pages per domain) | Technical page audits (10 to 50/mo) |
| Actionable recommendations | 8 types with action steps | Up to 10 content recommendations/mo (Pro) |
| Executive Brief | ||
| Weekly Action Brief | ||
| Read actual AI responses | Full conversation transcripts | |
| Pricing & Access | ||
| Starting price | $25/mo | $99/mo |
| Pay-as-you-go option | $0.20 per conversation | |
| Free audit (no sign-up) | 30 real checks, 3 platforms | 3 free report runs (business email) |
| Free trial | 7 days | Free report runs instead of a trial |
| Self-serve signup | ||
| Integrations & Extras | ||
| GSC + GA4 integration | GSC + GA4 | |
| Conversion attribution (purchases tied to the AI source) | All paid plans (first-party cookie) | |
| Live AI traffic on your site (script tag, any platform) | ||
| API access | Professional (read), Agency (read + write). On-demand scans for anyone via SurfacedBy Console. | Read API (Enterprise only) |
| Data exports | CSV + JSON | |
Monitoring
AI platforms monitored
Claude (Anthropic) tracking
Google AI Mode
Check frequency
Prompt discovery
Analytics & Insights
AI Visibility Score
Citation tracking
Sentiment Analysis
AI Content Readiness Score
Actionable recommendations
Executive Brief
Weekly Action Brief
Read actual AI responses
Pricing & Access
Starting price
Pay-as-you-go option
Free audit (no sign-up)
Free trial
Self-serve signup
Integrations & Extras
GSC + GA4 integration
Conversion attribution (purchases tied to the AI source)
Live AI traffic on your site (script tag, any platform)
API access
Data exports
Pricing Comparison
SurfacedBy starts at $25/mo for continuous monitoring. Gumshoe starts at $99/mo for weekly snapshot audits.
SurfacedBy
Continuous monitoring, flat pricing
1 domain , 15 prompts , 3 platforms (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity) , Daily Check + Full Check
5 domains , 100 prompts , All 5 platforms (adds Claude + AI Mode) + AI Overviews , Content, community + outreach
10 fully monitored domains , 350 prompts , All 5 platforms + AI Overviews , Command center + read/write API
All plans include a 7-day free trial. Free audit with 30 real AI checks across ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.
Gumshoe AI
Audit reports, subscription or pay-as-you-go
One-time audit , 3 free report runs , No credit card
Weekly snapshots , Monthly full audit , 10 technical audits/mo
Daily snapshots , Citation + sentiment audits , 50 technical audits/mo
Also $0.20 per conversation pay-as-you-go. $2M pre-seed, Seattle. Snapshot audits cover 4 personas, 5 prompts per persona, 4 models.
SurfacedBy monitors your full prompt set daily from $25/mo; Gumshoe's $99 tier snapshots a 4x5x4 subset weekly.
Where SurfacedBy leads
Continuous, Full-Set Monitoring
Every tracked prompt is checked daily. Gumshoe's recurring tiers snapshot 4 personas and 5 prompts across 4 models between monthly full audits.
Visibility Tied to Revenue
GSC + GA4 integration, live AI traffic tracking, and native conversion attribution. Gumshoe has no analytics integration or attribution at all.
The Action Loop
8 recommendation types, executive briefs, weekly action plans, and approval-gated content, engagement, and outreach. Gumshoe caps at 10 content recommendations per month.
Where Gumshoe AI leads
Persona-Driven Audits
Define buyer personas and Gumshoe reverse-engineers the prompts they would ask, with full conversation transcripts. Great for client-facing audit reports.
Pay-As-You-Go Option
3 free report runs, then $0.20 per conversation with no subscription. Agencies doing occasional project audits only pay for what they run.
Which one should you choose?
Choose SurfacedBy if...
- You want your full prompt set checked daily, not periodic snapshot audits
- You want to tie AI visibility to actual traffic and revenue (native attribution + GA4)
- You want actionable recommendations, executive briefs, and weekly action plans
- You want a lower entry price ($25/mo vs $99/mo)
- You want the closed loop: content, community engagement, and publisher outreach you approve
Choose Gumshoe AI if...
- You want persona-driven audit reports with full conversation transcripts
- You do project-based audits for clients and want pay-as-you-go pricing
- You need Grok and DeepSeek coverage
- You want 3 free report runs before paying anything
SurfacedBy is our own product. We've done our best to represent competitors accurately based on their public pricing pages and documentation as of June 2026. We encourage you to try each tool yourself. Pricing and features may have changed since publication.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Gumshoe AI cost?
Gumshoe AI offers a free one-time audit (3 free report runs with a business email), a $99/mo Starter plan with weekly snapshot audits, a $299/mo Pro plan with daily snapshots and citation, content, and sentiment audits, plus a pay-as-you-go option at $0.20 per conversation. SurfacedBy starts at $25/mo with daily checks across your full prompt set.
What are the best Gumshoe AI alternatives?
SurfacedBy is the closest alternative for brand owners who want continuous monitoring instead of periodic audits: daily checks of your full prompt set, GA4 integration, conversion attribution, and an action loop from $25/mo. Other alternatives include AthenaHQ (task-queue workflow with a free plan), Rankscale (budget-tunable tracking), and Peec AI (multi-country analytics).
Is Gumshoe AI worth it?
For project-based audit work, yes: the persona methodology produces convincing client-facing reports with full transcripts, and 3 free runs make evaluation risk-free. For week-over-week brand ownership, note that its recurring tiers monitor narrow snapshots (4 personas, 5 prompts, 4 models) between monthly full audits, and there is no way to tie citations to traffic or revenue.
What does Gumshoe AI offer that SurfacedBy doesn't?
Gumshoe offers persona-driven prompt generation (it reverse-engineers what your buyer personas would ask), full conversation transcripts for every tested prompt, a pay-as-you-go pricing option, Grok and DeepSeek coverage, and cross-client benchmarking workspaces for agencies.
What does SurfacedBy offer that Gumshoe AI doesn't?
SurfacedBy offers daily checks of your full tracked prompt set, GSC and GA4 integration, native conversion attribution tying AI visibility to revenue, live AI traffic tracking on your site, executive briefs and weekly action plans, and a closed loop of content, community engagement, and publisher outreach you approve.
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