AirOps tracks brand visibility across several AI engines every day, while Koala only checks Google AI Overviews on demand, so the two suit different buyers. AirOps fits teams that want to build their own workflows, and Koala fits publishers who want cheap, published pricing and an agent that plans from Search Console. DeepSmith is a strong alternative on terms: AI visibility tracking and publish-ready article production sit on one self-serve plan with public prices, and Autowrite ships finished articles without anyone building a workflow.
If you are weighing AirOps vs Koala AI for tracking how your brand shows up in AI answers, the first thing to settle is how many engines you need to watch. AirOps measures mentions and citations across multiple engines, and Koala runs a Google AI Overviews check when you ask for one. The rest of the decision follows from that, plus what each tool charges and how much setup it asks of you. DeepSmith covers the same ground with tracking and writing in one product.
AirOps vs Koala AI: the short answer
- Choose DeepSmith if you want AI visibility tracking and publish-ready articles on one self-serve plan, with prices from $99 a month and no workflow to build.
- Choose AirOps if you need daily multi-engine tracking and a configurable workflow system, and you are fine with prices that are not published.
- Choose Koala if you mostly care about Google, want public pricing from $25 a month, and want an agent that plans and publishes articles from your Search Console data.
Comparison table
| Criterion | DeepSmith | AirOps | Koala |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (monthly) | $99 (Pro) | Not listed | $25 (Starter) |
| Annual price (per month) | $80 (Pro) | Not listed | Not listed |
| Monthly allowance at entry tier | 20 articles | 35,000 tasks | 45,000 words |
| Free trial | 7 days | 14 days | Free account, 5,000 words |
| AI visibility tracking | Yes | Yes | Partial, on-demand checks |
| Engines at entry tier | ChatGPT | ChatGPT | Google AI Overviews, on demand |
| Most engines on any plan | 10 | 6 documented | 1 |
| Brand knowledge grounding | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduled publishing | Yes | Yes | Yes, Boost and above |
| API access | Yes, read-only | Yes | Yes, all paid plans |
| MCP server | Yes, 23 read-only tools | Yes | Yes, 62 tools |
| Security certifications | SOC 2, GDPR, ISO | SOC 2 Type II | Not listed |
| Review rating | 4.8/5 on G2 | 4.7/5 on G2 | 4.5/5 on Capterra |
Pricing and features as of September 2026, from each vendor's site and public reviews.
AirOps
AirOps is an AI search growth platform that tracks brand visibility in AI answers and runs agent workflows to research, write, refresh, review and publish content. It is sold alongside expert strategy services, and it is built for marketing, SEO and content teams, mostly at mid-market and enterprise brands, who are willing to build workflows or have AirOps build them.
The standout is the way measurement and execution connect. Insights tracks mention rate, share of voice, citations and sentiment daily, and Page360 joins AI citations with Search Console and GA4 for each URL. Those findings feed Playbooks, a visual Workflow builder and Grids for bulk runs, with human review and publishing to a CMS. The limit sits in the plans. Solo tracks ChatGPT only, Pro and Enterprise cover more engines, and AirOps does not publish prices for Solo or Pro, only a Solo overage rate of $0.025 per task.
On G2, AirOps shows 4.7 out of 5 from about 133 reviews as of September 2026. Reviewers on G2 praise customizable workflows and time savings, and they mention a learning curve, technical work for complex automations, and the need to fact-check generated content.
Koala
Koala AI is a self-serve AI SEO content platform. KoalaWriter generates long-form articles grounded in a per-brand knowledge base called Brand DNA, an SEO agent reads Search Console and Analytics to decide what to publish, and KoalaLinks handles internal linking. It is built for bloggers, niche and affiliate publishers, local businesses and agencies that want high-volume article production in one public-priced subscription.
Its standout is the pricing and the reach of the subscription. Plans run from $25 a month for one brand to $2,000 a month for 75 brands, and the API and a 62-tool MCP server come with every paid plan. The real limit for this comparison is AI visibility. Koala checks whether Google AI Overviews cite a domain and compares competitor citations, but it does not run recurring tracking or track ChatGPT, Perplexity or Gemini answers. It also publishes no security certifications and has no team collaboration model.
Capterra shows 4.5/5 from 70 reviews for Koala AI, and reviewers on Capterra credit fast, SEO-structured drafts. Trustpilot is lower, with a 3/5 TrustScore from 22 reviews and complaints about slow support, credit expiry and refunds. G2 lists KoalaWriter at 4.5/5, though from only 2 reviews.
DeepSmith: the alternative that tracks and writes on one public plan
AirOps also tracks multiple engines, so the useful gap for this reader is the terms. AirOps leaves its Solo and Pro prices off the page and asks you to build or commission the workflows that turn tracking into articles. Koala publishes its prices and writes articles, but its AI visibility stops at on-demand Google AI Overviews checks. DeepSmith puts both halves on one self-serve plan with public prices: Pro is $99 a month, Grow is $199 and Scale is $399, or $80, $160 and $299 a month billed annually, with a 7-day free trial and no long-term contracts. If you want DeepSmith against Koala head to head, see our DeepSmith vs Koala comparison. For a wider shortlist, there is an AirOps alternatives guide.
On the measurement side, DeepSmith checks the questions you define on a schedule and reports mention rate, citation rate, share of voice and sentiment, with a per-platform breakdown, a competitor leaderboard and the sources AI cites most. It covers ten engines in all, with ChatGPT on Pro, Perplexity added on Grow, Gemini added on Scale, and every engine on Enterprise. The Pages view shows which of your own pages AI actually cites, and each prompt keeps its full answer history.
On the production side, Opportunity Agents turn those gaps into content ideas that each carry the data point behind them. The Writer turns a planned idea into a finished article, researched, linked and grounded in Deep IQ, with a cover image and publish-ready metadata. Autowrite does it on a set date with no one in the app, and Produced Content publishes to WordPress, Webflow, Strapi, Sanity or Contentful. Pro includes 20 articles a month, Grow 40 and Scale 90, with 50, 100 and 200 tracked prompts.
Engine coverage and tracking depth
AirOps wins this one clearly. It tracks mention rate, share of voice, position, citations and sentiment daily for each prompt, platform, region and persona, and its docs list eight engines, including Google AI Overviews and AI Mode, Claude, Copilot and Grok. The billing and API docs name six of them as supported, so I would check which engines your plan actually includes before you buy. Claude is on by default only for Enterprise and costs four billing units per answer. The AirOps vs Profound comparison goes deeper on how it stacks up against a dedicated tracker.
Koala's check is narrower than its marketing suggests. The documented tools test whether a Google AI Overview cites your domain for a keyword and compare competitor citations, run by the Brand DNA agent or by MCP tools at 1 to 3 credits a call. ChatGPT, Perplexity and Claude appear as targets Koala writes toward, not as engines it measures, and there is no answer history. If Google is the only surface you care about, that may be enough. If buyers ask ChatGPT or Perplexity, it leaves most of the picture out, and that is the honest answer to the question in the title of this piece. On AirOps vs Koala AI visibility beyond Google, the gap is large.
What DeepSmith does: DeepSmith tracks up to ten engines, and every plan runs scheduled checks with full answer history for each prompt. Pro tracks ChatGPT, Grow adds Perplexity, Scale adds Gemini, and Enterprise covers all ten, including Google AI Overviews and AI Mode. The tracking reports mention rate, citation rate, share of voice and sentiment, so you can watch the trend instead of a single check.
Pricing and value
In a Koala AI vs AirOps price check, Koala wins on price transparency and on the entry point. Starter is $25 a month for 45,000 words and 500 credits, Professional is $49, Boost is $99 and the top plan is $2,000. It has a free account with 5,000 words and 25 credits and no card. The cost is in the metering. Articles use a word allowance that premium models consume at 2x or 3x, chat, images, links and MCP research share a credit pool, and monthly credits expire after a month. Reviewers dispute credit economics, so I would read the terms for your volume.
AirOps shows plan limits without prices. Solo gives 35,000 tasks a month on ChatGPT only, with one user, and Pro gives 100,000 tasks, unlimited seats and multi-engine tracking, but you need a quote or a trial to learn what either costs. Its pricing FAQ describes a 14-day trial, though the wording still names an older plan, so confirm the trial terms with AirOps. Enterprise pricing is custom.
What DeepSmith does: DeepSmith publishes every self-serve price and ties each plan to what you get: 20, 40 or 90 articles a month, 50, 100 or 200 tracked prompts, and 5, 7 or 10 seats. Tracking and writing share one bill, and there are no long-term contracts or cancellation fees.
Workflow and automation
AirOps wins here, and by a wide margin. Playbooks are natural-language agents, the Workflow builder supports branching and human review, Grids run a workflow across many rows on a schedule, and Power Agents templates give teams a start. AirOps says it supports 20+ models, and it publishes to Webflow, WordPress, Contentful, Strapi and Sanity on Pro. The price of that flexibility is setup, and reviewers mention the learning curve.
Koala has an agent-driven plan, write and publish pipeline with review sub-agents, and Content Calendar Autopilot publishes an approved calendar on a chosen cadence from Boost at $99 a month. It has bulk writing on every paid plan and webhooks to Zapier or Make, but no no-code workflow builder. For a single site or a set of client sites, that fixed pipeline is often all you need.
What DeepSmith does: DeepSmith ships the pipeline already built. Opportunity Agents find the ideas, New Ideas holds the backlog, Planned Content schedules it, and Autowrite writes each article on its date and lands it in Produced Content, researched, linked and publish-ready. There is nothing to build, and the Writer applies your stored persona, voice and content type to every run.
From insight to action
AirOps has the stronger loop between visibility data and content. Insights and Page360 surface where you lose AI visibility, Opportunities and Campaigns turn those findings into work, and Quill, Playbooks and Workflows do the work, with Content Updates tracking what changed afterwards. That loop sits on its AI visibility data.
Koala's loop runs on Google rankings. The agent reads Search Console and Analytics to find drifting pages and striking-distance queries, plans a calendar, writes the articles and links them. That is a sound loop for search traffic. It does not start from what AI engines say about your brand, because Koala does not collect that.
What DeepSmith does: DeepSmith runs the loop inside one product. The tracking finds the prompts where you are invisible or losing, Opportunity Agents return ideas with the supporting data attached, and the Writer produces the article that closes the gap. Because Deep IQ holds your products, personas and brand voice, the Writer can ground AI content in product facts instead of guesses. The Content Map adds the same view for topics, showing coverage gaps and untapped topics against unlimited competitor sites.
Access, security and teams
Koala leads on developer access at its price. A REST API and a 62-tool MCP server come with every paid plan from $25 a month, with research calls billed in credits. AirOps has an Insights API, which needs a Brand Kit with AEO enabled, and an MCP server on all plans. On security, AirOps is the one with documented controls: SOC 2 Type II, annual penetration tests, and SSO with SCIM on Enterprise. Koala lists no certifications, and its FAQ allows sharing one account within an organization but describes no seats, roles or approvals.
What DeepSmith does: DeepSmith is SOC 2, GDPR and ISO certified. Pro includes 5 seats, Grow 7 and Scale 10, and Multi-Workspace keeps each brand or client isolated with its own context and plan. A read-only REST API and a 23-tool MCP server connect the workspace data to Claude, Cursor, Copilot and other assistants.
Which should you choose
- DeepSmith: you want to see where AI engines cite you and your competitors, and produce the articles that close the gaps, on one plan with published prices. It fits marketing leads who want output without building workflows.
- AirOps: you need daily tracking across many engines, you have the people to build and maintain workflows, and a sales conversation about price is acceptable. It is the better pick in an AirOps vs Koala AI choice when AI visibility beyond Google is the priority.
- Koala: your traffic comes from Google, you publish at volume for one or several brands, and you want a low, public price. It wins the Koala AI vs AirOps comparison on cost and speed to start, as long as an on-demand Google AI Overviews check covers your tracking needs.
Start a DeepSmith free trial to see tracking and publish-ready articles in one workspace, with real data and real drafts before you pay.
