For agencies, Scrunch is the better fit of the two. It sells agency tiers with multi-brand workspaces in one account, while HubSpot AEO covers one domain per setup and charges per brand, with no documented agency features. HubSpot AEO suits an agency with two or three small clients. DeepSmith is a strong alternative that runs each client in its own isolated workspace from one account, and it writes the publish-ready articles for each client as well as tracking them.
If you are choosing Scrunch or HubSpot AEO for agencies that run AI visibility for several clients, the first question is how each tool counts a brand. Scrunch and HubSpot AEO answer it in different ways, and the difference shows up in your monthly cost and in how much clicking around you do every week. This page covers Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO for agencies and nothing else, the side-by-side review covers the rest, and DeepSmith comes into it as a third option that also writes the content.
Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO for agencies: the short answer
- Choose DeepSmith if you want every client in its own workspace under one account, with its own Deep IQ brand context and plan, and you also want the articles written and published for each client, starting at $99/mo per workspace.
- Choose Scrunch if you manage a growing client roster and want agency tiers with multi-brand workspaces and an API, starting at $500/mo for Agency Core.
- Choose HubSpot AEO if you have a few small clients, want the lowest price per brand at $50/mo per setup, and can live with three engines and no documented agency features.
| DeepSmith | Scrunch | HubSpot AEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (monthly) | $99/mo (Pro) | $250/mo (Core), $500/mo (Agency Core) | $50/mo per setup |
| Free trial | 7-day | 7-day, card required | 28-day, no card |
| Multiple brands in one account | Yes, Multi-Workspace | Yes, agency workspaces | Partial, one domain per setup |
| White-label reporting | - | Partial | Not listed |
| API access | Yes, read-only | Yes, Enterprise for Query API | Partial, beta read API |
| Engines at entry tier | 1 (ChatGPT) | 4 | 3 |
| Prompts at entry tier | 50 | 125 | 25 |
| Content generation | Yes | Partial | Partial, Marketing Hub only |
| CMS publishing | Yes | Not listed | Partial, HubSpot blog only |
| G2 rating | 4.8/5 | 4.6/5 | 4.4/5 |
Pricing and features as of September 2026, from each vendor's site and public reviews.
Scrunch
Scrunch is an AI search visibility platform that tracks how brands appear and get cited in AI answers, audits sites for AI agents, and can serve AI-optimized page versions to agents at the edge. Sitecore acquired it in 2026, and it still runs as its own platform. It names agencies managing multiple clients as a target customer, and that shows in the packaging. Core is $250 per month for one brand workspace, 125 prompts and four engines, while Agency Core is $500 per month and Agency Enterprise is custom.
The standout for agencies is the multi-client setup, with agency workspaces and prospecting environments you can use to show a new lead where they stand. The limit is how little is public. Scrunch does not publish Agency Core quotas, annual prices or overage rates, so you would be asking for them in writing. On G2 it shows 4.6/5 from 73 reviews as of September 2026, with praise for ease of use and support, and some reviewers object to engines being kept for higher tiers.
HubSpot AEO
HubSpot AEO is HubSpot's answer engine optimization tool, still labelled beta. It runs your tracked prompts daily on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and reports visibility, sentiment, share of voice and citations against competitors. It is sold as a $50 per month standalone plan ($45 billed annually) and is included in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise.
The standout is price and ease. The trial is 28 days with no card, and G2 reviewers describe setup as easy. The limit for an agency is the structure. HubSpot's own documentation supports one owned domain per setup, so extra clients mean prompt groups, a Brands add-on or another $50 instance, and no white-label reporting, client workspaces or agency plan is documented. G2 shows 4.4/5 from 145 reviews, and reviewers name the 25-prompt cap as a constraint.
DeepSmith: the alternative that tracks and writes for every client
Neither tool writes the articles for an agency's clients. Scrunch lists content generation on its pricing grid without describing it, and its own comparison page says it does not currently offer AI-generated content. HubSpot AEO writes blog posts only inside Marketing Hub, which starts at $800 per month billed annually. An agency using either one still needs a separate way to produce the articles that fix what the tracker finds.
DeepSmith does both in one platform. Multi-Workspace lets you run multiple brands or clients from one account, and each one is fully isolated with its own context, content and plan. Deep IQ holds each client's company, product, persona and brand voice records, so a draft for one client never borrows from another. You can invite teammates as owners or members. Inside a workspace, tracking shows the pages AI actually cites and where competitors win, Opportunity Agents turn that into ideas with the evidence attached, and the Writer produces publish-ready articles. Those go straight to WordPress, Webflow, Strapi, Sanity or Contentful, or to your own webhooks, and Autowrite can do it on a schedule with no one in the app.
Each workspace is billed and limited on its own. Plans are Pro at $99 per month, Grow at $199 and Scale at $399, or $80, $160 and $299 billed annually, with a 7-day free trial and no long-term contracts. Pro tracks ChatGPT, Grow adds Perplexity, and Scale adds Gemini.
Multi-client structure
Scrunch wins here, because it is the only one of the two built for several clients in one account. It has agency workspaces on Agency Core and Agency Enterprise, and the multi-brand capability is documented. Core, at one brand workspace, is a single-brand plan, so an agency would look at the agency tiers instead.
HubSpot AEO counts a brand as one owned domain per setup. To cover several clients you buy another instance at $50 per month for each one, or use prompt groups or the Brands add-on, whose price is not listed. That works for a small roster. It gets harder to run as the roster grows, because nothing in the documentation describes an agency view across the instances.
What DeepSmith does: each client gets a workspace of its own under one account, with its own Deep IQ context, content and plan. Teammates join as owners or members, so you can decide who sees which client. The workspace is also the unit for billing and limits, so each client's tracked prompts and articles stay separate from the rest of the roster.
Client reporting and data access
Scrunch is ahead on reporting and data. It says agencies can go headless through its API and fully white-label outputs for clients, but it does not describe a built-in white-label report builder, so the white-label work is yours. The Query API and Looker Studio connector are Enterprise features, and Exec and Board Reporting sits on Enterprise too. HubSpot AEO does not list white-label reporting. It has a beta read-only API for prompts, runs, answers and citations, and the docs name Marketing Hub products, so it is unclear whether standalone buyers can use it.
For both tools, I would ask for a sample client report before you sign, because the public pages do not show one.
What DeepSmith does: the API is read-only, with scoped keys, 120 requests per minute per workspace, and reads that spend no credits. The MCP server gives an AI assistant 23 read-only tools over a workspace, with one URL and API key for each workspace, so a client's data stays inside that client's key.
Pricing across a client roster
HubSpot AEO is cheaper while the roster is small. Each setup is $50 per month for 25 prompts and three engines, so five clients are $250 per month and ten are $500 per month at list price, before any $20 prompt packs. Scrunch Agency Core is $500 per month, and its quotas are not published, so you cannot yet compare what you get for that money. Ten HubSpot setups cost the same as one Agency Core plan, which is a reasonable rule of thumb for where the two meet, though it only holds if Agency Core covers the clients you have.
The bigger cost for either tool is what sits outside it. Neither one produces the articles, so the writing budget is separate. Marketing Hub, the HubSpot route to blog drafts, starts at $800 per month billed annually plus a one-time $3,000 onboarding fee.
What DeepSmith does: pricing is by workspace, from $99 per month, and the price includes articles. Pro produces 20 a month with 50 tracked prompts, Grow 40 with 100, and Scale 90 with 200, so tracking and writing for a client sit on one plan.
From insight to action
Scrunch gets the edge, because it acts on the client's own site. Its site audits check pages for AI access and content issues, and the Agent Experience Platform serves lean page versions to AI agents at the edge, though that is an Enterprise feature. It does not describe publishing to a CMS. HubSpot AEO produces prioritized recommendations, and a blog draft from a recommendation costs 1,000 HubSpot Credits, opens in the HubSpot blog editor, and needs Marketing Hub. A client on another CMS means copy and paste.
What DeepSmith does: the same platform that finds the gap writes the article to close it. The Writer researches, links and adds a cover image and metadata, grounded in that client's Deep IQ, and the result arrives publish-ready in Produced Content. For an agency this means one place to see a gap for a client, schedule the piece, review it and publish it to that client's CMS. It is the step both tracking tools leave to you.
Which should you choose
- DeepSmith fits an agency that wants to track and produce content for each client from one account, with every client isolated in its own workspace, whatever CMS each client uses.
- Scrunch fits an agency with a larger or growing roster that wants agency tiers, multi-brand workspaces and an API, and is comfortable asking for Agency Core quotas in writing.
- HubSpot AEO fits an agency with a few small clients that wants a cheap, easy start at $50 per brand, accepts three engines, and does not need agency features.
Start a 7-day free trial of DeepSmith and set up a workspace for one client to see how tracking and writing work together.
