Scrunch documents a wide API and MCP surface plus a Looker Studio connector, but most of it sits on its quote-based Enterprise plan. HubSpot AEO costs far less and reaches Claude and ChatGPT through a connector, but its read API is still in beta and no BI connector is documented. DeepSmith opens visibility data, the Content Map and the content library through a REST API, a 23-tool MCP server and signed webhooks.
If you want AI visibility numbers in your own dashboards and AI assistants, the question is how each tool gets data out, and on which plan. This is the short version of Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO for API and MCP access, and it only covers that one job. The full side-by-side comparison covers everything else. DeepSmith belongs on the shortlist too, because its API, MCP server and webhooks read from the same workspace that tracks and writes.
Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO for API and MCP access: the short answer
- Choose DeepSmith if you want visibility, Content Map and content library data readable through one REST API and a 23-tool MCP server, with signed webhooks for your own workflows, from $99 a month with a 7-day free trial.
- Choose Scrunch if you need the widest documented API and MCP surface and a Looker Studio connector, and you can buy Enterprise.
- Choose HubSpot AEO if you want assistant access and a beta read API at $50 a month, and you can live without a documented BI connector.
Comparison table
| DeepSmith | Scrunch | HubSpot AEO | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Entry price (monthly) | $99/mo (Pro) | $250/mo (Core) | $50/mo (standalone) |
| Free trial | 7 days | 7 days, card required | 28 days, no card |
| Engines at entry tier | 1 (ChatGPT) | 4 | 3 |
| Cited sources and URLs recorded | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Full answer text stored | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Public API | Yes, read-only | Yes, Enterprise for Query and Advanced API | Partial, beta read API |
| MCP server for AI assistants | Yes, 23 read-only tools | Yes, Enterprise per pricing grid | Partial, connector for Claude and ChatGPT |
| BI or analytics connectors | - | Yes, Looker Studio on Enterprise | Not listed |
| 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 monitors 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. A longer look at the whole product is in our Scrunch review. It is aimed at mid-market and enterprise marketing, SEO and web teams, plus agencies. Core costs $250 a month for 125 prompts on four engines.
For data access, Scrunch is the more developed of the two. Its documented REST APIs cover metrics, raw responses, configuration, agent traffic, AI referrals, audits and webhooks, and its MCP server reached general availability in May 2026. The catch is plan gating. Scrunch's pricing grid lists the Query API, advanced API access, Looker Studio and MCP as Enterprise features, and Core as having none of them. G2 shows 4.6/5 from 73 reviews, with some reviewers mentioning limited graphics exports and higher-tier feature gates.
HubSpot AEO
HubSpot AEO is HubSpot's answer engine optimization tool, still labelled beta. It runs tracked prompts daily on ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity and reports visibility, sentiment, share of voice and citations. The standalone plan is $50 a month, or $45 a month billed annually, for 25 prompts. It is also included in Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise.
For data access, HubSpot offers two things. The first is a connector that lets users ask Claude or ChatGPT about AEO performance, manage tracked prompts and review recommendations, and it applies to all AEO plans. The second is a beta read API, versioned 2026-09-beta, for prompts, historical runs, answer text, citations and recommendations. Its docs name Marketing Hub products, so it is unclear whether a standalone account qualifies. We cover the same API and MCP question for Peec AI vs HubSpot AEO in a separate piece. G2 shows 4.4/5 from 145 reviews, with reviewers asking for deeper reporting.
DeepSmith: the alternative with API, MCP and webhooks across tracking and content
Scrunch and HubSpot AEO both give you AI visibility data. For a wider comparison of the two tools, see DeepSmith vs Scrunch. The data access each one documents centers on tracking: prompts, answers, citations, traffic and audits. That leaves the content you produce in response to those numbers outside the same reporting layer.
DeepSmith covers both sides. Its REST API gives read-only access to AI visibility (mention rate, citation rate, share of voice, per-platform and per-category results, the competitor leaderboard, cited sources, your cited pages, prompts and the AI answers themselves), the Content Map, the content library including article bodies, and Deep IQ assets. Keys are scoped (workspace:read, visibility:read, contentmap:read, content:read, iq:read), the limit is 120 requests per minute per workspace, reads spend no credits, and the OpenAPI spec is published.
The MCP server connects an assistant to the workspace with one URL and an API key per workspace. It has 23 read-only tools and works with Claude, Claude Code, Microsoft Copilot, Perplexity, Cursor, VS Code, Windsurf, Gemini CLI, Codex, Zed, Raycast and JetBrains AI Assistant. Signed webhooks (HMAC-SHA256) report content status changes, Opportunity Agent runs, agent tasks and Deep IQ analysis, with automatic retries and a delivery log, so your own workflows can react to what the workspace produces.
Plans start at $99 a month for Pro, $199 for Grow and $399 for Scale, with custom Enterprise pricing, a 7-day free trial and no long-term contracts. DeepSmith is rated 4.8/5 on G2.
API access: Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO API
In the Scrunch vs HubSpot AEO API comparison, Scrunch has the stronger API. It documents separate REST APIs for queries, responses, configuration, agent traffic, AI referrals, site audits, the sitemap and webhooks, and its changelog shows releases most weeks through September 2026. HubSpot's read API is versioned 2026-09-beta, is read-only, and covers prompts, historical runs, answer text, citations and recommendations. That is enough to pull answer-level data into a warehouse, which is what most dashboards need first. It also helps to know that API and chat UI answers can differ in the citations they return, so ask which one a vendor collects.
The limits matter for both. Scrunch's pricing grid puts Query API and advanced API access on Enterprise, so a Core subscriber should expect to ask sales before relying on it. Our roundup of the best AEO tools with an open API compares more vendors on this point. Scrunch's own materials also disagree on answer history, with the Help Center saying up to 12 months and an indexed FAQ once saying 90 days for API access, so confirm the number you need in writing. For HubSpot, the open question is whether a standalone $50 account can use the API at all.
What DeepSmith does: the REST API reads visibility, Content Map and content library data with scoped keys, so a dashboard can show which pages AI cites next to which articles you published. The API is read-only, and a published OpenAPI spec describes it, so your analysts can connect it to the reporting tools they already use.
MCP and AI assistant access
Scrunch has the more complete MCP server, and HubSpot has the easier route in. Scrunch's MCP server works with Claude, ChatGPT, Copilot Studio, Cursor, VS Code and Windsurf. It lets assistants read metrics and responses, manage configuration and import agent traffic. It caps requests at 1,000 records and does not yet cover sitemap or page audit data. The docs say any plan can connect, while the pricing grid shows Core without MCP access. The pricing page wins that disagreement, so plan on Enterprise. If you have not connected an assistant before, our walkthrough on building an AEO agent with MCP and Claude covers the setup. A guide to which MCP servers to connect first covers the wider content and AEO stack.
HubSpot takes a simpler route. Its connector for Claude and ChatGPT is documented for all AEO plans, which makes it the cheaper way to ask an assistant about your visibility. It needs Super Admin approval, and the documentation does not name the protocol, so we treat it as partial rather than a full MCP server.
What DeepSmith does: the MCP server exposes 23 read-only tools covering visibility, competitors, the Content Map and the content library, so an assistant can answer a question like which competitor pages win your tracked prompts, or which topics you have not covered. It never changes the workspace, which keeps access safe to hand to a wider team.
Dashboards and BI connectors
Scrunch wins here and HubSpot AEO has nothing documented to compare. Scrunch has a Looker Studio connector with multi-brand support and report templates, a guide for loading data into a data mart, and a GA4 integration, and its in-app Explorer supports saved dashboards with CSV or Excel export. Looker Studio access is Enterprise only. For HubSpot AEO, no export or BI connector is documented, and some G2 reviewers want deeper reporting. That means in-house reporting would run through the beta API or manual copying.
If you plan to build the dashboard yourself, the choice of metrics matters as much as the connector. Our guide to AI visibility metrics that matter is a reasonable place to start. A step-by-step on building an AI visibility dashboard shows the pattern. Pick the handful of numbers you will review each week and leave the rest.
What DeepSmith does: the same REST API that serves visibility data serves the content library, so an in-house dashboard can report mention rate, citation rate and share of voice beside published articles.
Cost of getting data out
On price of access, HubSpot AEO is cheaper and Scrunch is deeper. At $50 a month HubSpot includes the assistant connector, and the beta API is the only other route. At $250 a month Scrunch's Core plan is a strong monitoring tool, but its API, Looker Studio and MCP access are Enterprise features with custom pricing. Scrunch does not publish what Enterprise costs.
What DeepSmith does: pricing is published on every self-serve plan, from $99 to $399 a month, and Enterprise is the custom tier. The 7-day free trial gives you real data before you pay.
Which should you choose
- DeepSmith fits teams that want tracking and content in one workspace and want both readable from their own dashboards, assistants and workflows, with published plans from $99 a month.
- Scrunch fits teams that already have budget for Enterprise and want a Looker Studio connector and the widest documented APIs.
- HubSpot AEO fits teams already on HubSpot that want a low-cost start and assistant access, and can wait for the beta API to mature.
If the question is Scrunch or HubSpot AEO for API and MCP access alone, Scrunch is the stronger choice on features and HubSpot is the cheaper one.
Start a DeepSmith free trial to see your own visibility and content data in one workspace.
