--- title: "Lighthouse Local vs. AthenaHQ - AI Visibility Platforms Compared (2026)" description: "Compare Lighthouse Local and AthenaHQ on AI assistants tracked, local prompts, agency reporting and pricing, every AthenaHQ fact checked against its own pages." source: "https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/compare/lighthouse-local-vs-athenahq" --- [Home](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/) / [Compare](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/compare) / Lighthouse Local vs. AthenaHQ # Compare Lighthouse Local vs. AthenaHQ AthenaHQ is an AI search platform that tracks 11 models on its Starter plan, meters usage in credits, and pairs tracking with a content optimization agent, Shopify and Webflow integrations and a free entry plan. Lighthouse Local checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI on every plan, by city and service area or nationally, with a plain-English fix list and specialists who make the fixes. Here's how they compare, every AthenaHQ fact sourced from its own pages. [Start Free Trial](https://app.lighthouselocal.ai/?utm_source=lighthouselocal&utm_medium=marketing-site&utm_campaign=compare-athenahq&utm_content=hero-cta) Book a Demo 14-day free trial on self-serve plans Checked against AthenaHQ's pages, October 13, 2026 Checked on every Lighthouse Local plan ChatGPT Claude Gemini Perplexity Google AI ## Which one is built for you? Two honest lists. Pick the one that sounds like your week. ### Choose Lighthouse Local if - You want the number of answer checks your plan includes printed on the card, so the bill doesn't move when the schedule does. - You want each question pointed at a city and service area from the first plan, with no tier to check first. - You want someone to make the fix, not draft it, and to ask you before it goes live. - You want agency pricing you can read on a page, with a dashboard under your brand and unlimited client reports from the first agency plan. ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png) ### Choose AthenaHQ if - You want 11 models on the first paid plan, including Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, with unlimited seats, topics and competitors. - You want a free plan to start on, 300 credits across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews, instead of a 14-day trial. - You want page edits drafted by a content optimization agent, with on-page and off-page actions and Shopify and Webflow integrations on the first paid plan. - You want scheduled PDF reports per website and an MCP server that lets ChatGPT or Claude read your data. ## Feature by feature The same eighteen rows on every comparison we publish. ### AI platforms checked | Feature | Lighthouse Local | ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png)AthenaHQ | | --- | --- | --- | | ChatGPT | Yes | Yes | | Google Gemini | Yes | Yes | | Claude | Yes | Partial Starter and Enterprise, not the free plan | | Perplexity | Yes | Yes | | Google AI Overviews | Yes | Yes AI Overviews on every plan; AI Mode on Starter and Enterprise | ### What gets tracked | Feature | Lighthouse Local | ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png)AthenaHQ | | --- | --- | --- | | Local-intent questions, by city and service area | Yes | Partial Named locations attached to prompts; multiple countries on Enterprise | | Weekly sweep of every tracked question | Yes | Yes A weekly cadence can be set; each run spends credits | | Daily checks on priority questions | Yes | Yes Pick the days of the week; each run spends credits | | Competitor tracking on every platform | Yes | Yes Unlimited competitors on Starter and Enterprise | | Ranked, plain-English fix list | Yes | Partial On-page and off-page actions with a content optimization agent; an order isn't stated | | Optional done-for-you fixes | Yes | Partial A certified specialist and white-glove setup on Enterprise | ### For agencies | Feature | Lighthouse Local | ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png)AthenaHQ | | --- | --- | --- | | White-label client dashboard | Yes | No Discounted licenses to bundle with your own managed services | | Unlimited client reports | Yes | Partial Scheduled PDF and email reports per website; a limit isn't stated | | Embeddable white-label audit for lead capture | Yes | No | | Ask ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini about your own data | Yes | Yes MCP server for ChatGPT, Claude and any MCP client | ### Plans and trial | Feature | Lighthouse Local | ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png)AthenaHQ | | --- | --- | --- | | 14-day free trial | Yes Self-serve plans | No A free plan with 300 credits instead of a timed trial | | Month-to-month billing | Yes | Yes Monthly, or annual at 17 percent off | | Dedicated agency plans | Yes | Partial An agency program by booked call, with discounted licenses | ## Plans, side by side Lighthouse Local prices come straight from our plan catalog. AthenaHQ's are what its pricing page showed on October 13, 2026. A prompt count on its own undersells coverage, because Lighthouse Local runs every tracked prompt on ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI, so compare the answer checks a month. ### Lighthouse Local - Starter $79 / month 1,400+ AI answer checks a month 50 tracked prompts (weekly sweep) · 3 daily slots (checked every day) - Growth $249 / month 4,700+ AI answer checks a month 150 tracked prompts (weekly sweep) · 12 daily slots (checked every day) - Enterprise Custom From \~$599 / month Custom prompts (\~250+), sites & seats · \~25 daily slots, custom competitors - Agency Starter $349 / month 5,500+ AI answer checks a month 160 shared prompts · 16 daily slots - Agency Growth $999 / month 17,000+ AI answer checks a month 500 shared prompts · 50 daily slots - Agency Enterprise Custom From \~$1,999 / month Custom client sites, prompts & seats ### ![](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/images/compare/athenahq.png)AthenaHQ - Essential Free 300 credits included ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews, unlimited members, prompt and response analysis, competitor insights, content recommendations - Starter $245 per month billed annually, or $295 month to month 3,600 credits a month at one credit per AI response, 11 models including Claude, Google AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, unlimited competitors, topics and seats, CSV export, integrations, on-page and off-page actions - Enterprise Custom quoted Custom credits and websites, multiple countries, persona targeting, SAML and OIDC SSO, an audit log, a dedicated Slack channel, a certified specialist and white-glove setup AthenaHQ prices are in dollars as shown on its plans page on the verified date. Starter is listed per month billed annually with a month-to-month rate beside it, annual billing is 17 percent off, and volume is metered in credits, one credit per AI response, so prompts, models, locations and cadence all draw on the same monthly pool. Extra credits are a paid add-on. [See full pricing](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/pricing) ## What a credit buys AthenaHQ meters everything in credits, and one credit is one AI response. The Starter plan carries 3,600 a month. Thirty questions across 11 models once a week spends the pool one way, and the same thirty across four models every day spends it another. Extra credits are a paid add-on on Starter. For a brand that wants to spend its budget on breadth across Grok, DeepSeek and Meta AI, that flexibility is the point. Before you buy any tracker, work out how many answers a month your question list needs, and what one more town or one more model costs. On a credit model the bill moves whenever the schedule, the model list or the place list does, so ask the vendor to price your own question list rather than a sample. Lighthouse Local prints the answer on the plan. The pricing cards above show each plan's monthly allowance of AI answer checks, with a weekly sweep over every tracked question and daily checks on the ones you mark, and coverage is ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI from the first plan. Adding a town means adding the question for that town. ## Locations, countries and the tier that carries them AthenaHQ sets a country and language per website so the models see localized results, and its prompt docs let named locations, a city or a full street address, be attached to prompts through CSV import, with schedules that run on all assigned locations or on additional ones, and reports that filter by location. The plans page lists multiple countries, multi-region support and persona targeting on Enterprise. So the question to ask is on which plan the city shows up, and whether a location means the model is asked from that place or the place is a label on the prompt. A four-town brand is asking for four different answers. Get them in writing before you compare prices. Lighthouse Local points each question at a city and service area or at the whole country, so a gap in Mesa shows up as Mesa and a brand that sells everywhere sees the national answer. What moves your visibility most in that town comes back as a [ranked fix list](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/how-it-works) in plain English. If you need persona targeting across many countries, AthenaHQ's Enterprise tier is built for that. ## From an action list to a finished fix AthenaHQ's action layer is on the first paid plan. The plans page lists on-page and off-page actions, a content optimization agent, and Shopify and Webflow integrations, with a recommendation engine and an advanced content agent on Enterprise. Enterprise adds a certified specialist and white-glove setup. For a team on Shopify or Webflow that wants its content work next to its tracking, that's the feature to price. The question to ask any vendor is who does the work that isn't a page edit. Who edits the draft, who sends the off-page request, and who holds the login for the Business Profile and the directory listings are three answers worth getting before you sign. If that person is you, the plan that includes a specialist matters as much as the plan that includes the models. Lighthouse Local names the fix in plain English and, if you'd rather not, [our specialists make the fixes](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/for-business), including on-page changes, Google Business Profile management and local citations, and you approve each one before it goes live. For agencies, your clients log into a [white-label dashboard](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/for-agencies) on your own domain with unlimited client reports and a shared prompt pool priced by tier on [our agency plans](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/pricing), Lighthouse Local's Beacon puts [an embeddable AI visibility audit](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/beacon) on your site. ## Frequently asked questions ### Is Lighthouse Local an alternative to AthenaHQ? Yes, when you want the plan to be readable and the fix to be done. AthenaHQ tracks 11 models on Starter, meters usage in credits and pairs tracking with a content optimization agent and Shopify and Webflow integrations, for a team that wants breadth across models. Lighthouse Local checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI on every plan by city and service area or nationally, prints a monthly allowance of AI answer checks on the plan, ranks the fixes in plain English, and has our specialists make them if you'd rather not. ### Which AI platforms does AthenaHQ track? Its plans page lists ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Gemini and Copilot on the free Essential plan, and 11 models on Starter, adding Claude, Google AI Mode, Grok, DeepSeek, Meta AI and Mistral, with additional models on request. Enterprise lists the same and more. Claude and AI Mode start on the first paid plan, so a free account doesn't show them. Lighthouse Local checks ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Perplexity, and Google AI on every plan, and that list doesn't change by tier. ### How much does AthenaHQ cost? Essential is free with 300 credits. Starter is $245 a month billed annually or $295 month to month, with 3,600 credits a month, one credit per AI response, unlimited seats, topics and competitors, and extra credits as a paid add-on. Enterprise is custom quoted and adds multiple countries, persona targeting, SSO and a specialist. The agency program carries no published price. Credits move with the schedule, the models and the places, which is why our cards above print a fixed monthly allowance of AI answer checks instead. ### What is a credit on AthenaHQ? One AI response. Each time a prompt runs on one model, that's a credit, so a bigger model list, more places and more scheduled days all raise the monthly spend, and Starter's 3,600 credits go further on a weekly schedule than a daily one. That means the bill moves when the schedule does. Lighthouse Local prints a monthly allowance of AI answer checks on each plan, with a weekly sweep over every question and daily checks on the ones you mark. ### Does AthenaHQ track local questions by city? Its docs describe named places, a city or a street address, attached to prompts through CSV import, with a country and language per website, schedules that run on assigned locations and reports filtered by location. The plans page lists multiple countries and multi-region support on Enterprise, so ask which plan carries your locations and what each one costs in credits. Lighthouse Local points each question at a city and service area, or nationally. ### Does AthenaHQ have a free trial? Its plans page lists a free plan where a trial would sit. Essential includes 300 credits across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overviews, with Claude, AI Mode and the other advanced models starting on Starter, where CSV export is listed and API access is a paid add-on. That's enough to see the dashboard with your own prompts, though not the full model list. Lighthouse Local's self-serve plans include a 14-day free trial with every feature included, so the trial shows you the five we track, the same ones a paid plan does. ### Can agencies white-label AthenaHQ? Its agency page describes centralized client management, pitch-ready workspaces, discounted licenses so you can bundle the platform with your own managed services, and a growth manager, with entry by booking a call. The pages we read don't describe a client dashboard or report carrying your brand, so ask on that call. Lighthouse Local includes the white-label dashboard on every agency plan, on your own domain, with unlimited client reports and Beacon for a branded audit on your own site. ### How did we check these facts? Every AthenaHQ fact on this page comes from AthenaHQ's own pages, read on October 13, 2026. Where a page doesn't publish something, the scorecard says No. If you spot a change, [contact us](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/contact) and we'll re-verify. Sources: [AthenaHQ plans and pricing](https://athenahq.ai/plans) (seen October 13, 2026) · [AthenaHQ for agencies](https://athenahq.ai/agency) (seen October 13, 2026) · [AthenaHQ docs, MCP](https://docs.athenahq.ai/api-reference/mcp) (seen October 13, 2026) · [AthenaHQ docs, setting up prompts](https://docs.athenahq.ai/setting-up-prompts) (seen October 13, 2026) · [AthenaHQ docs, adding a website](https://docs.athenahq.ai/guides/add-website) (seen October 13, 2026) · [AthenaHQ docs, reports](https://docs.athenahq.ai/guides/reports-id) (seen October 13, 2026). ## Ready to see how AI describes your business? Set up in ten minutes with a 14-day free trial on every self-serve plan, or talk to a specialist first. [Start Free Trial](https://app.lighthouselocal.ai/?utm_source=lighthouselocal&utm_medium=marketing-site&utm_campaign=compare-athenahq&utm_content=closing-cta) Book a Demo ![Lighthouse Local Online Presence dashboard](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/_astro/online-presence.Bf6-fV_P_1YFuFw.webp?dpl=dpl_DfpqxA2kzoGswa4dpGX8giY7tPQR) ## Sitemap - [Markdown sitemap](https://www.lighthouselocal.ai/sitemap.md)