AEO Audit is a free tool that scores B2B SaaS websites for AI search visibility — how likely they are to be cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI Overviews when B2B buyers search.

What is AI Engine Optimization (AEO)?

AI Engine Optimization (AEO) is the practice of structuring content, entity signals, and technical infrastructure so that AI engines cite your brand in generated answers. It extends traditional SEO to cover ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews.

Yes. AEO Audit is free. Enter any B2B SaaS brand and receive a full AI visibility score with prioritised recommendations.

How does AEO Audit score websites?

AEO Audit scores across six pillars: AI Visibility (22%), Brand Authority (23%), Content Quality (18%), Platform Optimization (15%), Structured Data (12%), and Technical AEO (10%). Each pillar reflects specific signals that AI engines use when deciding which sources to cite.

Subcategory · AI Citation Index

Who AI is citing in 3D & CAD

Adobe Substance 3D Painter leads with a 72 citation score, but no brand appears in discovery shortlists across 17 category prompts.

Brands tracked

Avg AEO score

68/100

Citation coverage

of brands cited at least once

Dominant brands

cited > 50% of queries

Discovery stage

The shortlist

When buyers ask AI for the best 3D & CAD software

No discovery-stage prompts have been scored against this category yet — once the shortlist cron runs, this section will surface which brands AI cites most.

Evaluation stage

The battleground

How brands fare on comparison queries · category median 46/100

Adobe Substance 3D Painter averages 61 on head-to-head comparison queries across 4 matchups. Oracle Sales Performance Management lags at 31 in the same query count. The median evaluation score sits at 46, well below the category average of 67.5.

Adobe Substance 3D Painter

61· 4 queries

Oracle Sales Performance Management

31· 4 queries

Each brand's evaluation score averages how AI responds to head-to-head comparison queries that mention them. Above-median brands win their comparisons more often than they lose.

Trends

Over the last 12 months

Too few audits to establish a trend. March 2026 showed a 69 average across 2 prompts; April dropped to 66 across 6 prompts. The sample is insufficient for directional inference.

Editorial picks

Brands worth watching

Adobe Substance 3D Painter

Scored 72 on featured citations and holds the highest evaluation average (61) among brands with comparison data. The only product with measurable traction in AI model recommendations.

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Oracle Sales Performance Management

Appears in 4 comparison queries but averages just 31 — half the category median of 46. The brand name suggests sales tooling, not 3D/CAD, indicating possible category misclassification.

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Ansys Mechanical

Featured candidate with no citation score recorded. Ansys owns the simulation and engineering-CAD vertical but remains invisible in discovery prompts.

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Ansys SpaceClaim

Second Ansys product in the featured list with zero citation data. SpaceClaim targets direct modeling and geometry editing — a niche AI models do not yet surface.

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FAQ

3D & CAD questions, answered

What is the best 3D CAD software for product design?+

No brand appears in AI shortlists across 17 discovery prompts. Adobe Substance 3D Painter leads citations at 72, but it focuses on texturing, not parametric CAD. The category lacks a consensus leader in AI recommendations.

Which CAD software does AI recommend most often?+

Adobe Substance 3D Painter scored 72 in featured citations and 61 in head-to-head comparisons. No other brand in the dataset broke into shortlist territory, leaving a 0% coverage rate across discovery queries.

How does Ansys Mechanical perform in AI citations?+

Ansys Mechanical appears in the featured candidate list but has no recorded citation score. Despite Ansys owning simulation and structural-analysis CAD, AI models do not surface it in audited prompts.

Is Oracle Sales Performance Management a 3D CAD tool?+

Unlikely. Oracle Sales Performance Management scored 31 in 4 comparison queries — the name indicates sales compensation software, not CAD. The listing may be a category tagging error.

Are AI citation scores rising or falling in 3D and CAD?+

Too few audits to establish a trend. March 2026 averaged 69 across 2 prompts; April dropped to 66 across 6 prompts. Directional confidence requires at least 12 months of monthly data.

Why does no 3D CAD software dominate AI shortlists?+

Zero brands reached shortlist status in 17 discovery prompts. The 50-brand category is fragmented by use case — parametric modeling, rendering, simulation, BIM — and AI models lack consensus on which tools to recommend for general queries.

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