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

3D & CAD

CAD is fragmented across AI search — no single brand captures more than three-tenths of discovery eyeballs, and only Autodesk Construction Cloud, SOLIDWORKS Visualize, ZBrush, and Autodesk DWG TrueView surface across all four engines. The evaluation set is too thin to map head-to-head winners, leaving the picture incomplete. Adobe Dimension is the absent giant — it wins more head-to-heads than it loses but surfaces in zero discovery prompts. This is a category where AI engines surface a rotating cast of Autodesk products, open-source tools (FreeCAD), digital sculpting platforms (ZBrush), and PLM systems depending on the query, with no consensus pick.

52 discovery queries · 20 head-to-heads · refreshed May 1, 2026

Discovery stage

The shortlist

Across 52 buyer-style "3D & CAD" queries

Most cited · 3D & CADLive

construction.autodesk.com

Cited in 15 of 52 buyer questions for 3D & CAD

ChatGPT—Gemini—Claude—

Citation rate

29%

See the full construction.autodesk.com profile→

Autodesk Construction Cloud shows up in 29% of buyer queries about CAD and 3D design, visible on ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity. SOLIDWORKS Visualize and ZBrush each surface in 19% of queries and appear across all four engines. FreeCAD lands in 23% of discovery prompts but surfaces only on three engines — missing on one — while Tinkercad, Autodesk DWG TrueView, and Twinmotion round out the shortlist with fragmented visibility.

Hover or click a logo to see brand details

X = coverage across discovery prompts · Y = engine diversity · Bubble size = total mentions

Tracked acrossChatGPT,Gemini,Claude

Get weekly AI visibility changes for 3D & CAD sent to your inbox.

Score shifts, new entrants, citation gaps — every Monday.

Signal by intent

By topic

Top 5 most-cited brands per intent cluster. Brands with zero citations in a topic are not shown.

Concept

4/8

KeyShot

4/8

Adobe

3/8

STAGE

3/8

SOLIDWORKS Visualize

3/8

Twinmotion

7/8

STAGE

6/8

SketchUp

4/8

Concept

4/8

Output

4/8

Autodesk Construction Cloud

7/7

SolidWorks PDM

6/7

Autodesk Vault

5/7

ENOVIA

3/7

Bluebeam Revu

1/7

SolidWorks Simulation

4/5

Shapes

3/5

Abaqus

3/5

Ansys Mechanical

3/5

Onshape

3/5

Onshape

5/5

SolidWorks PDM

4/5

Concept

4/5

Blender

4/5

Autodesk Vault

3/5

Tinkercad

2/4

FreeCAD

1/4

AutoCAD

1/4

ZBrush

1/4

Ultimaker Cura

1/4

FreeCAD

2/3

Altair HyperWorks

2/3

SolidWorks PDM

2/3

Ansys Mechanical

2/3

Abaqus

2/3

FreeCAD

3/3

Autodesk Alias

1/3

Autodesk Vault

1/3

SolidWorks PDM

1/3

Tinkercad

1/3

≥50% cited

25–49%

<25%

Topics are discovery-stage prompt clusters · 3d-cad

Evaluation stage

Head-to-head

How often AI cites each brand across uniform category evaluation prompts · median 66/100

Hover or click a logo to see brand details

X = evaluation citation rate · Y = evaluation prompts cited in · Bubble size = citation exposure

Median citation rate 66/100

Each brand's score is the share of category evaluation prompts where AI cited them across all four engines — the same prompt pool for every brand. Brands above the median citation rate have stronger presence in evaluation-stage queries.

Brands to know

In this category

SOLIDWORKS Visualize

Photorealistic rendering for CAD assemblies

Read brand profile →

ZBrush

Digital sculpting for character and organic models

Read brand profile →

Adobe Dimension

Absent giant

3D compositing for product and packaging mockups

Read brand profile →

Citation sources

Where AI pulls citations from

638 citations captured across 3D & CAD prompt runs.

Vendor pages

158

Product, help, and marketing pages from tracked vendors

Independent sources

139

Reviews, encyclopedias, forums, press — not vendor-owned

Buyer questions

What AI cites for top 3D & CAD questions

Every query in this category is top-of-funnel exploration — buyers ask AI for tools by specific use case, industry vertical, or output type. Sample phrasings include 'solutions for automating repetitive tasks in 3D modeling', 'what is effective for generating CNC machining files from CAD designs', and 'what is best for creating photorealistic renderings of products'. There are no head-to-head comparison questions or pricing queries in the audit set yet.