Echo vs Petra Labs
Echo is an open-source, self-hostable alternative to Petra Labs, an AI visibility tracking tool. Both measure how AI answer engines describe your brand, but Echo ships every line of code, runs on your own infrastructure, and is free to self-host — so your data stays yours and each metric is independently verifiable.
The short version
Petra Labs has no API or MCP server. Echo has all of that, and it's free to self-host.
Petra Labs appears to be a very early-stage product with limited adoption.
Echo
Open-source AEO platform. Self-host for free, forever. Track AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI Overviews with full transparency.
Petra Labs
Enterprise AEO with an embedded team and revenue attribution
About Petra Labs
Petra Labs pairs AEO software with an embedded team that runs strategy and execution for enterprise brands. It sources query demand from a proprietary panel, tracks brand presence, sentiment, and competitive threat broken out by customer persona and product line, and builds marketing mix and multi-touch attribution models linking AI search activity to pipeline and closed revenue. Founded in 2025 and raised a $5.2M seed round led by Work-Bench in July 2026.
Popularity grade: D
- $5.2M seed led by Work-Bench, with Afore and Pathlight
- Proprietary panel data for real user query demand
- Custom MMM and multi-touch attribution to pipeline and revenue
Feature comparison
| Feature | Echo | Petra Labs |
|---|---|---|
| Core Tracking | ||
| Multi-LLM Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| AI Visibility Score | Yes | Yes |
| Citation Analytics | Yes | No |
| Competitor Benchmarking | Yes | Yes |
| Brand Mention Tracking | Yes | Yes |
| AI Engines | ||
| ChatGPT | Yes | No |
| Google AI Overviews | Yes | No |
| Google AI Mode | Yes | No |
| Gemini | Yes | No |
| Perplexity | Yes | No |
| Microsoft Copilot | Yes | No |
| Claude | Yes | No |
| Grok | Yes | No |
| DeepSeek | Yes | No |
| Meta AI | Yes | No |
| Any Model | Yes | No |
| Real UI Answers | Yes | No |
| Bring Your Own Keys | Yes | No |
| Platform | ||
| White-Label / Agency | Yes | No |
| Open Source | Yes | No |
| Content Generation | No | No |
| Advanced Analytics | ||
| Prompt Volume Estimates | No | Yes |
| Sentiment Analysis | Yes | Yes |
| Query Fan-Out | Yes | No |
| AI Crawler Analytics | No | No |
| Geographic Tracking | No | No |
| Social Media Tracking | No | No |
| Shopping Tracking | No | No |
| Multi-Language | No | No |
| Actionable Insights | ||
| Action Recommendations | Yes | Yes |
| Content Gap Analysis | Yes | No |
| AI Site Audits | No | No |
| AI Keyword Research | Yes | No |
| Reporting & Integration | ||
| Email Alerts | No | No |
| API Access | Yes | No |
| TypeScript SDK | Yes | No |
| Python SDK | Yes | No |
| MCP Access | Yes | No |
| BI Connectors | No | No |
Key differences
Only in Echo
- Citation Analytics
- ChatGPT
- Google AI Overviews
- Google AI Mode
- Gemini
- Perplexity
- Microsoft Copilot
- Claude
- Grok
- DeepSeek
- Meta AI
- Any Model
- Real UI Answers
- Bring Your Own Keys
- White-Label / Agency
- Open Source
- Query Fan-Out
- Content Gap Analysis
- AI Keyword Research
- API Access
- TypeScript SDK
- Python SDK
- MCP Access
Both offer
- Multi-LLM Tracking
- AI Visibility Score
- Competitor Benchmarking
- Brand Mention Tracking
- Sentiment Analysis
- Action Recommendations
Only in Petra Labs
- Prompt Volume Estimates
Why choose Echo over Petra Labs?
Open source and transparent
Every line of code is open. You can verify exactly how your visibility data is collected, calculated, and presented. No black boxes.
Self-host for free, forever
Run Echo on your own infrastructure. The core platform is free and always will be, and Echo Cloud is there if you would rather not run it yourself.
Your data, in your stack
Pull every metric, sentiment included, into your own code with the REST API and TypeScript and Python SDKs, or ask Claude Code and Cursor about it over MCP. Export, fork, or migrate at any time.
Built to last
Bootstrapped and sustainable. No investors pushing towards dark patterns. We'll outlast the companies taking too much VC money.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the difference between Echo and Petra Labs?
- Echo is an open-source, self-hostable AI visibility platform, while Petra Labs is a closed-source AI visibility tracking tool. Both track how AI answer engines describe your brand, but Echo gives you the full source code and runs on your own infrastructure, so you can verify every metric and keep your data in-house.
- Is Echo a free, open-source alternative to Petra Labs?
- Yes. Echo is a free, open-source alternative to Petra Labs. You can self-host the full platform at no cost, read every line of code, and track your AI visibility across ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, and Google AI Overviews without per-seat or per-prompt fees.
- Is Petra Labs open source?
- No, Petra Labs is a closed-source, hosted product, so you cannot inspect how its metrics are calculated. Echo is fully open source — you can audit the code, self-host it on your own infrastructure, and avoid vendor lock-in.
- How do Echo and Petra Labs compare on sentiment analysis, API access, and MCP?
- Echo includes all three: a 0 to 100 sentiment score for every AI answer that mentions you, a REST API with TypeScript and Python SDKs, and an MCP server so assistants like Claude Code and Cursor can query your data. Petra Labs offers sentiment analysis, but we have not found it offering API access or an MCP server.
- Can I self-host Echo instead of Petra Labs?
- Yes. Echo is designed to be self-hosted — deploy it on your own infrastructure in minutes with the CLI. You keep full ownership of your data and prompts, with no per-seat pricing and no third-party dashboard holding your visibility history.
Ready to track your AI visibility?
Deploy Echo in minutes and start monitoring how ChatGPT, Claude, and Google AI Overviews talk about your brand.