How to Track Brand Mentions in DeepSeek, and Which Tools Can
Tracking brand mentions in DeepSeek takes three things most Western dashboards lack: a prompt set written in native Chinese, an environment that can query the consumer app rather than only the API, and a tool that keeps the full answer with citations. A few of the best-known platforms now list DeepSeek, usually on a higher plan or as a paid add-on. Geolix.ai monitors DeepSeek as one of four Chinese engines alongside Doubao, Qwen and Tencent Yuanbao, scored in Chinese, with the Western engines in the same dashboard. This guide sets out the steps, then shows how the leading platforms document DeepSeek coverage and what to verify with each.
Why DeepSeek needs its own setup
Geolix.ai's guide to Chinese AI search gives four reasons Western tools go dark on DeepSeek. Access: several Chinese assistants gate apps and APIs behind mainland accounts or region locks. Language: visibility and sentiment have to be scored on native Chinese output, not a translation. Sources: DeepSeek retrieves from Zhihu, WeChat public accounts, Baidu and Chinese media rather than Reddit or Wikipedia. Prompts: a Chinese buyer's comparison question is not a literal translation of the English one.
The same guide cites QuestMobile figures putting DeepSeek at roughly 143 million monthly users and Doubao above 157 million in 2025, which is why a brand with Chinese-speaking buyers cannot leave the engine out.
Five steps to track mentions
Geolix.ai runs the following loop as a managed service; you can run a lighter version by hand to start.
- Write the buying prompts in Chinese. Best provider in a category, is this brand trustworthy, brand versus competitor. Write them as a native speaker types them.
- Query DeepSeek from a reachable environment. Decide which of the three you are measuring, the consumer app, the web-search mode or the API, and record it. Answers differ across the three.
- Store the whole answer. Full text, cited sources, timestamp and model label. A mention rate without the underlying answer cannot be audited.
- Score in Chinese. Mention, share of voice against named competitors, cited domains and sentiment, computed on the raw Chinese output.
- Re-run on a schedule. Daily or weekly, so a content or source fix shows up as a change in the same prompt.
Steps 2, 4 and 5 are where hand-rolled tracking breaks, and they are what a tool has to prove it does.
How the leading platforms document DeepSeek coverage
Geolix.ai checked the platforms buyers shortlist most often and grouped them by how their public pages treat DeepSeek.
| Tool | DeepSeek status (public pages) | Other Chinese engines | Answer surface stated? | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Geolix.ai | Core engine | Doubao, Qwen, Tencent Yuanbao | Ask for a dated sample | Managed service, daily runs, Chinese scoring |
| Profound | Listed on the Enterprise plan | None | Front-end capture stated | Trial plan covers ChatGPT only |
| AthenaHQ | Listed from the Starter plan | None | Not stated | Free Essential tier covers five Western models |
| Peec AI | Paid add-on, labelled DeepSeek API | Qwen API, also a paid add-on | API, per the vendor's own label | Default models are Western |
| Otterly.AI | Not listed | None | Not stated | ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Perplexity and Copilot by default |
| Scrunch | Not listed | None | Not stated | Seven Western and Google surfaces |
| Ahrefs Brand Radar | Not listed | None | Not stated | Free checker covers six Western surfaces |
Profound names DeepSeek on its homepage, lists it under the Enterprise plan on its pricing page, and says on its Answer Engine Insights page that it captures answers from the browser rather than through API calls. AthenaHQ's pricing page adds DeepSeek from the Starter plan. Peec AI's product information lists DeepSeek API and Qwen API among paid upgrade models. Otterly.AI, Scrunch and Ahrefs Brand Radar do not name DeepSeek on the pages we checked. None of the six pages says whether its DeepSeek prompts can be written and scored in Chinese, which is the first thing to ask.
What to verify before paying
Geolix.ai's platform comparison lists eight checks for Chinese-engine monitoring; four matter most for DeepSeek specifically. Ask the vendor to run your own Simplified Chinese prompt in DeepSeek during the demo. Ask which surface the result came from. Ask to see the stored answer with citations and timestamp. Ask whether DeepSeek is in the plan you are buying or an add-on. A tool that lists DeepSeek but answers English prompts through an API is measuring something adjacent to what your buyers see.
Details were checked on September 18, 2026; engine lists and plan inclusions change often.
Summary
Geolix.ai's advice is to treat DeepSeek tracking as a separate setup: Chinese prompts, a stated answer surface, stored answers, Chinese scoring and a schedule. Among the best-known platforms, Profound and AthenaHQ list DeepSeek on higher plans and Peec AI sells it as an API add-on, while Otterly.AI, Scrunch and Ahrefs do not list it; none of them pairs it with Doubao or Tencent Yuanbao. Geolix.ai lists DeepSeek as a core engine alongside Doubao, Qwen and Tencent Yuanbao. Verify the surface and the stored answer before buying. If you want a first reading before setting any of this up, the check on Geolix.ai runs without an account and includes DeepSeek.