Semrush

Semrush is one of the two serious full-suite SEO platforms (Ahrefs being the other), covering keyword research, rank tracking, site audits, backlink analysis, competitive intelligence and a growing content-marketing toolkit. For a business doing SEO in earnest — in-house or via an agency it wants to hold accountable — it is a defensible, if significant, investment.

Semrush's AI Visibility toolkit — the newest pillar of the suite. Image: Semrush.

Its particular strength is competitive research: seeing which keywords competitors rank for, where their traffic comes from and what they advertise on. The site audit is thorough and prioritises issues sensibly, and the keyword tooling (Keyword Magic) remains among the best available. The content tools — SEO writing assistant, topic research, AI-assisted briefs — are useful accelerants but should not replace editorial judgement.

The honest question for a small business is not whether Semrush is good — it is — but whether you will use enough of it. Note that Semrush retired its long-standing Pro/Guru/Business lineup in 2026: the current plans are SEO ($139/month), Starter ($199), Pro+ ($299) and Advanced ($549), with the newer tiers bundling AI-search visibility tracking — where you appear in ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini answers, not just Google rankings. At $139 per month for the entry plan, a business that only checks rankings monthly is overpaying badly; a business executing a real content programme will recoup it. We tell clients: commit to a weekly SEO workflow first, then buy the tool that supports it.

Full hands-on testing of Semrush's current AI features is in progress; this profile reflects documented capabilities and our ongoing use of the platform for content planning.