Semrush is one of the two or three major SEO and digital marketing toolkits in the world. It brings keyword research, competitor analysis, backlink review, technical site audits, rank tracking, and advertising and social media analysis into one place. In recent years it has added many AI features too, from a writing assistant and content suggestions to monitoring how your brand appears in answers from ChatGPT and other AI engines. Adobe has acquired the company, but the product continues under the same name. What sets it apart from tools like Surfer is breadth: nearly every data point an SEO specialist needs is here.

What is Semrush good for?#

  • Keyword research: an online store that also sells to foreign markets finds keywords with good search volume and lower competition.
  • Competitor analysis: see which keywords a rival site ranks for and where its traffic comes from.
  • Technical site audits: it lists errors such as broken pages, wrong redirects, duplicate content and speed problems.
  • Backlink review: analyze the inbound links of your own site and your competitors'.
  • Visibility in AI answers: check whether your brand is mentioned in the answers of AI engines.
  • Rank tracking: follow changes in your pages' positions on Google.

Strengths and weaknesses#

Strengths:

  • Very broad data for English-speaking and European markets.
  • All SEO tools in one panel, with presentable reports.
  • A thorough and understandable technical audit.
  • New features for SEO in AI engines.

Weaknesses:

  • It is expensive and delivers the most value to teams and agencies.
  • Keyword data depends on country databases, so smaller markets and languages get thinner, less accurate figures.
  • The volume of features is confusing for beginners.

Free plan and pricing#

Semrush has a free account with a very limited number of daily requests, enough for trying it and small jobs. Paid plans come in several tiers for individuals, teams and organizations, and some tools are sold separately as add-ons. There is also a trial period. Check the official site for current prices.

Language and market coverage#

Semrush crawls and technically audits sites in any language, and that part works well regardless of language. The keyword section, however, relies on country databases, so statistics for languages or markets without a dedicated database can be incomplete. For a site in such a market, you will get the most benefit from the technical audit and backlink analysis.

Semrush alternatives#

  • Surfer SEO: specialized for writing and optimizing individual articles.
  • ChatGPT: for keyword ideas and topic clusters, though it has no real search data.
  • Perplexity: for quick research on competitors and topics with cited sources.

To get started, see keyword research with AI, SEO for AI engines and technical SEO for WordPress.