Semrush

What is Semrush?

Semrush is a digital marketing intelligence platform that started life as an SEO tool and grew into something much broader. Founded in 2002 by Oleg Shchegolev and Dmitri Melnikov, the company is now publicly traded on the NYSE and has more than 1,000 employees across offices in Boston, Dallas, Barcelona, Berlin, Prague, Warsaw, Amsterdam, Belgrade, Yerevan, and Limassol. What we found in our research is that Semrush still matters most for search, but "search" now means more than Google rankings. The company has spent the last few years expanding from classic SEO into AI-driven visibility, content generation, paid search intelligence, social media, and market research.

That shift is tied to a real change in how people discover information. Semrush has been outspoken about the rise of AI search, citing 527% year-over-year growth in AI search traffic from roughly 17,000 sessions to 107,000 sessions when comparing January to May 2024 with the same period in 2025. It built new tooling around that behavior, especially its Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO, category, which tracks how brands show up in AI-generated answers from systems like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google's AI experiences.

For our visitors, the clearest way to understand Semrush is this: it is not just a keyword tool, and it is not just a reporting dashboard. It is a very large database plus a very large toolkit. Teams use it to research keywords, audit sites, monitor rankings, study competitors, generate content briefs, analyze backlinks, track local visibility, inspect paid ads, monitor brand mentions, and increasingly, measure whether AI systems cite them at all.

Key Features

• Keyword Database: Semrush says it has more than 28 billion keywords across 140+ geo-located databases and 100+ markets. That scale matters because keyword research gets much more useful when you can compare intent, volume, difficulty, and regional behavior instead of relying on a thin dataset.

• Backlink Analytics: The platform's backlink index covers 43 trillion backlinks and 390 million referring domains. In practice, this gives teams a way to study who links to competitors, spot outreach targets, and judge authority in context rather than chasing vanity link counts.

• AI Visibility Toolkit: Semrush tracks brand mentions, citations, and share of voice inside AI-generated answers. This matters because the old SEO playbook was built around ranking positions, while AI search often rewards brands that get quoted or cited in summaries instead.

• Semrush Copilot: Copilot is an AI assistant that reviews data across tools like Site Audit, Position Tracking, Backlink Analytics, Organic Research, and Keyword Gap. Instead of forcing users to hunt through dozens of dashboards, it surfaces issues like ranking drops, authority declines, technical errors, and competitor movement in one place.

• Site Audit: Site Audit checks for 140+ categories of technical and on-page issues, from broken links and duplicate content to hreflang, HTTPS, crawlability, and indexability. On higher plans, teams can crawl up to 100,000 pages per audit, and Business users can reach 1,000,000 pages per month.

• Position Tracking: Teams can monitor daily rankings across devices, locations, and search engines, while also tracking SERP features like featured snippets and local packs. That level of detail matters for companies that care about how visibility changes by city, device type, or search format, not just one national average ranking.

• Content Marketing Toolkit: Semrush offers AI-generated briefs, topic research, SEO scoring, optimization suggestions, and unlimited SEO-friendly article generation in parts of its content suite. For content teams, this turns strategy and production into one workflow instead of separate research, writing, and editing systems.

• Traffic & Market Toolkit: The company provides traffic and market intelligence across 190 countries and regions. This is especially useful when a team needs to estimate competitor market share or benchmark performance in places where direct competitor analytics are impossible to access.

• Local SEO Tools: Semrush supports local listing management, duplicate suppression, and ZIP-code-level local rank tracking. Multi-location businesses get a clearer picture of where they are visible, and where they are losing ground block by block.

• API Access: Semrush offers an API for pulling SEO and traffic data into custom dashboards, internal tools, and white-label products. Our research found this especially relevant for agencies, platforms, and internal analytics teams that want Semrush's data without forcing every stakeholder into the main UI.

Use Cases

A common Semrush story starts with competitive analysis. Marketing teams use the platform to find which competitors overlap on keywords, which terms those competitors rank for that they do not, and which backlinks or ad strategies seem to be driving the gap. The value is not just seeing a rival's current rankings. It is being able to look back over months or years and ask when a competitor surged, what pages changed, and whether that shift came from content, links, technical fixes, or paid support.

Content teams use Semrush to build editorial plans around audience demand instead of instinct. The Keyword Magic Tool and Topic Research features help teams pull real search questions, identify themes competitors already win on, and decide which articles are worth producing first. In practice, this is less about "generate content faster" and more about reducing wasted effort. Teams can focus on topics with proven demand, or on narrow commercial terms where the traffic is smaller but the business value is much higher.

Agencies and consultants use Semrush heavily during pitches and proposals. Our research found that historical visibility data is one of the strongest parts of that workflow. Instead of telling a prospect that their traffic is down today, an agency can show exactly when rankings slipped, which competitors benefited, and what changed around that time. That creates a much more concrete sales conversation.

Technical teams also lean on Semrush during website migrations and redesigns. Before a migration, they export high-performing URLs, keyword rankings, and backlink data. After launch, they use Site Audit and ranking reports to catch broken redirects, crawl errors, and indexation problems early. For large sites, that can mean the difference between a manageable cleanup and a months-long traffic loss.

The newest use case is GEO, which is still emerging but increasingly important. Semrush built AI visibility tracking because brands now need to know whether they appear in AI-generated answers at all. If only 8% of users click through to traditional results when an AI summary appears, down from nearly 15% when there is no summary, then citation inside the summary becomes a marketing problem worth measuring.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

Semrush's biggest strength is breadth with real depth behind it. Many tools claim to be all-in-one, but Semrush backs that claim with large underlying datasets, 28+ billion keywords, 43 trillion backlinks, and traffic intelligence across 190 countries. For teams that want one platform for SEO, PPC, content, social, local, and now AI visibility, that consolidation is a real advantage over stitching together five or six point solutions.

It also seems ahead of many rivals in taking AI search seriously as a reporting problem, not just a content generation feature. While other platforms have added AI helpers or writing tools, Semrush has built a distinct product story around GEO, citations, mentions, and AI share of voice. If your team believes AI search will keep growing, that focus is more meaningful than another generic writing assistant.

The platform is also strong for agencies and advanced in-house teams that need historical data and competitive context. Our research repeatedly pointed to use in proposals, benchmarking, and strategy development, because Semrush helps answer not only "where are we now?" but "how did we get here?" and "who took the opportunity we missed?"

Weaknesses:

The same breadth that makes Semrush valuable also makes it harder to learn. This is not a lightweight tool you master in an afternoon. Users without a strong SEO or digital marketing background can feel buried under reports, limits, and overlapping workflows, especially compared with simpler tools like Ubersuggest or more focused products like Surfer SEO.

Price is another real limitation. The Pro plan starts at $117.33 per month billed annually, and the Guru plan is $208.33 per month billed annually. That can be reasonable for agencies or growth teams, but it is still a substantial jump from tools like Ubersuggest at $12 per month or Screaming Frog at $245 per year for technical crawling.

Semrush also does not win every head-to-head comparison. Ahrefs is still frequently preferred for backlink analysis and by users who want a cleaner interface. Screaming Frog remains the specialist many technical SEOs trust for deep crawling work. Semrush can cover those jobs, but some specialists still pair it with narrower tools rather than treating it as the only platform they need.

Finally, data quality is strongest in North America and Europe. Our research noted that smaller or emerging markets may see less complete coverage or slower freshness, which matters if your business depends on precise data outside Semrush's strongest regions.

Pricing

• Pro: $117.33/month, billed annually
• Guru: $208.33/month, billed annually
• Business: Custom pricing through sales
• Enterprise: Custom pricing through sales

Semrush also offers a 7-day free trial, plus a collection of free tools for things like authority checking, basic backlink analysis, keyword research, and technical SEO checks. That helps with evaluation, but most teams doing serious work will hit the limits of the free experience quickly.

What users actually spend depends on how deeply they use the platform. A solo consultant might stay on Pro for core SEO work, while an agency or in-house growth team often needs Guru or Business for higher limits, more advanced content and reporting workflows, and larger crawl capacity. The jump in page crawl limits is one example: Business can reach 1,000,000 pages per month, while Pro and Guru are much lower.

Compared with alternatives, Semrush sits in the premium middle. It is cheaper than many enterprise analytics stacks when you replace multiple vendors, but it is clearly more expensive than entry-level tools like Ubersuggest or SE Ranking. The hidden cost is not only subscription price, it is also time. Teams get the most value when they invest in training and build repeatable workflows across multiple Semrush products.

Alternatives

Ahrefs Ahrefs is the alternative most buyers will compare first. It is especially strong for backlink analysis and content research, and many users prefer its interface and the way it presents link data. If your work centers on link intelligence and content discovery, Ahrefs often feels more focused. Semrush is the better fit when the same team also wants PPC, social, local SEO, market intelligence, and AI visibility in one platform.

Moz Pro Moz Pro is often seen as the friendlier option for agencies and teams that value white-label reporting and a gentler learning curve. It covers the SEO basics well, but our research suggests it refreshes more slowly and does not go as deep in competitive analysis or cross-channel marketing. Teams that want easier onboarding may prefer Moz. Teams that need more moving parts under one roof usually lean Semrush.

SE Ranking SE Ranking serves budget-conscious teams that still want rank tracking, competitor analysis, and backlink checking in one place. It is a practical choice for smaller businesses that want solid SEO functionality without paying Semrush prices. The tradeoff is in sophistication, especially around AI features and the depth of the broader marketing stack.

Surfer SEO Surfer is not really trying to be Semrush. It is a specialist tool for content optimization, SERP analysis, and content editing. Some teams pair Semrush for research and strategy with Surfer for drafting and optimizing pages. If your biggest problem is improving on-page content performance, Surfer may be the better direct answer. If you need research, tracking, paid analysis, and technical auditing too, Semrush is far more complete.

Ubersuggest Ubersuggest is the low-cost option for freelancers, solo site owners, and very small businesses. It covers keyword ideas, content suggestions, backlink data, and basic audits at a fraction of Semrush's price. The downside is scale and consistency. For light use, it can be enough. For larger teams or serious competitive work, Semrush offers much more data and many more workflows.

Screaming Frog Screaming Frog is the specialist technical crawler that many SEO professionals still keep in their toolkit. It excels at deep site crawling, redirect analysis, broken link discovery, and structured data validation, and its annual price is far lower than a Semrush subscription. It is not a replacement for Semrush's broader intelligence platform, but it is often the better choice for pure technical SEO work.

SEO PowerSuite SEO PowerSuite takes a desktop-first approach, which appeals to teams that want lower long-term costs and more local control over data processing. It can be a practical alternative for users who dislike subscription-heavy SaaS stacks. The tradeoff is collaboration and convenience. Semrush is easier for distributed teams that need cloud access, shared reporting, and integrated data across many functions.

FAQ

What is Semrush used for?

Semrush is used for SEO, competitor research, keyword tracking, backlink analysis, content planning, PPC research, local SEO, social media management, and AI visibility tracking. Most teams use it as a central research and monitoring platform.

Is Semrush just an SEO tool?

No. It started that way, but now covers paid search, content marketing, local SEO, social media, traffic intelligence, and AI search visibility. SEO is still the core, but it is no longer the whole story.

What makes Semrush different from Ahrefs?

From what we researched, Ahrefs is often favored for backlink-focused work and interface simplicity. Semrush is known for being broader, especially if you want SEO, PPC, social, content, and AI visibility in one platform.

Does Semrush support AI search tracking?

Yes. Semrush has an AI Visibility Toolkit focused on mentions, citations, and share of voice in AI-generated answers across platforms like ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, and Google's AI experiences.

How do I get started?

The easiest path is to start with the free trial, connect your site, and run a Site Audit plus a few core reports like Organic Research and Position Tracking. Semrush Academy also offers free training if you want a structured introduction.

How long does it take to set up?

Basic setup can take less than an hour if you are just adding a domain and running initial reports. A fuller setup, with projects, keyword tracking, integrations, and team workflows, usually takes longer.

Is Semrush good for agencies?

Yes. Agencies use it for client audits, proposal development, historical analysis, white-label reporting, and ongoing campaign tracking. It is especially useful when you need to compare multiple competitors and present the findings clearly.

Is Semrush good for small businesses?

It can be, but the pricing and learning curve are real considerations. Small businesses that actively invest in SEO or content marketing can get a lot from it, while very small teams may find lower-cost tools easier to justify.

Does Semrush have an API?

Yes. Semrush offers API access for pulling SEO and traffic data into internal dashboards, apps, and white-label products. This is one of its stronger options for advanced teams and developers.

Can Semrush help with content creation?

Yes. It includes topic research, AI-generated content briefs, SEO scoring, optimization guidance, and article generation features. It is most useful when teams want research and optimization tied closely together.

Does Semrush work for local SEO?

Yes. It includes local listing management, duplicate suppression, and location-specific rank tracking down to the ZIP code level. That is particularly useful for multi-location businesses.

Is Semrush worth the price?

For teams that use several parts of the platform, often yes. For people who only need one narrow function, like technical crawling or lightweight keyword research, a cheaper specialist tool may be the smarter choice.