Semrush Review
All-in-one SEO and AI visibility platform with keyword research, technical audits, and brand monitoring across five LLM engines
Semrush is the most complete SEO platform on the market and has moved quickly to add AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. The breadth is genuinely impressive for a single subscription. The catch is price: the Pro plan starts at $139.95 a month and the AI tracking features sit on top of Guru and above, meaning a meaningful AI visibility programme costs $250 a month before you add any add-ons.
Pros and cons
- AI visibility tracking across five engines including both Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode
- Keyword research, backlink analysis, and technical audits all in one subscription
- White-label agency reporting with branded PDF exports and client portals
- Content optimization tools with AI-assisted writing built into the same workflow
- Mature API with wide third-party integration support including Google Search Console and Looker Studio
- Free tier gives real access to the tool, not just a signup wall
- AI visibility features are gated to Guru ($249.95/mo) and above, not available on the $139.95 Pro plan
- The free tier caps you at 10 searches per day and 10 tracked keywords, limiting meaningful evaluation
- Platform complexity is high; new users often spend weeks before getting consistent value from all modules
- Add-ons for local SEO, agency tools, and trend data push total monthly cost well above headline pricing
- AI engine coverage (5 engines) is narrower than specialist platforms like Profound which track up to 9
What is Semrush?
Semrush is a comprehensive digital marketing platform built around SEO, content, and paid search intelligence. It covers keyword research, backlink analysis, technical site audits, competitor benchmarking, and content optimization. For most in-house SEO teams and agencies, it is the default starting point when building a search programme.
In 2024 and 2025, Semrush expanded into AI visibility. The platform now tracks how brands appear in answers from ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. This positions it as a one-stop shop for teams who do not want to run a separate specialist tool alongside their existing SEO stack. The AI tracking module shows brand mention rates, cited competitor comparisons, and share-of-voice trends across prompts you define.
The platform is large and the feature list is long, which creates real onboarding friction. Most users only use a fraction of what is available. That said, the documentation, academy content, and support quality are genuinely good, and the breadth of integrations means Semrush fits into most existing reporting workflows without additional connectors.
Core features
AI visibility monitoring across five engines
Semrush tracks brand and competitor citations across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode. You define a prompt set, the platform runs those prompts on a schedule, and you get share-of-voice data over time. This is enough for most in-house teams who want to add AI search tracking without switching platforms entirely.
Keyword research and search intent analysis
The keyword database covers billions of terms across 140 countries. You can filter by search intent, difficulty, and SERP features, and get a clear picture of the gap between your current rankings and realistic ranking opportunities. This is the part of Semrush that most users come for first and it remains among the strongest in the market.
Technical site audit
Semrush crawls your site and surfaces technical issues across more than 140 issue types: broken links, slow pages, duplicate content, missing structured data, and crawlability problems. The audit runs on a schedule and tracks issue resolution over time, making it useful for ongoing maintenance rather than one-off diagnostics.
Backlink analysis and link building tools
Semrush maintains one of the largest backlink indexes in the industry. You can audit your own backlink profile, analyse competitor link acquisition patterns, find link building prospects, and track new and lost links over time. The outreach module is built into the same interface, removing the need for a separate prospecting tool.
Agency reporting and white-label delivery
Semrush includes a white-label reporting module where agencies can brand PDF exports, create automated report schedules, and share client-specific dashboards. The My Reports builder pulls data across all Semrush modules into a single document. This is a meaningful differentiator for agencies managing multiple clients under one account.
Pricing
| Feature | Free Free | Pro $139.95/mo | Guru $249.95/mo | Business $499.95/mo |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projects | 1 | 5 | 15 | Custom |
| Keywords to track | 10 | 500 | 1,500 | 5,000 |
| Results per report | 10 | 10,000 | 30,000 | 50,000 |
| AI visibility tracking | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Content marketing toolkit | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| White-label reporting | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| API access | ✗ | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Historical data | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Google Search Console integration | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Who it is for
Running the full SEO programme at a mid-size company and need keyword research, technical audits, backlink tracking, and competitor analysis in a single tool. You want to add AI visibility monitoring without spinning up a separate platform and budget. Guru gets you there.
Managing five to fifteen client accounts and need white-label reporting, client-specific project views, and a single subscription that covers the breadth of services you sell. Semrush Business is expensive but consolidates what would otherwise be three or four separate subscriptions.
Responsible for content planning and want a direct line from keyword data to content briefs and AI-assisted drafts. Semrush Guru includes the content marketing toolkit which connects search intent data to a writing workflow without switching between tools.
Verdict
Semrush is the strongest all-in-one SEO platform available and the AI visibility tracking it added is solid for teams who want one fewer tool to manage. The pricing is the honest obstacle: AI tracking requires Guru at minimum, and many useful capabilities arrive only as paid add-ons on top of that. If your budget runs to it, this is a serious platform that earns its keep across SEO, content, and AI search in a single subscription.
Frequently asked questions
Does Semrush track AI visibility on the Pro plan?
No. AI visibility tracking across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, and Google AI Mode is available on Guru ($249.95/mo) and Business ($499.95/mo) plans only. The Pro plan at $139.95 covers SEO tools but not the AI search monitoring module.
Which AI engines does Semrush monitor?
Semrush tracks five engines: ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Gemini, and Perplexity. This is narrower than specialist platforms that cover 9 engines, but covers the engines driving the most consumer traffic today.
Is the Semrush free tier worth using?
Yes, with realistic expectations. The free tier gives you 10 searches per day and 10 tracked keywords, which is enough to evaluate whether the keyword and backlink data quality meets your standards. It is not enough to run a real programme. You will hit the limits within a few hours of genuine exploration.
Does Semrush have an API?
Yes. The Semrush API is available on Business plan and above. It covers most of the platform data including keyword rankings, backlink data, domain analytics, and position tracking. The API is well-documented and widely used for custom reporting and data pipeline integrations.
Can I use Semrush for white-label client reporting?
Yes, but white-label features are locked to the Business plan at $499.95 per month. On Guru you can create reports and share them, but they carry Semrush branding. Full white-label delivery with branded PDFs and client portals requires Business pricing.