Last reviewed

How the tools are ranked

Six criteria, each scored 0–10 against a written rubric, weighted into one score out of 10. Every score has a reason and a source, so you can check it, disagree with it, or re-weight the whole ranking below.

Criteria and weights

25%

AI answer visibility

Does it measure whether ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features name or cite you, and help you change that?

  • 0–3: nothing about AI answers, or a one-off checker.
  • 4–6: tracks some prompts on some engines, or only advises on content for AI answers.
  • 7–10: tracks prompts across several engines over time and gives you a way to act on what it finds.
20%

Search fundamentals

How deep is its classic SEO data: keywords, rankings, backlinks, site audits, content scoring?

  • 0–3: little or no search data of its own.
  • 4–6: covers one area well (content scoring, or technical crawling).
  • 7–10: its own keyword, ranking, backlink and audit data across the web.
20%

Changes it makes

Does it change your site (fixes, new pages, published content), or only report what someone else must do?

  • 0–3: reports and recommendations only.
  • 4–6: drafts content or suggests fixes a person still has to apply.
  • 7–10: makes the change itself, in a form you can review before it goes live.
15%

API and MCP access

Can your code or your AI agent drive it through an API, an MCP server or a command line, and on which plans?

  • 0–3: no API, MCP or CLI listed.
  • 4–6: an API or MCP server, but only on top or custom plans.
  • 7–10: API and MCP (or CLI) on every paid plan.
10%

Pricing you can check

Are prices public, is there a free or low-cost way to start, and do you pay for what you use?

  • 0–3: demo or sales call before any price.
  • 4–6: public prices, but the useful features sit on high tiers.
  • 7–10: public prices, a free start, and limits stated up front.
10%

Evidence you can inspect

Can you see the raw data or the exact change behind a recommendation, or only a score?

  • 0–3: opaque scores.
  • 4–6: scores with some underlying data.
  • 7–10: the raw answers, crawl data or diffs, exportable.

Why these weights

AI answer visibility carries the most weight (25%) because it is the part most rankings leave out. Buyers now ask ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google's AI features which tool to use, and a tool that only reports Google positions misses where those decisions are made.

Search fundamentals and changes it makes share 40%. Data on keywords, links and audits is still the base of SEO; but a report nobody acts on changes nothing, so a tool that ships the fix scores higher than one that lists it.

API and MCP access (15%) matters because more SEO work is now run by agents and scripts. We score the plan it is on, not just whether it exists.

Pricing you can check and evidence you can inspect (10% each) reward tools that let you see the price and the data before trusting a score.

Method

  1. We read each tool's own pricing, feature and documentation pages on the review date and record what each plan includes: price, limits, API, MCP, AI engines tracked.
  2. We score each criterion against the rubric above and write one line saying why.
  3. The overall score is the weighted average, rounded to one decimal. Ties go to the tool with the higher AI answer visibility score.
  4. Prices are copied as the vendor's page showed them, in the currency it showed. Where a vendor publishes no price, we say so and point to where to ask. We never estimate a price, a rating or a user count.
  5. Each tool page lists the sources used. If a source changes, the score is re-checked at the next review.

Every score, with its reason

ToolAI answers 25%Search 20%Action 20%API/MCP 15%Pricing 10%Evidence 10%Score
1. Letter661010987.9
2. Ahrefs81059777.8
3. Semrush81046777.1
4. Frase7579967.0
5. Surfer7756866.5
6. Screaming Frog SEO Spider38371095.9
7. Peec AI8238975.8
8. Profound9354375.5
9. Clearscope6642965.3

The reason for each score is on each tool's page; hover a score to read it here.

Re-weight the ranking

Care more about API access, or only about AI answers? Move the weights and the ranking re-sorts.

  1. 1Letter7.9
  2. 2Ahrefs7.8
  3. 3Semrush7.1
  4. 4Frase7.0
  5. 5Surfer6.5
  6. 6Screaming Frog SEO Spider5.9
  7. 7Peec AI5.8
  8. 8Profound5.5
  9. 9Clearscope5.3