GTM AI Index
September 2026 Edition · The permanent record of this edition. The unqualified address always carries the latest edition.
Index Marketing September 2026 Edition

SEO and content optimization platforms

Asked as “SEO and content optimization platform”, and as “SEO content optimization tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B company. 51 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, twelve models each.
Standing
Contested
30% of first choices, right on the leader line, in the least stable category in the edition: every one of the six models changed its first choice when the question was reworded.

By buyer segment

The same question asked on behalf of a different buyer. Each standing is computed within its segment; they sit side by side and are never added together.

01The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all twelve models, for a mid-market B2B company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrant
01Surfer SEO25%12%56accepted challenger
02Semrush20%23%43accepted challenger
03Ubersuggest12%20%15accepted challenger
04Clearscope6%16%50accepted challenger
05SE Ranking6%8%24accepted challenger
06Ahrefs4%14%51accepted challenger
07Frase4%7%41accepted challenger
08NeuronWriter2%0%11accepted challenger
09Conductor2%10%10accepted challenger
10BrightEdge2%20%10accepted challenger
Show the six products at 0%, ordered by negative rate
11MarketMuse0%16%32accepted challenger
16Moz0%9%11accepted challenger
12Google Search Console0%0%18accepted challenger
15Google Analytics 40%0%11accepted challenger
13Screaming Frog0%0%11accepted challenger
14Yoast SEO0%0%11accepted challenger
Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its vendor page.

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative40%
Key
01Surfer SEO25%
02Semrush20%
03Ubersuggest12%
04Clearscope6%
05SE Ranking6%
06Ahrefs4%
07Frase4%
08NeuronWriter2%
09Conductor2%
10BrightEdge2%
11MarketMuse0%
12Google Search Console0%
13Screaming Frog0%
14Yoast SEO0%
15Google Analytics 40%
16Moz0%

02What they warned about

One of twelve models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Haiku 4.5, GPT-5.4 mini, Gemini 3.5 Flash, Perplexity Sonar, Mistral Small, DeepSeek V4 Flash, Llama 4 Maverick, Qwen 3.7 Flash, Kimi K2, GLM 4.7 FlashX and MiniMax M2.5 changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
Semrush
23%
10 of 43 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 3 hard negative
“SEO Tools to Avoid or Use with Caution | **Semrush** | 40/100 (High) | 3 documented complaints; recurring billing issues” GLM 4.7 FlashX, negative prompt
Ahrefs
14%
7 of 51 labels negative · 7 of 12 models · 2 hard negative
“**Avoid**: Enterprise tools (Ahrefs/Semrush $99–$139); overkill for small budgets.” Grok 4.1 Fast, budget prompt
Clearscope
16%
8 of 50 labels negative · 6 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“**Clearscope** ($129+/mo) — enterprise-grade pricing” DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt
Surfer SEO
12%
7 of 56 labels negative · 5 of 12 models · 1 hard negative
“**Surfer SEO** — entry plan is $49/mo, but AI tracking requires pricier tiers; more expensive than Frase” DeepSeek V4 Flash, budget prompt

03What they cite

Citations exist only for the models that return a source list: four of the twelve in this edition, and all six flagship models on the expanded tier.

Sites the answers cite

20 of 72 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 4 of 12 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 5 of those lists are Google grounding redirects that name no site and are left out of the counts. 188 links across 120 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. The other 8 models searched through a gateway that returned no source list on this edition.

6 answers · 10 citations · 2 models
5 answers · 7 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Zapier4 answers · 5 citations · 1 model
vendor site · HubSpot3 answers · 4 citations · 1 model
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Clearscope3 answers · 3 citations · 1 model
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Frase3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Rankability3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
vendor site · Semrush3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models
3 answers · 3 citations · 2 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

04How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ModelDirect“What is the best SEO and content optimization platform for a mid-market B2B company?”Paraphrase“Which SEO content optimization tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B company?”Comparative“What are the top SEO and content optimization platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best SEO and content optimization platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating an SEO and content optimization platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which SEO and content optimization platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Haiku 4.5Sight AI
Five alternativesIntero Digital, Stratabeat, Ubersuggest, Virayo, Writesonic
Semrush, Surfer SEOChanged
Two alternativesClearscope, MarketMuse
Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit, Surfer SEO
Five alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Frase, Scalenut, Sight AI
Frase
Four alternativesAhrefs, Google Search Console, GrowthBar, RabbitSEO
no first choiceagainst: Ahrefs, MarketMuse, Scalenut, Semrush Writing Assistant, Writesonic
GPT-5.4 miniSemrush
Three alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Conductor
ClearscopeChanged
Two alternativesMarketMuse, Surfer SEO
Ahrefs, Semrush
Four alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Surfer SEO
against: Moz
Frase
Three alternativesClearscope, MarketMuse, Surfer SEO
no first choiceagainst: AutoSEO, SEO WRITING, SEO.ai, Seobility, Surfer SEO
Gemini 3.5 FlashSemrush, Surfer SEO
Three alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, SE Ranking
ClearscopeChanged
Two alternativesRankability, Surfer SEO
Ahrefs, Semrush
Four alternativesClearscope, Frase, Rankability, Surfer SEO
against: MarketMuse
NeuronWriter
Three alternativesFrase, PageOptimizer Pro, SE Ranking
against: Ahrefs, Clearscope, Semrush, Surfer SEO
no first choiceagainst: ChatGPT, Claude, Clearscope, Frase, GSA Search Engine Ranker, Google Gemini, Koala AI, Rankability, ScrapeBox, Spin Rewriter, Surfer SEO, WordAi
Perplexity SonarSemrush
Three alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Surfer SEO
Surfer SEOChanged
Four alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Semrush
Semrush
Four alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, SE Ranking, Surfer SEO
Ubersuggest
Three alternativesContent Harmony, Google Search Console, Keysearch
no first choiceagainst: SE Ranking, Semrush
Grok 4.1 FastSurfer SEO
Five alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Semrush
Surfer SEOHeld
Three alternativesAhrefs, Frase, HubSpot's tools
against: Clearscope
Ahrefs, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Seven alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Moz, NeuronWriter, SE Ranking, Search Atlas
Ubersuggest
Twelve alternativesAhrefs, Frase, Google Analytics 4, Google Keyword Planner, Google Search Console, Keysearch, Mangools, NeuronWriter, Rank Math, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Yoast SEO
against: Ahrefs, Semrush
Conductor
Six alternativesAhrefs, Botify, BrightEdge, Semrush, Surfer SEO, seoClarity
against: GroupBuySEOTools.org, Outrank.so, SEOptimer, Semrush, Writesonic, XRumer, groupbuyanytool.com, groupbuyseotools.net, seogroupbuyguru.com
Mistral SmallHubSpot Content Hub, HubSpot Marketing Hub
Four alternativesClearscope, MarketMuse, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Surfer SEOChanged
Three alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse
Ahrefs, Semrush
Eleven alternativesAirOps, Clearscope, Google Search Console, Gumloop, MarketMuse, PageOptimizer Pro, Rank Math, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Surfer SEO, Yoast SEO
SE Ranking, Ubersuggest
Four alternativesFrase, Google Search Console, Mangools, Surfer SEO
no first choice
Seven alternativesAhrefs, Botify, BrightEdge, Conductor, Lumar, Semrush, seoClarity
against: Frase, GroupBuySEOTools.org, Outranking, SEOptimer, Toolsurf.com, Toolzbuy.com, WriteHuman.ai
DeepSeek V4 FlashSemrush
Four alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, MarketMuse, Surfer SEO
Surfer SEOChanged
One alternativeFrase
Ahrefs, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Four alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Moz
Mangools
Five alternativesFrase, Keysearch, NeuronWriter, SE Ranking, Ubersuggest
against: Ahrefs, Clearscope, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Clearscope, Semrush, Surfer SEO
One alternativeConductor
against: Botify, BrightEdge
against: Jasper, RankBrain AI, SEO.ai, SEOptimer, Scalenut, Semrush, Surfer SEO, Ubersuggest, Writesonic
Llama 4 MaverickKeygrip
Five alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Screaming Frog, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Ahrefs, SemrushChanged
Two alternativesClearscope, Surfer SEO
no first choiceSE Ranking
Five alternativesAhrefs, Google Search Console, HubSpot, Semrush, Surfer SEO
no first choicenothing named
Qwen 3.7 FlashAhrefs, Semrush
Six alternativesClearscope, HubSpot, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog, Sitebulb, Surfer SEO
Surfer SEOChanged
Four alternativesAhrefs, Frase, MarketMuse, Semrush
Ahrefs, Semrush
Four alternativesFrase, Moz, Screaming Frog SEO Spider, Surfer SEO
against: Clearscope
Mangools, Ubersuggest
Three alternativesRaven Tools, Screaming Frog, Yoast SEO
against: SE Ranking, Surfer SEO
BrightEdge
Three alternativesBotify, Conductor, seoClarity
against: Ahrefs, Semrush Enterprise Tiers
nothing named
Kimi K2Semrush
Five alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, MarketMuse, Screaming Frog, Surfer SEO
against: Botify, BrightEdge, Conductor
Surfer SEOChanged
Two alternativesClearscope, Frase
Surfer SEO
Seven alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, NeuronWriter, PageOptimizer Pro, Rankability, Scalenut
Ubersuggest
Six alternativesAhrefs, Google Search Console, Grammarly, Mangools, SE Ranking, Yoast SEO
against: Clearscope, Semrush, Surfer SEO
no first choiceagainst: Ahrefs, Clearscope, MarketMuse, Search Atlas, Semrush, Ubersuggest
GLM 4.7 FlashXSemrush
Four alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, NeuronWriter, Surfer SEO
against: MarketMuse
Surfer SEOChanged
Two alternativesClearscope, Frase
against: MarketMuse
Surfer SEO
Seven alternativesAhrefs Content Helper, Clearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, NeuronWriter, PageOptimizer Pro, Semrush Writing Assistant
Mangools, Ubersuggest
Four alternativesFrase, Google Search Console, NeuronWriter, SE Ranking
no first choiceagainst: Clearscope, Frase, Long Tail Pro, Optimizely Content Marketing Platform, SEOmator AI, Semrush, Ubersuggest
MiniMax M2.5Surfer SEO
Two alternativesAhrefs, MarketMuse
Semrush Writing Assistant, Surfer SEOChanged
Two alternativesClearscope, Frase
no first choiceSE Ranking
Two alternativesSurfer SEO, Ubersuggest
Botify
Five alternativesBrightEdge, Conductor, DeepCrawl, MarketMuse, Oncrawl
against: Ahrefs, Semrush
against: Angi Leads, Cox Media Group, Devumi, Growth Cave, Hibu, Point Break Media, The Income Store
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

05The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency. Full answer text is in the free responses file. Download the record
Seventy-two rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-14 23:48yes88 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-14 23:57no04 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:30yes2025 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-14 23:53yes205 s
Direct recommendationGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 03:58yes08 s
Direct recommendationMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 05:04yes013 s
Direct recommendationDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-15 04:54yes017 s
Direct recommendationLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 03:05yes02 s
Direct recommendationQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 03:32yes050 s
Direct recommendationKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 04:07yes035 s
Direct recommendationGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:21yes050 s
Direct recommendationMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-14 23:24yes012 s
ParaphraseClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 00:51yes88 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-14 23:19yes34 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:35yes920 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 04:15yes204 s
ParaphraseGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 03:55yes09 s
ParaphraseMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-14 23:59yes07 s
ParaphraseDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-15 04:24yes040 s
ParaphraseLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 00:27yes01 s
ParaphraseQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 02:36no034 s
ParaphraseKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 00:26yes031 s
ParaphraseGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 04:41yes016 s
ParaphraseMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 03:25yes010 s
ComparativeClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 00:25yes1714 s
ComparativeGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 03:45yes58 s
ComparativeGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-15 02:35yes1122 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-14 23:38yes189 s
ComparativeGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 04:39yes010 s
ComparativeMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-14 22:56yes07 s
ComparativeDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via fireworks2026-09-15 00:32yes017 s
ComparativeLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-14 23:22yes02 s
ComparativeQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 00:26no034 s
ComparativeKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 00:47yes043 s
ComparativeGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-14 23:14yes032 s
ComparativeMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 03:34yes014 s
Budget constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 04:48yes76 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 01:10yes44 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:52yes1826 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-14 23:47yes206 s
Budget constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 04:16yes09 s
Budget constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 00:51yes07 s
Budget constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-15 01:30yes031 s
Budget constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-14 23:10yes02 s
Budget constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 02:40yes035 s
Budget constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 03:22yes039 s
Budget constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 05:00yes0119 s
Budget constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 01:30yes020 s
Scale constrainedClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-15 03:42no08 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-14 23:53no010 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-14 23:28no017 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 00:26yes1710 s
Scale constrainedGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 04:24yes011 s
Scale constrainedMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-14 23:57yes08 s
Scale constrainedDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-14 23:22yes062 s
Scale constrainedLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 01:37yes02 s
Scale constrainedQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 00:45yes047 s
Scale constrainedKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-15 01:34yes027 s
Scale constrainedGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 01:00yes031 s
Scale constrainedMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-15 01:00yes025 s
Negative framingClaude Haiku 4.5claude-haiku-4-5-202510012026-09-14 23:41yes1710 s
Negative framingGPT-5.4 minigpt-5.4-mini-2026-03-172026-09-15 02:11yes45 s
Negative framingGemini 3.5 Flashgemini-3.5-flash2026-09-15 04:59yes1522 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonarsonar2026-09-15 04:51yes206 s
Negative framingGrok 4.1 Fastspacexai/grok-4.1-fast-non-reasoning via vertex2026-09-15 00:22yes08 s
Negative framingMistral Smallmistral/mistral-small via mistral2026-09-15 01:41yes06 s
Negative framingDeepSeek V4 Flashdeepseek/deepseek-v4-flash via deepinfra2026-09-14 23:19yes059 s
Negative framingLlama 4 Maverickmeta/llama-4-maverick via bedrock2026-09-15 03:58yes02 s
Negative framingQwen 3.7 Flashalibaba/qwen3.7-flash via alibaba2026-09-15 03:10yes057 s
Negative framingKimi K2moonshotai/kimi-k2 via novita2026-09-14 23:39yes048 s
Negative framingGLM 4.7 FlashXzai/glm-4.7-flashx via zai2026-09-15 00:49yes025 s
Negative framingMiniMax M2.5minimax/minimax-m2.5 via minimax2026-09-14 22:53yes026 s

Noise floor in this category

Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.

Claude Haiku 4.5
2 of 4 flipped
GPT-5.4 mini
2 of 4 flipped
Gemini 3.5 Flash
4 of 5 flipped
Perplexity Sonar
1 of 4 flipped
Grok 4.1 Fast
5 of 6 flipped
Mistral Small
4 of 5 flipped
DeepSeek V4 Flash
4 of 6 flipped
Llama 4 Maverick
1 of 3 flipped
Qwen 3.7 Flash
3 of 6 flipped
Kimi K2
4 of 6 flipped
GLM 4.7 FlashX
3 of 5 flipped
MiniMax M2.5
5 of 5 flipped

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

Category-scoped readings
None. Every name in this category resolved on its own.
Unresolved, counted raw
Advanced Web Ranking
Ahrefs Content Helper
Alli AI
Authoritas
AutoSEO
Hike SEO
HubSpot's tools
Intero Digital
Koala AI
Outrank.so
PageSpeed Insights
RabbitSEO
RankBrain AI
RankUp
SEO WRITING
SEOmator AI
ScrapeBox
Semrush Enterprise Tiers
Spin Rewriter
SpyFu
Stratabeat
Toolsurf.com
Toolzbuy.com
Virayo
WriteHuman.ai
diib®
groupbuyanytool.com
groupbuyseotools.net
seogroupbuyguru.com
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.
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