Semrush vs Ahrefs
Seven of twelve models named Semrush first on the direct prompt; one named Ahrefs. Both were named by all twelve models and Semrush carries 43 labels and Ahrefs 51, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Boston, United States, founded 2008. Named in seven categories this edition.
Singapore, Singapore, founded 2010. Named in four categories this edition.
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; rank is within the category; every quote names the model and the prompt it came from. Both figures come from the SEO and content optimization platforms page.
By framing
SemrushFirst choices, of twelve modelsAhrefs
Across every category in the September 2026 Edition, Semrush and Ahrefs were named in the same answer 122 times, of the 206 answers naming Semrush and the 137 naming Ahrefs. In those answers Ahrefs took the first choice two times and Semrush eighteen.
Every model, every framing
| Model | Direct | Paraphrase | Comparative | Budget-constrained | Scale-constrained | Negative |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Claude Haiku 4.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-5.4 mini | | | ||||
| Gemini 3.5 Flash | | | | | ||
| Perplexity Sonar | | | | | ||
| Grok 4.1 Fast | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | | |||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | | | |||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | | | |
| Kimi K2 | | | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | ||||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | |
Semrush Ahrefs first choice named as an alternative argued againstblank: not namedEach cell is one answer, Semrush on the left and Ahrefs on the right.The direct prompt
Both were the first choice
1 of 12 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.Semrush first, Ahrefs an alternative
6 of 12 modelsAhrefs was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Neither was the first choice, one was named
4 of 12 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
1 of 12 modelsThe answer made no first choice from these two in this category.Bold names in an answer are the products the judge labeled a first choice; a model naming several gives each of them that label. The full answer text for every row is in the record.
By buyer segment
Semrush21%#2 of 13Ahrefs6%#6 of 13What the models said about Semrush
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“SEO Tools to Avoid or Use with Caution | Semrush | 40/100 (High) | 3 documented complaints; recurring billing issues” GLM 4.7 FlashX · negative prompt · hard negative
“Avoid: Enterprise tools (Ahrefs/Semrush $99–$139); overkill for small budgets.” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · hard negative
“Semrush ($140+/mo) — great but overkill for most small budgets” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“Semrush is the strongest all-in-one SEO platform for keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, competitive analysis, PPC, and content marketing workflows.” Perplexity Sonar · comparative prompt · first choice
“Choose Ahrefs or Semrush if you need a baseline tool for overall website health, backlink tracking, and competitor espionage.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“If you want one platform only, Semrush is often the best balance of capability, breadth, and cost for mid-market teams.” GPT-5.4 mini · direct prompt · first choice
What the models said about Ahrefs
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Six of eight in this category shown.
“Avoid: Enterprise tools (Ahrefs/Semrush $99–$139); overkill for small budgets.” Grok 4.1 Fast · budget prompt · hard negative
“Tools to Skip on a Budget - Ahrefs ($108+/mo)” DeepSeek V4 Flash · budget prompt · hard negative
“The price increase in 2024 changed the value calculation, with the Lite plan jumping from $99 to $129 per month” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“Choose Ahrefs or Semrush if you need a baseline tool for overall website health, backlink tracking, and competitor espionage.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“Go with Semrush (for the extra marketing tools) or Ahrefs (if you care primarily about backlinks)” Qwen 3.7 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“The best SEO content optimization tool for a mid-sized B2B company would be Ahrefs or SEMrush” Llama 4 Maverick · paraphrase prompt · first choice
Comparisons are drawn for the top eight products in each category, each against each. The output is the models' output; nothing here is a recommendation by the index.