Semrush vs Ahrefs
Ten of fourteen models named Semrush first on the direct prompt; one named Ahrefs. Both were named by all fourteen models and Semrush carries 58 labels and Ahrefs 42, so the shares are not directly comparable.
Boston, United States, founded 2008. Named in ten categories this edition.
Singapore, Singapore, founded 2010. Named in seven categories this edition.
Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts over all fourteen 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 fourteen modelsAhrefs
Across every category in the October 2026 Edition, Semrush and Ahrefs were named in the same answer 171 times, of the 407 answers naming Semrush and the 205 naming Ahrefs. In those answers Ahrefs took the first choice four times and Semrush twenty-four.
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 4.20 | | | | | | |
| Mistral Small | | | ||||
| DeepSeek V4 Flash | | | | | | |
| Llama 4 Maverick | | |||||
| Qwen 3.7 Flash | | | | |||
| Kimi K2 | | | | |||
| GLM 4.7 FlashX | | | | | ||
| MiniMax M2.5 | | | | | ||
| GPT-6 Luna | | |||||
| Muse Glimmer 30B | |
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 14 modelsThe answer named them together, and the judge labeled each a first choice.Semrush first, Ahrefs an alternative
9 of 14 modelsAhrefs was named in the answer but not as the choice, or not at all.Neither was the first choice, one was named
2 of 14 modelsThe answer put something else first and named one of the two as an alternative.Neither was named
2 of 14 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
What the models said about Semrush
Every negative label with a quote, up to three, then the highest-weighted positives, up to three. Four of five in this category shown.
“you cannot afford to waste money on bloated enterprise platforms like Semrush, Ahrefs, or Clearscope, which easily run $100 to over $150 per month” Gemini 3.5 Flash · budget prompt · soft negative
“"Semrush is the market's most comprehensive all-in-one SEO platform." ... If you need backlink intelligence and full marketing reporting, start with Semrush or Ahrefs.” Muse Glimmer 30B · comparative prompt · first choice
“the pairing of Semrush and Clearscope remains the most reliable, high-performing combination for mid-market B2B organizations” Gemini 3.5 Flash · direct prompt · first choice
“For most mid-market B2B companies, Semrush offers the best balance of features, pricing, and procurement readiness.” MiniMax M2.5 · 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 seven in this category shown.
“Ahrefs now offers AI content surfaces... they raise quality, originality, and brand-voice risks if teams over-rely on them.” GPT-5.4 mini · negative prompt · soft negative
“is expensive for multiple team members ($40-80 per month each) and lacks native keyword research capabilities” Claude Haiku 4.5 · negative prompt · soft negative
“highly critical of pricing models used by platforms like Ahrefs, where standard tasks...consume "credits"” Gemini 3.5 Flash · negative prompt · soft negative
“Prioritize: Ahrefs, SE Ranking, KWFinder (low complaint records), Frase, Clearscope for content optimization.” Grok 4.20 · negative prompt · first choice
“Unmatched backlink analysis and a highly regarded "Content Explorer"... the most accurate backlink index.” Gemini 3.5 Flash · comparative prompt · first choice
“top picks like SEMrush (all-in-one), Surfer (content focus), Ahrefs (backlinks/research)” Grok 4.20 · scale 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.