AI visibility tools · Head to head

Semrush vs Writesonic: which AI visibility tool wins in 2026?

An SEO suite that sells AI-visibility tracking as a toolkit, versus a former AI writer that now tracks AI search and writes the content. Both publish prices near $99 a month at entry. Compared on engines, prompts, who writes the fix and what each costs as you grow. Sourced from both companies' live pricing and product pages.

Javed Khatri Co-founder, Prefer
Updated October 2026 · Facts checked 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
On this page
TL;DR

Semrush's AI Visibility toolkit is the pick for teams that already run Semrush for SEO and want wider engine coverage at entry: $99 a month per domain for 25 prompts tracked daily on five engines, including Perplexity and Google AI Mode, with the content work left to separate suite tools; Writesonic is the pick for teams that want the tracking and the writing in one plan: from $79 a month billed annually ($99 monthly) for 50 prompts tracked daily and 15 AI articles a month, though every self-serve plan tracks only ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Prefer, our product, starts at $24 a month, tracks five engines on every plan and writes 15 AI articles a month on that plan.

At the same $99 monthly entry, the trade is engines against output. Semrush's toolkit tracks five engines but writes nothing; its Content Toolkit and ContentShake are separate products, and checking whether a fix worked is a manual incognito test per its own knowledge base. Writesonic writes every month and measures each fix at Day 14 and Day 28, but Perplexity, Claude and AI Mode wait for its Enterprise plan. Semrush also brings the rest of an SEO suite; Writesonic brings an article writer with a long review history.

Semrush vs Writesonic at a glance
  • Both publish prices near $99 a month at entry: Semrush's AI toolkit is $99/mo per domain (checked 19 September 2026); Writesonic Starter is $99 monthly or $79/mo billed annually (checked 30 September 2026).
  • Semrush's toolkit tracks five engines (ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini); every Writesonic self-serve plan tracks three (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews), with the other seven on Enterprise.
  • Writesonic tracks more prompts at entry (50 daily vs 25) and bundles 15, 25 or 50 AI articles a month; Semrush's AI toolkit recommends and leaves writing to separate suite tools.
  • Semrush One bundles AI tracking into the full SEO suite at $199, $299 and $549 a month (50, 100 and 200 prompts daily); Writesonic's Basic and Growth are $199 and $399 billed annually ($249 and $499 monthly).
  • Third-party signal: Semrush G2 4.4/5 from 4,039 reviews for the whole suite; Writesonic G2 4.7/5 from 2,143, mostly about its AI writer.

The contenders

Screenshot not captured
Semrush AI Visibility toolkit inside the SEO suite
  • PositioningAI toolkit inside the Semrush SEO suite
  • OwnerAdobe (acquisition completed April 2026)
  • Starting priceAI toolkit $99/mo per domain; Semrush One from $199/mo
  • Free optionFree plan (10 reports a day); 7-day trial
  • Engines (plan comparison)ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini
  • ContentSeparate suite tools; no AI-article quota
  • Third-party ratingG2 4.4/5, 4,039 reviews (whole suite)
Screenshot not captured
Writesonic AI-search tracking with a content factory attached
  • CompanyY Combinator S21; $2.6M raised in 2021
  • Starting price$79/mo billed annually ($99 monthly)
  • Free option7-day free trial, no credit card
  • Engines at entry3 (ChatGPT, Gemini, AI Overviews); 8 on Enterprise
  • Content15 to 50 AI articles a month on every plan
  • Third-party ratingG2 4.7/5 (2,143 reviews)
  • FocusSelf-serve tracking plus content production
Capability Semrush Writesonic Prefer
Tracks AI citations across engines
AI articles included in self-serve plans
Done-for-you Managed service

The Prefer column is shown for reference: it is our product, and this page compares the other two. Website screenshots captured 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep); every claim is referenced in Sources.

Where each tool sits

Feature comparison

Capability
Semrush
Writesonic
Coverage
Engines at entry[1]
5 per Semrush's plan comparison: ChatGPT, AI Overviews, AI Mode, Perplexity, Gemini ($99 toolkit)
3: ChatGPT, Gemini, Google AI Overviews (every self-serve plan)
Engines at top[1]
9 on Enterprise AI Optimization (adds Copilot, Grok, Claude, DeepSeek)
8 on Enterprise (adds Perplexity, Claude, Copilot, Grok, AI Mode)
Prompts at entry[1]
25 daily ($99 toolkit); 50 daily (Semrush One Starter)
50 prompts, 50 answers tracked daily (Starter)
Prompts above entry[1]
100 (Pro+), 200 (Advanced) daily in Semrush One
100 (Basic), 200 (Growth); custom on Enterprise
Data behind it[2]
317M+ prompts and responses, 117 regional databases (per Semrush)
2B+ AI conversations across 8 platforms (per Writesonic); crawls the web interface, not APIs
Action and features
Metrics[2]
AI Visibility Score (0 to 100), mentions, citations, share of voice, sentiment, Top Cited Domains
Visibility, citations, share of voice; sentiment from Growth
Content writing[1]
No AI-article quota; Content Toolkit and ContentShake are separate suite tools
15 / 25 / 50 AI articles a month (Starter, Basic, Growth)
Publishes to CMS[2]
No publish-to-site documented
WordPress, Sanity, Contentful
Action list[1]
Recommendations in the toolkit
Action Center: trial on Growth (5 on-page + 5 off-page actions a month), full on Enterprise
Off-page[2]
Not documented for the toolkit
Finds threads and sites citing competitors, drafts the outreach for you to send
AI-readiness checks[2]
AI Search Site Audit (flags blocked AI crawlers)
Site audits (10 to 50 a month), robots.txt checks, audit auto-fixes
Checking a change worked[2]
Manual incognito-browser test, per Semrush's KB
Each fix measured at Day 14 and Day 28
API / MCP[2]
MCP access from Semrush One Starter; API on Advanced
Public API and MCP server; Enterprise lists MCP, API and SDK
Trust and fit
Third-party rating[3]
G2 4.4/5, 4,039 reviews (whole Semrush suite)
G2 4.7/5, 2,143 reviews (mostly the AI writer)
Seats[1]
Extra users from $45/mo
1 / 2 / 3 users; extra seats $50/mo each (max 5)
White-label[1]
Pro Report add-on, $20/mo (branding and white-labeling)
White-label reporting on Agency Enterprise
SSO and compliance[1]
SSO, team governance and audit logs on Enterprise
SOC 2 Type II, GDPR, HIPAA badges; SSO/SAML on Enterprise
Company[3]
Founded 2008, Boston; owned by Adobe since April 2026
Y Combinator S21; $2.6M raised in 2021, profitable since (per Writesonic)
Built for[2]
Teams that already run Semrush for SEO
Lean teams that want tracking and content in one plan

Based on both products' public pages, facts checked 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep). "Not advertised" means we could not verify the capability from public materials. Spot something out of date? Tell us.

Pricing, side by side

Plan
Semrush
Writesonic
Free option[1]
Free plan (10 reports a day); 7-day trial on Semrush One; the toolkit FAQ says no free trial for the toolkit
7-day free trial, no credit card; 7-day refund
Entry paid plan[1]
AI Visibility toolkit, $99/mo per domain (25 prompts daily, 5 engines)
Starter, $79/mo billed annually ($99 monthly): 50 prompts, 3 engines, 15 AI articles
Next tiers[1]
Semrush One: Starter $199, Pro+ $299, Advanced $549 a month (50 / 100 / 200 prompts daily)
Basic $199 ($249 monthly), 100 prompts; Growth $399 ($499 monthly), 200 prompts, sentiment, Action Center trial
Enterprise[1]
AI Optimization, custom (adds Copilot, Grok, Claude, DeepSeek; SSO, audit logs)
Custom: all 8 engines, full Action Center, SSO/SAML, AI search strategist
Add-ons[1]
Extra domains $99 each; extra users from $45/mo; Pro Report $20/mo
Extra seats $50/mo each; 20 extra AI articles for $100/mo (Growth)
Execution included[2]
No; recommendations, with content tools sold as separate suite products
Yes, AI articles on every plan

Prices checked 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep) from each product's public pricing page.

Semrush (founded 2008, Boston) is the established SEO suite, owned by Adobe since April 2026; its AI Visibility toolkit reports an AI Visibility Score, share of voice, sentiment and Top Cited Domains, and is sold at $99/mo per domain or bundled into Semrush One from $199/mo (semrush.com, rendered 19 and 30 September 2026). Writesonic (Y Combinator S21, San Francisco) began as an AI copywriting tool and now sells itself as "The AI Search Growth Engine": daily tracking, an Action Center that ranks fixes, and its AI Article Writer bundled into every plan. Its about page says it raised $2.6M in 2021 and has been profitable since, and its G2 rating is 4.7/5 from 2,143 reviews, most of them about the writer (writesonic.com and G2, read 30 September 2026). Sources

Which should you choose?

Choose Semrush if…

  • You already run Semrush for keywords, backlinks and audits
  • Perplexity and Google AI Mode need tracking at the entry price
  • An AI Visibility Score and an AI Search Site Audit suit your reporting
  • You have a team to write and ship the fixes with other tools

Choose Writesonic if…

  • You want AI articles written every month inside the same plan
  • ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews cover your buyers for now
  • You want each fix measured at Day 14 and Day 28 in the tool
  • More prompts at entry (50 daily) matters more than more engines
The third option · Our product
One tracks more engines. One writes the content. Prefer does both from $24 a month.

Prefer tracks the same signals across ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and Google AI Mode, then produces the content and citations that move the number. Free trial, paid from $24/mo. See how it compares to Semrush.

Run your free audit No card, no commitment

Semrush vs Writesonic, answered

Is Semrush or Writesonic better?

They fit different teams: Semrush's AI toolkit is better for teams already on Semrush that want five engines tracked at $99/mo per domain and will write the fixes themselves, and Writesonic is better for teams that want tracking and 15 to 50 AI articles a month in one plan from $79/mo billed annually, on three engines below Enterprise. Prefer, our product, starts at $24 a month, tracks five engines and writes 15 AI articles a month, with a done-for-you Managed option. Choose Semrush for engine reach inside your SEO suite, Writesonic for built-in content.

Semrush vs Writesonic vs Profound: which is better for AI visibility?

They suit three different buyers: Semrush fits teams already running its SEO suite, Writesonic fits teams that want AI articles with tracking attached, and Profound fits enterprises that want the broadest measurement. Prefer, our product, tracks five engines including Perplexity and Google AI Mode and writes 15 AI articles a month from $24, below Semrush's and Writesonic's entry prices. Semrush's AI Visibility toolkit is $99/mo per domain for 25 prompts on five engines, or bundled into Semrush One from $199/mo; Writesonic starts at $79/mo billed annually ($99 monthly), but its self-serve plans track only ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews; Profound offers a free 7-day Trial and then a custom Enterprise plan for up to nine engines. Writesonic and Profound checked 30 September 2026, Semrush 19 and 30 September.

Which is cheaper, Semrush or Writesonic?

At entry they are level on a monthly bill: Semrush's AI toolkit is $99/mo per domain and Writesonic Starter is $99 monthly, or $79/mo if you pay a year upfront (Semrush checked 19 September, Writesonic 30 September 2026). Prefer's Starter is $24 a month for 30 prompts on five engines. Above entry, Writesonic Basic is $199 billed annually ($249 monthly) and Semrush One Starter is $199 monthly, and the value differs: Writesonic adds prompts and articles, Semrush adds the whole SEO suite.

Which AI engines do Semrush and Writesonic track?

Semrush's plan comparison lists five for the AI toolkit (ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Google AI Mode, Perplexity and Gemini) and adds Copilot, Grok, Claude and DeepSeek on its custom Enterprise plan; every Writesonic self-serve plan tracks three (ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews), and Enterprise tracks all eight, including Perplexity, Claude and AI Mode. Prefer tracks five on every plan (ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode), with Claude on Enterprise. Semrush checked 19 September, Writesonic 8 October 2026.

Does Semrush write content the way Writesonic does?

No: Writesonic bundles an AI article quota into every self-serve plan (15 on Starter, 25 on Basic, 50 on Growth) and can publish to WordPress, Sanity and Contentful, while Semrush's AI toolkit surfaces recommendations and leaves writing to separate suite tools, Content Toolkit and ContentShake, with no publish-to-site documented. Prefer, our product, writes 15 AI articles a month from its $24 Starter plan. Writesonic also measures each fix at Day 14 and Day 28; Semrush's knowledge base describes a manual incognito-browser check.

Which one handles off-page work?

Writesonic goes further: it surfaces the Reddit threads, YouTube videos and listicles citing competitors and drafts the outreach for you to send, with the full Action Center on Enterprise and a trial of 5 on-page and 5 off-page actions a month on Growth, while off-page work is not part of Semrush's AI toolkit. Prefer's off-page work (Reddit participation, PR pitches, placements) is on its Enterprise plan and Prefer Managed only, not its self-serve plans. Neither Writesonic nor Semrush sends the outreach or posts for you on its self-serve plans.

Do Semrush or Writesonic offer white-label reports for agencies?

Both do, in different places: Semrush sells a Pro Report add-on at $20/mo with branding and white-labeling, and Writesonic offers white-label reporting on its Agency Enterprise plan, which is priced on a demo. Prefer, our product, has an agency track priced per active client on its pricing page. Writesonic's Agency Starter tracks all AI models except Claude; no agency dollar price was shown on either Writesonic agency card on 30 September 2026.

Who is Semrush's AI toolkit best for?

Teams that already run Semrush for keywords, backlinks and site audits and want AI visibility in the same place, with Perplexity and AI Mode covered at a $99 entry price. Prefer suits teams that want a dedicated AI-search tool that also writes the content, from $24 a month. Semrush's toolkit fits less well for a team that needs the fixes written for it, or needs Claude and Copilot without an Enterprise contract.

Who is Writesonic best for?

Lean marketing teams that want tracking and a steady flow of AI articles in one plan at a price they can read, and whose buyers mostly use ChatGPT, Gemini and Google AI Overviews. Prefer suits the same buyer if Perplexity and Google AI Mode matter, since it tracks five engines from $24 a month. Writesonic's G2 reviews (4.7/5 from 2,143) mostly describe its AI writer, so weigh them as evidence about content quality more than tracking.

What is the best alternative to Semrush and Writesonic?

Prefer is the best pick if you want five-engine tracking and the content work in one plan at a price you can see: it tracks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Google AI Overviews and AI Mode with 30 prompts, shows the sources behind each answer and your share of voice against named competitors, connects Search Console and GA4, and writes 15 AI articles a month from $24 (free trial on every paid plan, free audit), with a done-for-you Managed option. The category also includes Profound, Peec AI, AthenaHQ and AirOps. See our roundup of the best AI visibility tools.

References

Sources

  1. Semrush AI Visibility toolkit pricing (rendered 19 Sep 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  2. Writesonic pricing page and FAQ (raw and rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  3. Semrush One pricing (rendered 19 and 30 Sep 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  4. Semrush Enterprise plan comparison (rendered 19 Sep 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  5. Writesonic monthly list prices, affiliate table (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  6. Writesonic AI visibility tracker (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  7. Writesonic Action Center (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  8. Writesonic integrations (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  9. Writesonic agencies page (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  10. Writesonic about page (rendered 30 Sep 2026) writesonic.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  11. Semrush AI SEO toolkit overview and FAQ (rendered 6 Sep 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  12. Semrush KB: where the AI Visibility Toolkit data comes from (rendered 19 Sep 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  13. Semrush KB: getting started with the AI Visibility Toolkit (checked 15 Aug 2026) semrush.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  14. G2 enterprise AEO category (rendered 23 Sep 2026) g2.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  15. Writesonic G2 reviews (rendered 30 Sep 2026) g2.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)
  16. Profound pricing page (rendered 30 Sep 2026) tryprofound.com Accessed 8 October 2026 (Writesonic 8 Oct; Semrush One 30 Sep; Semrush AI toolkit 19 Sep)

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