Semrush vs Ahrefs for AI visibility tracking (2026)

Last updated: November 2026

Semrush is the better pick if you want a fixed bundle of daily prompt tracking, prompt research and brand sentiment for one domain, from $99/mo. Ahrefs Brand Radar is the better pick for market-wide research across 516 million prompts and pay-per-check tracking, from $50/mo for custom prompts or $199/mo for its AI Visibility Index.

Semrush and Ahrefs are the two SEO suites most US marketing teams already pay for, and both now sell AI visibility tracking. They built it in different ways. Semrush sells an AI Visibility Toolkit with fixed limits, plus bundled SEO and AI plans. Ahrefs sells Brand Radar, which splits into a pre-built AI Visibility Index and a check-based custom prompt tracker. This guide compares the two on what they cost, which engines they cover and who each one fits.

Key takeaways🔗

• Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit: $99/mo standalone with 25 tracked prompts, 1 domain for Brand Performance and no free trial, per Semrush's knowledge base as of October 2026.

• Semrush One bundles: Starter $199/mo (50 prompts tracked daily) and Pro+ $299/mo (100 prompts), with SEO tools included.

• Ahrefs Brand Radar: the AI Visibility Index is $199/mo. Custom prompt packages start at $50/mo for 2,500 checks. Paid Ahrefs plans from $129/mo include a small daily prompt quota.

• Engines: Ahrefs lists AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, with Claude available on custom prompts. Semrush lists Google Search, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini on its bundles, with Claude and Grok tied to fuller coverage.

• Trials: Semrush's toolkit has no free trial. Ahrefs says it does not offer free trials or discounts. Both have free accounts with limited data.

Semrush vs Ahrefs: AI visibility comparison table🔗

Figures come from Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit help page and pricing page, and from Ahrefs' pricing page and Brand Radar page, all as of October 2026. Monthly billing unless noted.

How much does Semrush charge for AI visibility?🔗

Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit costs $99 per month as a standalone subscription and has no free trial, according to its knowledge base as of October 2026. That price includes 1 project, 1 domain for Brand Performance, 300 daily queries in AI Analysis reports, 1,000 daily queries in Prompt Research, 25 prompts for Prompt Tracking, AI search checks in Site Audit for up to 100 pages, and 10 CSV exports a day.

Add-ons from the same page:

• 50 more tracked prompts: $60/mo

• Another domain or location for Brand Performance: $99/mo each

• Another user license for the toolkit: $99/mo per user

Semrush One bundles SEO and AI visibility. On the pricing page, the SEO plan is $139/mo, Starter is $199/mo with 50 prompts tracked daily, Pro+ is $299/mo with 100 prompts, and Advanced is custom priced. The knowledge base lists 200 prompts for Advanced, while the pricing page says unlimited, so confirm with sales. Billed yearly, Starter works out to $165.17/mo and Pro+ to $248.17/mo. Semrush also has a free plan with one demo project and 10 reports a day.

How much does Ahrefs charge for Brand Radar?🔗

Ahrefs sells Brand Radar two ways, and the price depends on which one you need.

Custom prompts track the questions you write. Every paid Ahrefs plan includes a daily quota: Lite ($129/mo) gets 5 prompts and 150 checks a month, Standard ($249/mo) gets 10 prompts and 300 checks, and Advanced ($449/mo) gets 20 prompts and 600 checks. For more, Ahrefs sells check packages: Basic at $50/mo for 2,500 checks, Growth at $100/mo for 7,000 checks and Scale at $250/mo for 25,000 checks, with overage billed per check. One check is one prompt on one platform in one location, so 5 prompts on 1 platform for a month is 150 checks. Claude uses 8 checks per update.

The AI Visibility Index is $199/mo. It lets you look up any brand's AI visibility across Ahrefs' database of 516 million+ prompts with no setup, and it includes 83 prompts a day (2,500 checks a month) of your own tracking. Ahrefs says Brand Radar can be bought on its own, and that you get an Ahrefs Free account with it.

Ahrefs states on its pricing page that it never runs discounts or free trials, though yearly billing saves up to 17%.

Which AI engines do Semrush and Ahrefs track?🔗

Ahrefs lists more engines by name. Its AI Visibility Index covers AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and Copilot, and its custom prompts support all of those plus Claude. You pick the cadence per platform: daily, weekly or monthly.

Semrush's pricing page lists "Google Search, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini" for AI visibility on its bundled plans, and describes daily tracking of where your brand is mentioned in ChatGPT, AI Mode and Gemini. A longer list that adds Claude and Grok also appears on the page, which reads as fuller coverage on higher tiers. Its knowledge base says Brand Performance runs queries through LLMs like ChatGPT and Google's AI Mode. Copilot is not named. If Claude or Copilot matters to your buyers, ask Semrush which plan includes it before you buy.

How do their research tools compare?🔗

Both suites go beyond tracking your own prompt list, and this is where they differ most.

Semrush's toolkit includes Visibility Overview (an AI Visibility Score for any brand, worldwide or by region), Competitor Research (prompts where competitors are cited and you are not) and Prompt Research, which Semrush calls "keyword research for AI," with topic-level volume, difficulty and intent. Brand Performance reports cover share of voice, sentiment and key narratives, updated weekly. Prompt Tracking covers 220+ countries and territories.

Ahrefs builds its index from its keyword database. It expands real queries into natural questions, runs the resulting 516 million+ prompts through each AI platform and stores the answers. That lets you search any brand or category with no setup, including historical responses back to 2025. Ahrefs notes that the index works best for established brands, because brands with little search volume may have thin coverage. Its question sets are re-tested monthly on a 90-day reporting window, so for fresh daily data you still need custom prompts.

In short: Semrush packages research and tracking into one fixed toolkit. Ahrefs gives you a very large research index and lets you buy tracking by the check. For the metrics both report, see what AI share of voice means.

What does reporting and team access cost?🔗

Team access is where Semrush gets expensive. Each extra user on the AI Visibility Toolkit needs their own $99/mo license, and the toolkit cannot be shared through shared limits, per the knowledge base. Branded client reports go through Semrush's My Reports tool, where a Pro Report with branding and white-labeling is $20/mo.

Ahrefs charges by plan for extra users: $40/mo on Lite (up to 2 more), $60/mo on Standard (up to 5) and $80/mo on Advanced (up to 10). Report Builder is a $99/mo add-on with 50 reports, and the Advanced plan adds a Looker Studio integration. Ahrefs' pricing page does not say whether Report Builder supports white-label reports, so check before you promise clients branded PDFs.

Who should pick Semrush, and who should pick Ahrefs?🔗

Match the suite to how you work:

• You already pay for Semrush: add the AI Visibility Toolkit or move to Semrush One. Your AI data sits next to your keyword work.

• You already pay for Ahrefs: start with the free daily prompt quota in your plan, then add a $50/mo check package if you need more.

• You want a fixed monthly cost: Semrush. Its prompts and domains are counted, not metered checks.

• You want to research a whole market: Ahrefs' AI Visibility Index, which covers any brand across 516 million+ prompts.

• You need Copilot: Ahrefs lists it. Semrush does not name it.

• You need Claude: Ahrefs supports it on custom prompts at 8 checks per update. On Semrush, confirm with sales.

• You are a small team on a tight budget: neither is cheap once you add users and domains. Our Semrush AI Toolkit alternatives and best affordable AI visibility tools lists cover lower-cost options.

Is there a cheaper third option?🔗

If you do not need an SEO suite, there is a third option. We build TrendlyAI, so weigh that. TrendlyAI tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude and Google AI Overviews on every plan, finds the prompts where a competitor is recommended and you are not, and drafts fixes such as comparison pages, FAQ pages with schema and Reddit answers. Plans start at $19/mo for 1 brand and 25 prompts, with white-label PDF reports included, and the Agency plan covers 10 client brands for $149/mo.

TrendlyAI does much less than either suite. It scans weekly with 1 sample per prompt, has no prompt-volume data, has no SEO tools, and does not track Gemini, Grok, Copilot or Google AI Mode. It is a young product from a small team with few public reviews. TrendlyAI tracks its own domain and publishes its own score, which is low. Our TrendlyAI vs Semrush comparison goes deeper on that trade-off.

To see where your brand stands before you buy anything, run the free AI visibility check. It tests 5 prompts on ChatGPT and Perplexity in about 30 seconds with no signup. For the bigger picture, browse our GEO hub.

Frequently asked questions🔗

Is Semrush or Ahrefs cheaper for AI visibility tracking?🔗

For tracking your own prompts, Ahrefs can be cheaper: custom prompt packages start at $50/mo, and paid Ahrefs plans include a small daily quota. Semrush's toolkit is $99/mo for 25 prompts. For market-wide research, Ahrefs' AI Visibility Index is $199/mo, the same as Semrush One Starter. Prices as of October 2026.

Does Ahrefs Brand Radar track Claude?🔗

Yes, on custom prompts. Ahrefs says custom prompts support AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Claude, and that Claude uses 8 checks per update. Its pre-built AI Visibility Index covers the first six, not Claude.

Does the Semrush AI Visibility Toolkit have a free trial?🔗

No. Semrush's knowledge base says the AI Visibility Toolkit does not offer a free trial, as of October 2026. Semrush has a free plan with limited reports. Ahrefs says it does not offer free trials either, but has an Ahrefs Free account.

Can I buy Ahrefs Brand Radar without an Ahrefs subscription?🔗

Yes. Ahrefs' pricing FAQ says Brand Radar is available as a standalone tool, and buying it also gives you an Ahrefs Free account. The AI Visibility Index starts at $199/mo and custom prompt packages at $50/mo.

How often do Semrush and Ahrefs update AI visibility data?🔗

Semrush updates Prompt Tracking daily and Brand Performance weekly. Ahrefs lets you set custom prompt cadence per platform to daily, weekly or monthly, and re-tests its AI Visibility Index question sets monthly on a 90-day reporting window.

Related reading🔗

• Best AI search visibility tools

• AI visibility score explained

• Best AI visibility tools for agencies