8 Best AI SEO Tools for 2025 (Tested Firsthand)

As a content marketer, I regularly use AI SEO software to analyze data faster, optimize content, and achieve higher rankings.

But with so many tools making bold claims, it’s hard to separate the genuinely useful from the overhyped.

That’s why I’ve tested dozens of AI SEO tools myself and narrowed them down to the 8 that actually deliver results. 

Here’s my detailed review of each.

What Are the Best AI SEO Tools?

Spoiler alert: here are my favorite AI tools for SEO:

1. ContentShake AI for generating SEO-friendly content

2. Semrush Copilot for personalized SEO recommendations

3. Clearscope for SEO content optimization

4. SurferSEO for advanced SEO content creation

5. ChatGPT for brainstorming and data analysis

6. Copy.ai for automating your SEO workflows

7. SERP Gap Analyzer for finding keyword opportunities

8. Perplexity for conducting online content research

Let’s look at each of them in detail.

1. Semrush Content Toolkit

• Best for: Marketers and business owners looking to create high-ranking content
• Pricing: $60/month 

Semrush Content Toolkit is the smart writing tool we’ve developed at Semrush.

It combines AI with our proprietary SEO data to help you create entire articles, find content ideas, and write in your unique brand voice.

I recommend using this tool for creating SEO-friendly drafts, especially if you’re not an SEO expert. 

I love that it finds your target keywords and analyzes SERPs so that it can optimize your content for search intent—something SEO beginners usually struggle with.

Let’s look at a sample workflow.

First, enter a high-level content idea and get dozens of data-driven keyword and topic suggestions. 

Next, click ‘Start writing’ and choose whether you want to create an SEO content brief or generate a full blog post from scratch.

This will open the setup window, where you can adjust your target keywords, content length, and brand voice.

Check the ‘Add an extra SEO boost’ box for advanced SERP analysis and click ‘Create article’.

In just a few minutes, your draft will be ready. You can then use the blog editor to add more original ideas and further enhance your content.

Content Toolkit also includes an integrated AI chat, an AI image generator, and a content optimization tool to improve your copy.

My Favorite Features

• Content idea generator that finds data-driven topics and keywords
• Content creation in your brand voice and writing style
• Semrush’s SEO data for keywords and content outlines
• AI image generation and AI chat
• One-click WordPress publishing 

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Very easy to use—ideal for beginners with little SEO experience	Less suited to large teams and enterprise users
Uses Semrush’s data to optimize AI-generated content	Some stock images suggested by the tool may not always be relevant
Covers the entire content creation cycle, from ideation to publishing

2. Semrush Copilot

• Best for: Getting personalized SEO recommendations 
• Pricing: Available to all paid Semrush users (Semrush plans start at $139.95/month)

Semrush Copilot is an AI-powered assistant that offers personalized recommendations based on your SEO performance. 

Copilot analyzes all of your Semrush data from tools like Site Audit, Backlink Gap, and Keyword Gap..

It then consolidates the issues and action items into tailored recommendation cards, related to your keyword rankings, domain authority, organic competitors, and more.

I use it to regularly check SEO recommendations and spot potential issues, such as with technical SEO or backlinks.

When I see a recommendation or alert, I head to each specific tool to investigate it further:

My Favorite Features

• SEO data organization to help you strategically tackle different issues 
• Search performance analysis and regular competitor updates to scope new opportunities
• Daily alerts with issues and changes 

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Makes it easy to prioritize action items for SEO performance	Exclusive to Semrush users: not compatible with other tools
Helps navigate the many tools in Semrush’s suite	While the reports provide a lot of useful data, some users may want more in-depth summaries
Offers daily alerts to keep you posted about real-time concerns
Converts data into actionable insights in order of priority

3. Clearscope

• Best for: Content optimization and basic SEO analytics
• Pricing: Starts at $189/month

Clearscope is an AI content platform that helps with keyword research, content optimization, and analytics.

The content optimization feature offers somewhat similar benefits to other AI content tools. But the workflow is different.

When you add an existing URL and your target keyword, the tool will analyze the published page for you.

It will then provide suggestions for improvement, such as:

• Target keywords (including related keywords)
• Recommended word count
• Readability score
• Content grade (which measures content relevance)
• Structure changes 

The tool also helps with topic research and generates basic SEO reports. For example, it tracks your ranking positions and provides high-level content analytics metrics.

My Favorite Features

• Keyword research through discovery reports 
• Direct content optimization via a URL
• A term map comparing the keywords in your draft to competing articles
• Integration with Google Docs, WordPress, and MS Word add-ons 
• Content brief generator

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Automates the process of building content briefs and optimizing content	More expensive than most SEO content creation tools and has no free trial
Keep tabs on published content to find opportunities to refresh content	Doesn’t offer many content creation possibilities
Provides content analytics, which simplifies performance analysis	Content analytics and keyword research tools are somewhat basic, and the content grade simply checks if you’ve covered all related keywords

4. SurferSEO

• Best for: Advanced users looking to create SEO content with AI
• Pricing: Starts at $89/month, with up to 30 articles at $19 each

SurferSEO offers a suite of SEO tools to discover keywords, find content ideas, create outlines, optimize content, and more. 

Many content teams use it for content optimization. Similar to Clearscope, it analyzes the organic results for your target keywords and makes content structure recommendations. 

Surfer also offers some useful features for search engine optimizers, including a topical map, an SERP analyzer, and a content audit tool.

A word of caution: I’d be careful with metrics like optimal content length and the recommended number of headings. 

While they might be useful suggestions, you’ll know best if they make sense for your particular content piece.

Finally, while you can generate full articles, they each cost an additional $19, with a maximum of 30 articles on the cheapest plan.

My Favorite Features

• Blog editor that combines AI and data suggestions 
• Topic cluster generation based on your seed keyword
• Internal linking suggestions for your domain
• AI content detector and humanizer

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Easy to use when working with content writers, as it helps to track keywords in your drafts	Might not be the best choice for beginners and folks looking for more automation as it involves more steps and requires more SEO experience
Sleek and modern UI	Limited credits make it difficult to use freely
The Google Docs extension makes it easy to work anywhere	The Google Docs extension can get a bit buggy
Lots of data-driven tools useful for SEOs and content marketers	The Content Editor doesn’t let you adjust your targets

💡 Find out who comes out on top in our ContentShake AI vs SurferSEO comparison.

5. ChatGPT

• Best for: Brainstorming tasks and data analysis
• Pricing: Free version available. The paid plan costs $20/month. 

In the screenshot above, ChatGPT claims it can do a variety of SEO tasks. But I would take this with a pinch of salt. 

ChatGPT, along with other AI chatbots like Gemini and Claude, is amazing for brainstorming and analysis. 

But it doesn’t have any real-time SEO data and is not adapted for long-form content creation. So, I’d only use it together with an actual SEO tool that has access to SERP data.

That said, ChatGPT is useful for other SEO tasks such as:

• Optimizing your existing content for target keywords
• Analyzing a range of data 
• Tailoring your content to your buyer personas
• Clustering your keywords
• Brainstorming ideas 

Let’s look at an example.

I downloaded a list of keywords from Semrush, uploaded the CSV file to ChatGPT, and asked it to group my keywords by category:

Here’s the result:

This is just one of many examples of how ChatGPT can save you time with SEO tasks—as long as you already have the data you need.

My Favorite Features

• Custom GPTs for specific SEO tasks (e.g., writing meta descriptions)
• A Memory feature, which allows you to share custom instructions to quality-check responses
• Automated CSV data upload and analysis 
• Huge brainstorming potential, based on your input

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Powerful AI with integrated data analysis features	Doesn’t offer real-time SEO data and specialized SEO output
ChatGPT’s best model (ChatGPT 4-o) is free for all users	The interface is not optimized for long-form content creation
Beginner-friendly interface and affordable price point	Prone to factual errors and inaccurate responses

💡 Check out how ChatGPT compares to ContentShake AI.

6. Copy.ai

• Best for: Automating your SEO workflows 
• Pricing: Starts at $49/month. There’s also a limited free plan available.

Copy.ai is an AI-powered automation platform with content creation tools for sales and marketing needs. 

Like other AI writing tools, it was originally used primarily for content creation. But it has recently shifted its focus towards automation.

Copy.ai’s new standout feature is its ability to create multi-step workflows for SEO processes.

You can use the library of workflow templates for different use cases, such as writing a blog post, an SEO brief, and so on. 

The tool also lets you design custom workflows to automate different parts of your SEO setup. 

Here’s what it looks like:

My Favorite Features

• A workflow library with ready-made templates for specific tasks 
• Infobase creation to store crucial information for guiding your SEO tasks 
• A dashboard for saving managing and sharing your SEO content projects

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
The unique workflow creation feature works great for enterprise SEO teams and large agencies with lots of processes	It’s somewhat hard to use and might take a while to figure out
Offers a sleek and modern UI	Doesn’t offer any SEO data
Integrates with 2,000+ tools

7. SERP Gap Analyzer

• Best for: Finding relevant keyword opportunities 
• Pricing: $79/month

SERP Gap Analyzer helps you discover low-difficulty keywords for your content plan. You can use it to find relevant keywords with higher search volume and less competition.

This is especially helpful if you’re in a saturated niche and have to compete with lots of high-authority websites.

Just enter your site and a seed topic to run an analysis. 

The tool then analyzes the search results for multiple relevant keywords and displays the ranking difficulty for each keyword. 

You can access other insights such as global search volume, SERP weaknesses, and more. 

My Favorite Features

• Topic suggestions tailored to your website and industry 
• Low-competition recommendations keywords based on your website’s SEO
• Built-in AI writing tools for creating briefs, drafts, meta-descriptions, etc.

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Solves one of the key SEO pains—finding high-potential content topics	Doesn’t integrate with most other SEO tools, except Semrush
Generates briefs, outlines, and other content	Can be a bit confusing to figure out
Documents SERP analysis in detail to guide SEO efforts

8. Perplexity

• Best for: Finding fresh information and examples for SEO content
• Pricing: A free plan is available. The paid plan costs $20/month.

Perplexity is a conversational AI tool that’s connected to the Internet. It lets you parse the web, find information quickly, and conduct deep web research.

Wondering why I included this tool in a list of SEO software?

Because effective SEO is closely connected to quality content. And quality content needs fresh information and useful examples.

I often use Perplexity to find out in minutes what could otherwise take hours of scouring web sources.

For example: imagine I need to find an example of a content marketing campaign for small businesses for an article I’m writing.

Perplexity will use various online sources and instantly suggest interesting ideas:

My Favorite Features

• Parses the Internet to find relevant and fresh information
• Lets you upload files in multiple formats and derive insights from those documents
• Allows you to build collections by grouping chat threads by topic 
• Cites sources and reading references used to create responses 

What I Like and Dislike

Pros	Cons
Conducts image and video search	There’s a limited number of questions that you can ask in a day on the free plan
Organizes research with collections of multiple threads	Limited to research and doesn’t serve very well for content creation
Performs focused research on specific sites, such as YouTube, Reddit, etc.	Sometimes hallucinates

FAQs

What Are AI SEO Tools?

AI SEO tools use artificial intelligence to automate and fast-track SEO processes, such as keyword research, SERP analysis, and content creation. 

They can help you make better data-based decisions, increase productivity, and save time on routine tasks.

Earlier this year, I surveyed over 2,500 small businesses and asked them about their experience with AI.

And guess what?

68% of companies report higher SEO and content marketing ROI when using AI.

Will Google Penalize Me for Using AI SEO Tools?

There has been a lot of talk lately about Google “penalizing” AI-generated content. 

Let’s get this sorted once and for all. 

Google doesn’t care if it’s AI copy or not. It cares only about your content being genuine, useful, and relevant. 

Here’s what else they say:

“Poor quality content isn’t a new challenge for Google Search to deal with. We’ve been tackling poor quality content created both by humans and automation for years.”

We’ve further proven that AI-generated content ranks nearly as well as human-written copy—as long as it offers value and original insights.

Can I Just Publish AI-Generated Content?

I wouldn’t recommend relying solely on AI to create content for SEO and content creation.

Why?

Because AI doesn’t have the unique topical expertise that you need to create compelling content. 

But using AI as a tool to create content under your supervision and with your input?

Or leveraging it to generate content ideas, cluster keywords, and analyze SEO data? 

Why not!

Choose The Best AI Tools for SEO

That’s a wrap on my weeks of testing and shortlisting my favorite AI SEO tools.

The key takeaway?

Choose a tool that suits your specific needs and context. For example:

• Choose ContentShake AI if you’re a team of one looking to create organic content
• Use Copy.ai if you’re managing a large SEO team and need to automate processes

Remember: there’s a limit to what AI tools can do. Use them to get rid of routine tasks, and to support your work, not replace it, and you won’t be disappointed.