AI Tools for SEO: The Good, The Bad, The Pointless

I talk a lot about the issues with using generative AI for SEO content creation. But non-generative AI has been used in SEO tools for a long time. Machine learning is built on data, so it can be a very good way to quickly parse, organize, and sort things like keywords based on search volume or difficulty.

After ChatGPT launched in 2022, I noticed that many of the tools I'd used in my workflow for a long time suddenly slapped "AI ✨" on the tin, even though the actual tool didn't change. It was just that the technology behind the tool was now a buzzword used by lots of people.

During that time, though, there were also a bunch of other AI-powered SEO tools and digital marketing platforms that rolled out as well. I've tried a bunch over the past four years and change, so here's my take on what's worth your time, what's terrible, and what makes no dang sense at all.

Good AI tools for SEO and content marketing

Semrush, Ahrefs, and SE Ranking

I've used all three of these tools heavily in my career. Each one uses non-generative machine learning to accurately assess keyword potential—and some do include optional generative tools at this point, as well.

Any of these high-quality toolkits will be a good choice for:

• Better understanding your keywords
• Assessing how well your website performs in search engine results pages, or SERPs
• Finding backlinks and internal linking opportunities
• Rank tracking

(Requisite disclaimer: I work with Semrush but I'm not paid to recommend them here.)

Otterly.ai and Waikay

Otterly.ai and Waikay are two tools that you can use to assess how well your website is parsed and ranked by AI search engines specifically—i.e. ChatGPT, Perplexity, and so forth. Some of this information is also available in tools like Semrush/Ahrefs/SE Ranking, but I find both Otterly and Waikay to be a useful supplement when optimizing for AI Overviews and the like. I currently use Waikay.

Clearscope

Clearscope is a content optimization tool. While it does include a generative feature now (which I’ve tried and is not very good in my opinion) it does shine at what Clearscope has always done:

• Help users find content gaps
• Make it easier to analyze search intent
• Speed up the process of developing topic clusters
• Assist in planning content briefs and outlining new content
• Assess quality via heading suggestions and content scores
• Provide suggestions for using keywords more effectively in high-quality content

Clearscope is a pretty expensive tool, to be honest, but it’s one I continue to return to when working on on-page optimization for both my website and my clients’. Clearscope also helps with brand visibility.

Bad AI SEO tools

The worst AI platforms for SEO are...AI chat tools. You might think that AI agents and chatbots, especially Google AI tools like Gemini, are going to be good at supporting your SEO work, but they're actually quite bad. This is because:

• Many AI chat tools use a large language model (LLM) that's slightly outdated, i.e. it contains data from last year, but not this year.
• Generative AI-driven chats are programmed to say what you, statistically, are most likely to want the chat to say, which can skew the results to provide incorrect, not actual organic traffic metrics and keyword suggestions. Generally speaking, the more “all-in-one” an AI tool is, the worse it will be at SEO tasks.
• SEO platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs are built using specific APIs and data sets; ChatGPT and other general-purpose AI tools don't have access to these same pools of information for assessing search visibility, developing SEO strategies, or analyzing technical SEO performance.

Pointless AI tools for SEO

If you've been reading this blog for a minute, this won't come as a surprise, but I think that many of the content generation tools on the market today are pretty pointless. By and large, these tools don't guide you through or provide the necessary structure for your articles, so you wind up spinning your wheels trying to get content that sounds like your brand and works well in search.

Furthermore, many, many paid AI content tools are 'wrappers' of other tools like ChatGPT—i.e. you're accessing OpenAI or Anthropic's technology through another site with different branding and menus. This isn't inherently scammy—there are only so many companies that can actually produce and train an AI model—but it means you're going to deal with some of the output problems that come with using a general-purpose AI tool for content writing.

The free AI SEO software tech stack I recommend for beginners

I know that paying for an SEO agency/SEO expert or even SEO tool licenses isn't in everyone's budget. If you want to DIY your SEO and need affordable options, here's where I recommend you start when building your workflows:

• Website audits, benchmarks, and updates: Ahrefs Free (formerly Webmaster Tools)
• Traditional SEO/target keyword research and content strategy: Semrush's free plan
• AI keyword research and content strategy: AlsoAsked (remember, questions are important for AI SEO performance)
• SERP analysis, search ranking, and keyword ranking research: Semrush free plan/Ahrefs Free and Google Search Console
• Proofreading, calculating word count, assessing readability, and writing meta descriptions: A general-purpose AI assistant is fine for these tasks, though a human content editor will still give you the best possible results