The Ranking Factory vs Semrush

· The Ranking Factory

Semrush suits teams that want SEO and AI visibility in one subscription, with keyword tools, rank tracking, site audits and backlinks beside AI-answer tracking. The Ranking Factory suits teams for whom AI visibility is the job and who want the gaps closed: evidence written from the business's own material and published on its own site, from $49 a month.

Every fact about Semrush on this page was read from Semrush's own pages on 29 September 2026; the pages are linked in the text and listed under Sources. Each price carries the currency the page showed.

At a glance

FeatureThe Ranking FactorySemrush
What it doesAsks ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek the questions buyers ask and reads Google's AI Overviews as a separate surface. Where the answers name competitors instead of the business, it writes the missing evidence from the business's own material, publishes it on the business's own site once that is connected, and measures again.Semrush One combines its SEO and AI Visibility toolkits in one subscription; a standalone AI Visibility Toolkit is also sold.
Entry price, as shown 29 Sep 2026Starter $49 a month, Growth $129, Agency $249, Enterprise $499 (US dollars). Annual plans are ten months for twelve. AI queries run on your own AI keys, and Google AI Overview checks on your own DataForSEO credit (default budget $10 a month on Starter).Standalone AI Visibility Toolkit: £80.22 a month per domain on the pricing page as shown to a UK connection, the same on its monthly toggle; its help page says $99 a month; 25 prompts. Semrush One Starter: £161.25 a month billed monthly, £133.84 on annual billing, 50 prompts; the help page lists Semrush One from $199 a month.
Engines covered3 of 6 engines per run: ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek, whichever you connect on your own keys, plus Google AI Overviews as a separate surface. Google's own AI Overview and AI Mode impressions can be imported from a Search Console export.Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini across its AI Visibility reports; the reports cover different subsets. Claude, Copilot, Grok and DeepSeek are not listed as tracked platforms on the pages read.
Publishes content for youYes. Pages written from the business's own material go to its own site once connected (WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Ghost or a signed webhook), with Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Blogger as supporting pieces and a video on its own YouTube channel. Publishing is on by default; review-before-publishing is a setting.In other toolkits. The Content Toolkit (a separate subscription) writes full articles and can send them to your CMS; the Local Toolkit's GBP AI Agent generates and publishes Google Business Profile posts.
Agent access (MCP)Read and write on every plan, the trial included. Writes stay off until you tick a box; five write tools, capped at 30 writes an hour, every attempt audited.MCP access is included in Semrush One and SEO Classic plans. Its MCP page describes keyword, competitor, traffic, backlink and ad data and your own projects; AI-visibility data through MCP is not stated.
Trial14 days on the Growth monthly plan. Card details are taken at sign-up and nothing is charged for 14 days; then $129 a month unless you cancel. The free site check needs no account, card or AI keys.7-day free trial on the SEO, Starter and Pro+ plans; none on the standalone AI Visibility Toolkit. A Free plan ($0, no credit card) has limited AI Visibility features.
Who it is forAgencies, consultants and in-house teams.Teams that want SEO and AI visibility in one subscription; its FAQ points small agencies to the SEO, Starter or Pro+ plans.

Sources: Semrush's Semrush One pricing page, AI Visibility pricing page, help page and MCP page, read 29 Sep 2026; The Ranking Factory's pricing page, in US dollars.

Where Semrush is stronger

  • One subscription. Semrush One puts SEO tools (keywords, rank tracking, site audit and backlinks) and AI visibility in one plan (pricing page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory is a GEO platform with SEO and GEO audits and rank and indexation tracking, and it buys no keyword-volume database.
  • How answers are collected. Semrush says its prompt responses are captured from real requests rather than through LLM APIs (help page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory's scores come from the engines' APIs.
  • Location coverage. Prompt Tracking covers 220+ countries and territories, and Brand Performance lists more than 68,000 location options (help page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory states no country count.
  • Search demand. Prompt Research shows topic-level volume, difficulty and intent (help page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory estimates no search volume.
  • Writing in the same account. The Content Toolkit, a separate subscription, writes full articles and can send them to your CMS, and the Local Toolkit's GBP AI Agent generates and publishes Google Business Profile posts (help page, 29 Sep 2026).
  • Free plan and trial. A Free plan ($0, no credit card), and a 7-day trial on the SEO, Starter and Pro+ plans (pricing page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory has no free plan; its Growth monthly plan starts with a 14-day trial.
  • Agency reporting. Semrush sells a white-label report add-on (Pro Report, £16.21 a month) and a listing on its Agency Partners platform (Lead Generation add-on, £72.93 a month) (pricing page, 29 Sep 2026).

Where The Ranking Factory differs

  • Engines. Semrush's pages list Google AI Overviews, AI Mode, ChatGPT, Perplexity and Gemini, and do not list Claude, Grok, DeepSeek or Copilot as tracked platforms (help page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory covers ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity, Claude, Grok and DeepSeek on your own keys and reads Google AI Overviews separately.
  • Price basis. Semrush prices AI visibility by prompts and domains inside SEO subscriptions (pricing pages, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory is a flat plan in US dollars; the engines run on your own AI keys, and Google AI Overview checks on your own DataForSEO credit. For scale, on our own account in September 2026 a weekly run of 10 questions on two or three engines with live search cost $0.55 on average and $1.09 at most, about $2.40 a month per project; writing costs extra and varies with how much is written.
  • Ranges and sample sizes. Semrush's help pages describe a 0 to 100 AI Visibility Score and do not describe ranges or sample sizes (help page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory reports every rate with a 95% range and the number of prompt-and-engine pairs behind it.
  • Content basis. Semrush describes its Content Toolkit as powered by AI and real-time Semrush data, and the pages read state no rule limiting claims to the customer's own material. The Ranking Factory's writers use only the business's own pages, videos and statements and sources they have read.
  • Where writing sits. Semrush's Content Toolkit is a separate subscription. The Ranking Factory's Evidence Engine is in every plan: on demand on Starter, and every 6, 4 or 3 hours on Growth, Agency and Enterprise.
  • MCP scope. Semrush's MCP page describes SEO data and does not state AI-visibility data (MCP page, 29 Sep 2026). The Ranking Factory's MCP exposes visibility runs, gaps, cited sources and published evidence, and can start work when you allow writes.

From our own account, read on 20 September 2026: 32% → 84% of Gemini’s live-search answers cited therankingfactory.com — 6 of 19 on 15 August 2026, 16 of 19 on 24 August 2026, nine days apart on the same model and the same prompt set. In the same 24 August run OpenAI’s live search cited us in 64% of answers (16 of 25) and Perplexity in 40% (10 of 25). Some prompts carry our name, and the run says which. (Home page, "Measured on ourselves".)

Which to choose

  • Choose Semrush if you need SEO tools and AI visibility on one bill, wide location coverage, a free plan to start with, or writing in the same account.
  • Choose The Ranking Factory if AI visibility is the job and you want the gaps closed with pages written from your own material and published on your own site.
  • Choose The Ranking Factory if you want Claude, Grok or DeepSeek answers measured, which Semrush's pages do not list.
  • Not sure yet? The free site check reads one web address and needs no account, card or AI keys.

Sources