What we measured ·
Study data: 50 ChatGPT answers to SEO tool questions
Method: 25 SEO tool prompts sent twice each to ChatGPT (model gpt-5.4-mini, web search on, US) through DataForSEO's LLM responses API on 22 October 2026 (UTC). We recorded brand names in the answer text from a fixed list of 70 tools and every cited URL.
Semrush appeared in 35 of 50 answers and Ahrefs in 31; the next most named were Surfer in 13, Google Search Console in 11, and Clearscope in 9.
Every answer cited sources, 3.7 URLs on average, and vendor-owned domains dominated: semrush.com was cited in 24 answers, ahrefs.com in 17, and help.ahrefs.com in 7.
For the same prompt, the two runs shared on average only 50 percent of the brands named, and SerionFlow was named in none of the 50 answers.
| Brand | Answers naming it | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Semrush | 35 | 70% |
| Ahrefs | 31 | 62% |
| Surfer | 13 | 26% |
| Google Search Console | 11 | 22% |
| Clearscope | 9 | 18% |
| Frase | 8 | 16% |
| MarketMuse | 8 | 16% |
The prompts
We wrote 25 prompts reflecting real buyer questions in the SEO tool market: best AI SEO tools, best AEO tools, tools to track AI visibility, alternatives to Surfer, Semrush, and Frase, rank trackers, technical audit tools, reporting tools for agencies, internal linking tools, schema generators, programmatic SEO tools for SaaS, and similar. Each was sent twice through the same model with web search enabled, so differences between runs reflect ChatGPT's normal variability.
The most cited domains
Counts are the number of answers citing each domain at least once.
| Domain | Answers citing it |
|---|---|
| semrush.com | 24 |
| ahrefs.com | 17 |
| help.ahrefs.com | 7 |
| webflow.com | 5 |
| techradar.com | 4 |
| support.google.com | 4 |
| developers.google.com | 4 |
| frase.io, agencyanalytics.com, marketmuse.com, sitebulb.com, screamingfrog.co.uk | 3 each |
Vendor pages carry the answers
Unlike Google AI Overviews in our separate study, where YouTube and guides dominated, ChatGPT's citations leaned heavily on vendors' own product and help pages. That fits what its background searches showed: many used site: operators to look up official pages for specific tools. For a software company, this means the product, pricing, and documentation pages on your own domain are likely to be read directly when ChatGPT considers recommending you, so they must state capabilities and limits precisely.
Incumbents dominate category answers
Semrush and Ahrefs were named in most answers regardless of the specific question, including questions about AEO tools and AI visibility, where newer specialists exist. Specialists such as Profound (5 answers), Peec AI (3), and Otterly.AI (2) appeared almost only when the prompt was about AI visibility tracking, AEO, or GEO. Smaller and newer tools, including SerionFlow, were absent. Being named seems to require broad, repeated association with the category across many sources, which takes time to build.
Variability between runs
Asking the same question twice produced overlapping but different shortlists: on average half of the brands named in one run were also named in the other. Anyone judging AI visibility from a single question asked once is reading noise. Measure with a fixed prompt set, several runs per prompt, and report rates over time.
Limitations
We used one model through an API with web search, not the consumer ChatGPT app, which adds memory, personalisation, and possibly different defaults. Brand detection used a fixed list, so tools outside it were not counted. Two runs per prompt is a small sample. The prompt set reflects our market. SerionFlow is not a ChatGPT tracker; dedicated AI visibility tools run far more prompts and engines.
Clear answers
Frequently asked questions
Which SEO tools does ChatGPT recommend most?
+
In our 50-answer sample, Semrush and Ahrefs were named far more than any other tool, followed by Surfer, Google Search Console, and Clearscope.
Does ChatGPT give the same recommendations every time?
+
No. Two runs of the same prompt shared on average only half of the brands named in our study.
About the author
Shadrack Kumi · Founder, SerionFlow
Shadrack builds SerionFlow's site research, page generation, and Search Console tooling, and runs the free tools these guides pair with. Search Console figures cited on these pages come from serionflow.com's own property.
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