Clearscope vs Frase AI: Which content optimization tool is right for you?

Trying to get your content to rank is a whole new ballgame these days. It’s not just about pleasing Google anymore. Now, we have to think about AI answer engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity, which are quickly becoming the go-to for a lot of people. This new world is all about both SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and AEO (Answer Engine Optimization).

Two of the biggest names trying to solve this puzzle are Clearscope and Frase AI. Both are prominent in the content optimization space, but they approach the problem from different angles. If you're trying to figure out which one is the right fit for your team, you’ve come to the right place. This guide will break down everything you need to know, from features and pricing to who each tool is really built for.

And while these tools are great for helping you optimize your content, there's another approach worth considering. Tools like the eesel AI blog writer are designed to handle the entire process for you, taking you from a single keyword to a fully written, publish-ready post in minutes. But we'll get to that in a bit.

What is Clearscope?

Think of Clearscope as a specialist. It’s a premium content optimization tool built to help your content get found on Google and in AI search results. The platform is all about writing, optimizing, and then tracking your content's visibility over time.

So, how does it work? Clearscope uses advanced AI and natural language processing (NLP) to scan the top-ranking content for your target keyword. It then gives you a list of recommended terms, a target word count, and a content grade to aim for. Its grading system (A++, A+, etc.) is trusted by many big-name content teams and has become an industry standard.

One of its biggest strengths is its ability to help you protect existing traffic. It monitors your published content and lets you know when it’s time for a refresh. Because of its deep focus on optimization and its premium price tag, Clearscope is usually the go-to for established content teams, large enterprises, and SEO pros who need a powerful, specialized tool.

What is Frase AI?

If Clearscope is the specialist, Frase AI is an all-in-one platform. It’s a content intelligence platform that rolls research, writing, and optimization into a single workflow. It's designed to help you rank in traditional search (SEO) and get cited by generative AI engines (what they call GEO, or Generative Engine Optimization).

Frase AI starts by analyzing the top search results to automatically generate incredibly detailed content briefs and outlines. It pulls in headings, questions from Google's "People Also Ask" sections, and even insights from Reddit and Quora to save you hours of manual research.

Its standout feature is a dual-scoring system. As you write, you get real-time feedback on both your SEO score and your GEO score, which is designed to help your content get cited by AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. With its end-to-end approach and more accessible pricing, Frase AI is a great fit for content marketers, agencies, and small to medium-sized businesses that want one tool to handle the entire content lifecycle.

A detailed feature comparison: Clearscope vs Frase AI

Both Clearscope and Frase AI aim to help your content rank higher, but they get there with different features and philosophies. Let's break down where each platform shines.

Content research and brief creation

• Clearscope's approach: Clearscope is all about deep, data-driven analysis. Its Topic Explorations tool helps you find relevant keywords and questions people are actually searching for. The platform shines by providing super precise term recommendations that guide human writers, giving them the building blocks to create a comprehensive piece. It doesn't hand you a full brief on a silver platter; instead, it gives you the high-quality data you need to build your own strategy.

• Frase AI's approach: Frase AI is built for speed and automation. In just a few seconds, it analyzes the top 20 Google results for your keyword and auto-generates a detailed content brief. This isn't just a list of keywords; it’s a full outline complete with headings, questions, and external sources. It’s a massive time-saver for teams that need to pump out a lot of content briefs quickly.

• Verdict: Frase AI is well-suited for generating structured briefs quickly. For teams with expert writers who prefer to build their own strategy using granular data, Clearscope’s detailed analysis is a strong option.

Content editor and optimization

• Clearscope's editor: The Clearscope editor is known for its simplicity and its authoritative content grading. It gives you instant feedback on how well your content covers a topic, and its seamless integrations with Google Docs and WordPress mean your writers can optimize content right where they're already working. That A++ grade is a powerful motivator.

• Frase AI's editor: Frase AI’s editor brings a unique twist with its dual-scoring system. As you write, you see both a real-time SEO score for Google and a GEO score for AI engines. It provides specific recommendations on everything from structure and readability to topic coverage, all geared toward making your content more "citable" for AI platforms like Perplexity.

• Verdict: Both tools are effective. Clearscope's grading system is highly regarded by enterprise teams for SEO. Frase AI's dual SEO and GEO scoring is a key advantage for teams targeting visibility in AI answer engines.

AI writing capabilities

• Clearscope's AI assistant: Clearscope includes an AI assistant designed to help writers speed up their first draft and get past writer's block. It’s built to augment the human writer, not replace them. Think of it as a smart assistant that can help you expand on ideas or rephrase sentences.

• Frase AI's article writer: Frase AI takes it a step further. It offers a full AI article writer that can generate a research-backed, 2,000-word article from just a keyword in about 10 minutes. This is a core part of its value proposition and a huge plus for teams looking to scale content production.

• Verdict: For teams looking to generate full drafts with AI, Frase AI’s features are more directly aligned with this goal. Clearscope’s AI is designed as a tool to assist human writers, consistent with its focus on optimization and strategy.

AI search and visibility tracking

• Clearscope: Clearscope helps you track your content's visibility across both Google and AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini. Its "Tracked Topics" feature gives you insight into where your brand is showing up and what sources the large language models (LLMs) are using to craft their answers, which is the core of Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

• Frase AI: Frase AI offers a dedicated AI Search Tracking dashboard. Depending on your plan, it can monitor your content’s visibility across five major AI platforms: ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, and Google AI. This lets you spot visibility gaps and see which prompts your competitors are owning.

• Verdict: Both platforms address AI search. Frase AI offers tracking across a wider range of AI platforms, which may be beneficial for teams requiring granular GEO strategy data.

Pricing breakdown: A look at Clearscope vs Frase AI

Pricing is often the deciding factor, and these two tools are positioned for different budgets. Here’s how their plans and costs stack up.

Clearscope pricing

• Essentials Plan: Starts at $129 per month. This gets you 1 user seat, 20 AI Drafts, and 20 Topic Explorations.
• Business Plan: Jumps up to $399 per month for more credits, more content inventory pages, and a dedicated account manager to help you get the most out of the tool.
• Analysis: Clearscope is a premium, specialized tool. Its pricing reflects the high-quality data and deep analysis it provides, making it a fit for teams that view content optimization as a critical business investment.

Frase AI pricing

• Starter Plan: Starts at an affordable $39 per month when you pay annually. This includes 1 user and lets you optimize 10 articles per month.
• Professional Plan: Starts at $103 per month (billed annually). This plan bumps you up to 3 users, 40 articles, and AI visibility tracking on 3 different platforms.
• Analysis: Frase AI is a budget-friendly, all-in-one solution. Its tiered plans make it easy for growing teams to scale, and its flexibility is a huge plus for businesses that want a powerful tool without the enterprise-level price tag.

Feature	Frase AI	Clearscope
Starting Price	$39/month (billed annually)	$129/month
Core Focus	End-to-end SEO + GEO Workflow	Premium Content Optimization
AI Writing	Full Article Generation	AI-Assisted Drafting
AI Tracking	Up to 5 platforms	2 platforms (Google & AI Chatbots)
Target Audience	SMBs, Agencies, Content Teams	Enterprises, SEO Specialists

The alternative: Full automation with the eesel AI blog writer

An alternative to assisted content creation is full automation. The eesel AI blog writer is a tool designed for this purpose, aiming to handle the writing process from start to finish.

While Clearscope and Frase AI give you the tools to optimize content, the eesel AI blog writer generates a complete, publish-ready blog post from a single keyword. It’s made for teams whose main goal is to scale up their content production without sacrificing quality.

Here’s what makes it different:

• Automatic Assets: It doesn't just give you a wall of text. It actually creates and embeds relevant images, infographics, and data tables right into the post.
• Social Proof and Media: To make the content feel more authentic and human, it automatically finds and embeds relevant YouTube videos and real quotes from Reddit discussions on your topic.
• Context-Aware Research: The AI is smart. It knows to pull pricing data for comparison articles or technical specs for reviews, ensuring the content is deeply researched and genuinely helpful.
• Built for AEO: The content is structured from the ground up to rank in AI answer engines like Google AI Overviews and Perplexity.

We used the eesel AI blog writer to grow our own blog from 700 to 750,000 impressions per day in just 3 months. The best part? It’s completely free to try, so you can see the quality for yourself without any commitment.

Final verdict on Clearscope vs Frase AI: When to choose which tool

So, which tool is right for you? It really comes down to your team's specific needs, budget, and goals. Here’s a simple breakdown to help you decide.

Choose Clearscope if...

• You're an enterprise or a specialized SEO team with a healthy budget to invest.
  

  There’s no single best tool. AI works best when each tool has a job. ChatGPT or Claude for outlines and drafts. Surfer or Clearscope for on-page coverage. Frase for FAQs and question targeting. The real lift comes from editing hard and tightening answers.

  Reddit

* Your primary need is best-in-class optimization guidance and content grading for your team of expert human writers. * You want robust content monitoring and analytics to protect your existing traffic.

Choose Frase AI if...

• You're a small-to-medium-sized business, agency, or content team looking for an affordable, all-in-one solution.
• You want to automate the research and brief creation process and use strong AI assistance for writing full drafts.
• Your content strategy explicitly involves optimizing for and tracking visibility on AI platforms (GEO).

Use the eesel AI blog writer if...

• Your main goal is to rapidly scale high-quality content production.
• You want to go from a keyword to a complete, asset-rich, and publish-ready blog post in a matter of minutes.
• You're ready to automate the entire content workflow, not just assist parts of it.

Choosing the right tool

Ultimately, the choice depends on your team's needs. Clearscope is a specialized tool providing in-depth optimization data for writers. Frase AI is an all-in-one platform that streamlines the content workflow with a focus on AI search. The eesel AI blog writer offers a full automation solution for teams looking to produce content at scale.

For a more in-depth visual comparison, check out this detailed video breakdown that explores how tools like Clearscope and Frase AI stack up against other players in the SEO content optimization space.

This video offers an honest SEO review of tools like Surfer, Frase, Clearscope, and MarketMuse.

The right choice depends on whether you want to assist your writers, streamline their workflow, or automate the writing process altogether. As the demand for quality content continues to explode, leveraging automation is becoming less of a luxury and more of a strategic necessity.

Ready to see what full automation can do for you? Generate your first complete blog post for free with the eesel AI blog writer and see the difference for yourself.