Frase AI vs Semrush: A practical guide for content and SEO teams

If you're in digital marketing, you've probably felt the challenge of managing multiple tools. It's a cycle of evaluating, purchasing, and learning new platforms instead of focusing on content creation. The goal is not to accumulate tools but to find the right ones that solve specific problems and improve your workflow. This guide provides a straightforward comparison of two major names in the content and SEO world: Frase AI and Semrush.

These two platforms approach the problem from different angles. Frase AI is a specialized tool designed to help you create and optimize content for both traditional search engines (SEO) and newer AI answer engines (AEO). Semrush, on the other hand, is a comprehensive, all-in-one digital marketing suite. It offers an extensive toolkit covering everything from content and SEO to PPC and market research.

However, while both tools are effective for research and analysis, they stop just before the most time-consuming part: writing the actual article. That is where a different kind of tool becomes relevant. An AI content generation platform like the eesel AI blog writer is built to bridge the gap between research and a finished, publish-ready blog post, turning analysis into action.

A different approach: The eesel AI blog writer

Instead of functioning as a research assistant or a simple drafter, the eesel AI blog writer is an AI content generation platform with one primary job: to take a single keyword and turn it into a complete, well-researched, and SEO-optimized blog post in minutes.

This is the exact tool we used to grow the eesel AI blog from 700 to 750,000 daily impressions in just three months by publishing over 1,000 optimized articles. The focus is on execution and seeing tangible results, not just analyzing data.

Here’s what makes it different:

• Automatic assets: It creates relevant images, infographics, and data tables directly inside the article. This saves hours of searching for stock photos or briefing a designer.
• Authentic social proof: The platform finds and includes relevant YouTube videos and insightful quotes from real people on Reddit. This adds a layer of credibility and a human touch that generic AI content cannot match.
• AEO optimization: As search volume is predicted to change with the rise of AI-powered search, optimizing for answer engines is important. eesel AI structures content to perform well in Google AI Overviews, ChatGPT, and Perplexity.
• Context-aware research: Simply add your website URL, and the tool learns your brand voice and context. This helps it create natural product mentions and maintain a consistent tone without requiring constant guidance.

The best way to see what it can do is to try it. It’s completely free to get started, so you can generate your first high-quality blog post and see the results for yourself.

An overview of Frase AI

Frase AI was designed with a specific focus on streamlining content creation. It is focused on helping you produce content that not only ranks on traditional search engines but also gets cited and featured by AI platforms like ChatGPT and Perplexity. This dual focus is called Generative Engine Optimization, or GEO.

Key features of Frase AI

• Dual optimization scoring: As you write, Frase AI gives you two real-time scores: one for traditional SEO and another for GEO. This offers clear, actionable guidance on how your content is performing for both Google search and AI answer engines.
• AI-powered research and briefs: The platform analyzes the top-ranking SERP results for your target keyword to generate a full content brief and a structured outline. This entire process takes minutes, not hours of manual work.
• Question research: It automatically pulls questions users are asking from sources like Google's "People Also Ask," Reddit, and Quora. This helps you create content that directly answers what people want to know.
• AI Search Tracking: This feature monitors your brand's visibility and share of voice across major AI platforms for specific prompts you want to track.

Frase AI pros and cons

• Pros:
  • It's excellent at creating data-driven content briefs quickly, saving content teams significant research time.
  • The dual SEO and GEO scoring system is forward-thinking, providing clear guidance for optimizing content for the future of search.
  • The interface is built for speed and simplicity, making it accessible for content creators who are not technical SEO experts.
• Cons:
  • Frase AI is not a technical SEO tool. It lacks features like site audits, backlink analysis, or crawlability checks that are necessary for overall website health.
  • Some users have mentioned that following its optimization suggestions too closely can make content feel less readable.
    

    I’ve scaled back on using these tools. They’re fine for keyword ideas or spotting gaps, but I’ve found they often make the content feel stiff and less enjoyable to read. I think readability and context seem way more important than stuffing in exact phrases or following a strict optimization checklist. But I don’t completely ignore them, sometimes I glance at competitor data or topic coverage to make sure I’m not missing something obvious.

    Reddit
  • The platform does not offer phone or live chat support, which could be a limitation for teams that require immediate assistance.

Frase AI pricing

Frase AI has a few subscription tiers, with a discount available for annual payment.

• Starter: Begins at $38/month (billed annually) for 1 user and 15 content projects.
• Professional: Begins at $98/month (billed annually) for 3 users and 75 content projects.
• Scale: Begins at $195/month (billed annually) and includes AI Search Tracking for 250 prompts.

All plans come with a free trial. This information is based on Frase's official pricing page.

An overview of Semrush

Semrush is a comprehensive suite of toolkits designed to cover nearly every aspect of online visibility, from SEO and PPC to social media management and competitive market research.

Key features of Semrush

• SEO toolkit: This is a central part of Semrush, offering powerful keyword research from a database of over 25 billion keywords, detailed backlink analysis, rank tracking, and in-depth technical site audits.
• Content Marketing Platform: This module provides topic research tools, an SEO Content Template for creating briefs, and the SEO Writing Assistant, which offers real-time optimization tips as you write.
• AI Visibility toolkit: A newer module designed to analyze how large language models (LLMs) mention your brand in their answers. It helps you track your brand's and competitors' visibility in AI-powered search.
• Additional toolkits: Semrush also has specialized tools for advertising (PPC keyword research and ad tracking), social media scheduling and analytics, and local SEO tasks like managing your Google Business Profile.

Semrush pros and cons

• Pros:
  • It’s a true all-in-one solution that can replace several specialized tools, potentially simplifying your team's tech stack.
  • Its massive database of keywords and backlinks provides powerful data for deep competitive analysis and strategy.
  • The platform has strong reporting capabilities and user management features, making it a good choice for agencies and larger marketing teams.
• Cons:
  • The sheer number of features can be overwhelming for beginners or teams focused solely on content creation.
  • The starting price is significantly higher than specialized content tools like Frase AI.
  • Some key features, like the full Content Marketing Platform or the AI Visibility toolkit, are often part of more expensive plans or require separate add-on subscriptions.

Semrush pricing

Semrush uses a modular subscription model but also groups its tools into plans.

• Semrush One (Starter): Starts at $165.17/month (billed annually), bundling core SEO and AI Visibility tools.
• Semrush One (Pro+): Starts at $248.17/month (billed annually), offering higher limits and access to historical data.
• Semrush One (Advanced): Starts at $455.67/month (billed annually), which includes API access and more capacity.

A free account with limited use is also available.

Frase AI vs Semrush: A detailed comparison

Deciding between Frase AI and Semrush comes down to your team's primary goals, budget, and current workflow. They are both powerful platforms, but they are built to solve different problems.

SEO capabilities

Semrush is a leader in technical and off-page SEO. Its Site Audit tool can crawl your entire website to find technical issues like broken links, slow page speed, and indexing problems. It is excellent for domain-level competitive research and backlink analysis, drawing from a massive database of over 43 trillion backlinks.

Frase AI, in contrast, is not a technical SEO tool. Its focus is entirely on on-page and content-level optimization. It helps you create content that aligns with what is already ranking in search results but does not offer site audits, crawlability checks, or deep backlink analytics.

Content optimization

This is the core of Frase AI's functionality. The entire platform is built around a workflow for optimizing content for both traditional search and AI engines. It features a unique dual SEO and GEO scoring system to guide writers, and its automated brief generation is a key part of its value.

Semrush offers a solid SEO Writing Assistant that gives real-time feedback on readability, SEO, tone of voice, and originality. However, it's just one feature within a much larger platform. For many, it can feel more like an add-on than the primary purpose of the tool.

AI visibility and GEO

Frase AI integrates Generative Engine Optimization (GEO) directly into its writing workflow. From the moment you start a document, every piece of content is scored for its potential to be cited and featured by AI platforms. It's a proactive approach to content creation.

Semrush addresses AI search through its separate AI Visibility Toolkit. This tool is focused on tracking and analysis, monitoring brand mentions and competitor performance in AI responses. It is more of a reactive analytics tool than an integrated feature that guides content creation from the start.

Frase AI vs Semrush: Choosing the right tool

The decision between Frase AI and Semrush should be based on your specific role and objectives. Here are a few scenarios to help you decide.

You will likely prefer Frase AI if: your main goal is to scale the production of high-quality, optimized content. You need a fast and efficient way to create data-driven briefs for your writers and want a tool that guides the writing process for both Google and AI answer engines. It's a great choice for content-focused teams, writers, and editors who need to streamline their research and optimization workflow.

You will likely choose Semrush if: you need a full digital marketing platform that does more than just content. Your responsibilities include technical site audits, backlink building campaigns, PPC analysis, and multi-channel market research. It's built for SEO professionals, full-service marketing agencies, and in-house teams that manage the entire spectrum of online visibility.

You should consider an alternative like eesel AI if: your goal is execution, not just research and optimization. If your biggest bottleneck is the time it takes to write, edit, and format content, then a content generation platform is a more direct solution. If you want to go straight from a keyword to a complete, well-researched, and SEO-optimized blog post with all assets included, then the eesel AI blog writer offers a more efficient path to a finished product.

For a hands-on look at how these tools can be used together in a real-world content workflow, the video below demonstrates how to optimize blog content using Frase, Semrush, and other AI writers to improve search engine rankings.

This video demonstrates how to optimize blog content using Frase, Semrush, and other AI writers to improve search engine rankings.

Beyond analysis: Using a content generation platform

Ultimately, the Frase AI vs Semrush discussion highlights two different philosophies. Frase AI is a specialist tool created to perfect the content optimization workflow. Semrush is a powerful, all-in-one suite for managing all aspects of digital marketing.

However, while both platforms provide valuable data and guidance, they still leave the most time-consuming task to you: actually writing the content. They help you determine what to write, but you still have to do the writing.

For teams focused on scaling high-quality content output, the eesel AI blog writer offers a more direct path from insight to publication. It takes the research that tools like Frase AI and Semrush help you gather and turns it into a complete, publish-ready article, with visuals, social proof, and proper formatting included.

Ready to turn keywords into complete articles? Try the eesel AI blog writer for free.