Alvaro Peña de Luna 
Semrush is a powerful all-in-one marketing suite, but its breadth comes with a premium price and a learning curve. As more discovery moves into AI answers, teams increasingly look for a Semrush alternative that either costs less or covers a gap the suite does not: measuring how their brand appears across large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Google AI.
This guide compares the main Semrush alternatives by price and strengths, with a focus on AI search tracking.
Why look for a Semrush alternative
- Price. Semrush's entry SEO plan costs €134 a month (October 2026), and costs rise quickly with extra users and add-ons.
- Complexity. The platform is broad. If you only need rank tracking or AI visibility, much of it goes unused.
- AI search coverage. Semrush has added AI features, but tracking how AI engines mention and recommend your brand is not its core strength, and that is where search is heading.
What to look for in an alternative
- Core data that matches your work: keywords, content, or rank tracking.
- Pricing that scales without steep per-seat costs.
- AI search visibility, so you can measure AI visibility, AI brand sentiment, and share of voice across engines.
- Reporting your team or clients will actually use.
The best Semrush alternatives in 2026
1. Mencoro
Focused on the gap the suites leave open: AI search visibility. Mencoro tracks mention rate, sentiment, and share of voice across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overview, and Google AI Mode, plus classic SERP rank tracking and competitor analysis. Pricing starts well below a full marketing suite because it does one layer deeply rather than everything at once.
2. Ahrefs
The other premium suite, strongest on backlinks and clean data. Similar entry price (Lite, €119 a month in October 2026), so it is an alternative on preference rather than cost. Compared in our Ahrefs alternatives guide.
3. SE Ranking
A cheaper suite (Core, €109 a month in October 2026) that covers rank tracking, keywords, and white-label reporting. A strong fit for agencies. See SE Ranking alternatives.
4. Serpstat
An affordable all-in-one (Individual, $50 a month in October 2026) with keywords, backlinks, and rank tracking. A solid middle option for teams that want broad features without premium pricing.
5. Mangools
The lightweight, low-cost choice ($49 a month, or $29.90 billed yearly, in October 2026). Easy to use for keyword research and rank tracking on smaller sites.
Price and focus at a glance
| Tool | Entry price (approx, 2026) | Best for | AI search tracking |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mencoro | from 15 EUR/mo | AI visibility + rank tracking | Yes |
| Semrush | €134/mo | All-in-one marketing | Limited |
| Ahrefs | €119/mo | Backlinks, keywords | Limited |
| SE Ranking | €109/mo | Agencies, reporting | Limited |
| Serpstat | $50/mo | Affordable all-in-one | No |
| Mangools | $29.90/mo (yearly) | Small sites, budget | No |
Entry prices are approximate for 2026 and change often. Check current plans before deciding.
Which alternative should you choose?
If you want a full suite and Semrush is too expensive, Serpstat and SE Ranking give you most of the core for less. If you live in keyword and backlink data, Ahrefs is the natural switch. If your real gap is knowing whether AI engines recommend your brand, the smart move is to add a dedicated AI visibility tool rather than pay for a second full suite. Our guide to the best AI visibility tools in 2026 compares the options side by side.
To understand the metrics behind AI search, read our guide to GEO metrics, or see how Mencoro approaches competitor analysis across both organic and AI results.
Which tool to choose for your case
Before it recommends a tool, ChatGPT asks who it is for, what you want to measure, your budget, the engines and the market. These are its options, in its words, with the tools we would compare for each one. Where another tool fits better, it comes first.
What's your main goal?
| If you need | Start comparing | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Whether ChatGPT recommends my business or brand | Mencoro, Peec AI, Otterly.AI | Yes. Mencoro records every brand an answer names and classifies each mention into one of five types, from a direct recommendation to a passing reference, with its position in the answer and a 0 to 100 favorability score. You see whether ChatGPT recommends you, not only whether it names you. |
| Monitor competitors and share of voice | Mencoro, Peec AI, Profound | Yes. Add as many competitors as you want, each with its names and domains. Share of voice is weighted by the quality of each mention, and every answer lists the brands the AI names that you do not track yet, so a new rival shows up before it takes the category. |
| Whether my website gets cited in ChatGPT answers | Mencoro, Profound, Ahrefs Brand Radar | Yes. Every answer is stored with its sources. For ChatGPT they include the pages its web search retrieved even when the text does not cite them, which is where you find the sites that shape the answer. Mencoro shows how often your domain is cited and which of your pages. |
| Monitor sentiment and incorrect brand information | Mencoro, Peec AI | Yes. Every mention of your brand gets a favorability score and the full answer text is saved, so you can read exactly what ChatGPT says about your prices or features and catch a wrong claim. |
| Keyword rankings and AI search visibility for SEO | Mencoro, Semrush, Ahrefs | Yes. The same project tracks your Google top 10 for keywords next to AI Overview and AI Mode for the same searches, so you see when you rank and the AI answer still names someone else. |
| Build an automated monitoring dashboard or API | Mencoro, Profound | Yes. Everything in the app is in the REST API, with an OpenAPI contract, and in an MCP server for Claude, ChatGPT and other assistants, so your own dashboard reads the data with no CSV exports. |
| Track AI bots crawling my website and technical access | Mencoro free tools | Yes, for free. The AI crawler checker tells you which AI bots your robots.txt lets in, the log file analyzer shows which ones actually visited, and the AI crawler index lists every bot with a way to verify it is real. |
| Get my brand recommended by ChatGPT and other AI tools | Mencoro with Growwer, Scrunch, AthenaHQ | Partly. Mencoro tells you what to fix: the prompts where competitors appear and you do not, and the sites the AI cites in those answers. The fix is content and mentions on those sites. Growwer, from the same company, places articles on the media that AI engines cite. |
| Offer AI visibility reporting to clients | Mencoro, Peec AI, Semrush | Yes. Each client is its own project and sees only its data, and the white label puts your brand on the dashboards, report exports and emails. Projects are unlimited on every plan, so a new client costs only its checks. |
| Measure AI-driven traffic and conversions | Google Analytics 4, Mencoro | No. Mencoro measures whether and how AI names and cites you, not the visits that follow. ChatGPT visits arrive in Google Analytics 4 tagged utm_source=chatgpt.com, so measure traffic and revenue there and use Mencoro to explain why it moves. |
| Generate and optimize content | Writesonic, AirOps, Surfer | No. Mencoro does not write or rewrite content. It tells you which prompts you are missing and which pages the AI cites for them, which is the brief; a content tool does the writing. |
| Negative mentions, reviews, social media, and PR issues | Brand24 | No. Mencoro reads AI answers, not social networks, reviews or news. For social listening and PR alerts use a tool such as Brand24, and keep Mencoro for what ChatGPT and Google's AI say about you. |
What's your monthly budget?
| If you need | Start comparing | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Free | Mencoro free tools, Ahrefs AI Visibility Checker, HubSpot AEO Grader | Partly. Mencoro has no free plan; the cheapest one is €15 a month. Its free tools need no sign-up: the AI visibility checker asks ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity three buyer questions about your category, and there are free checkers for ChatGPT, Perplexity and AI Overviews. A one-off check is a snapshot, not a trend. |
| Under $30/month | Mencoro, Otterly.AI | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €15 (200 checks), €29 (400 checks). €29 tracks 20 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| Under $50/month | Mencoro, Otterly.AI | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €15 (200 checks), €29 (400 checks), €49 (1,000 checks). €49 tracks 50 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| $30–$100/month | Mencoro, Otterly.AI, Peec AI | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €29 (400 checks), €49 (1,000 checks), €79 (2,000 checks), €99 (3,000 checks). €99 tracks 150 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| Under $100/month | Mencoro, Otterly.AI, Peec AI | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €15 (200 checks), €29 (400 checks), €49 (1,000 checks), €79 (2,000 checks), €99 (3,000 checks). €99 tracks 150 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| $50–$150/month | Mencoro, Peec AI | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €79 (2,000 checks), €99 (3,000 checks), €162 (5,000 checks). €162 tracks 250 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| $100–$300/month | Mencoro, Peec AI, Semrush | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €162 (5,000 checks). €162 tracks 250 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| $100–$500/month | Mencoro, Peec AI, Profound | Yes. Mencoro plans in that range: €162 (5,000 checks), €319 (10,000 checks). €319 tracks 500 prompts on five engines every week, with every feature included. |
| $500+/month | Mencoro Enterprise, Profound | Yes. The largest plan is €799 a month for 25,000 checks, 1,250 prompts on five engines every week, and Enterprise adds custom volume and a dedicated account manager. At this budget, compare it with the enterprise platforms on depth of analysis, not on price. |
Which AI platforms matter most?
| If you need | Start comparing | Why |
|---|---|---|
| All major AI engines, including Perplexity, Gemini, and Claude | Mencoro, Peec AI | Almost. Mencoro tracks ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, Google search and Google Shopping. It does not track the Gemini app or Copilot; Google's AI Overview and AI Mode, which run on Gemini models, are covered. The free AI visibility checker does ask Gemini for a one-off check. |
| ChatGPT only | Mencoro, Otterly.AI, Profound | Yes. ChatGPT is asked with web search on, as a user gets it, and its sources are saved. With ChatGPT alone the €15 plan covers 50 prompts checked every week. See the ChatGPT rank tracker. |
| ChatGPT and Perplexity | Mencoro, Otterly.AI, Peec AI | Yes. Both run on the same prompts and countries, and each answer keeps its sources, so you compare which sites each engine trusts. |
| ChatGPT and Google AI Overviews / AI Mode | Mencoro, Semrush, Peec AI | Yes. ChatGPT, Perplexity, Google AI Overview and AI Mode run on the same prompts, and Google search can be added for the same keywords. AI Mode is not available in France or Cuba. |
| Google AI Overviews and AI Mode | Mencoro, Semrush, Ahrefs | Yes. Mencoro tracks AI Overview and AI Mode separately, because they often cite different sources, next to the classic top 10 for the same search. Google shows an AI Overview only for some searches, and the check records when there is none. See the AI Overview tracker. |
| ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude | Mencoro, Peec AI | Partly: ChatGPT, Claude and Perplexity yes, the Gemini app no. Claude answers come from Anthropic's API with web search, in 36 countries, and each Claude pass counts as five checks. See the Claude rank tracker. If Gemini is a must, also look at Peec AI. |
| Not sure yet | Mencoro, Otterly.AI | Start with Mencoro's defaults: ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overview, AI Mode and Google search. After a month, drop the engines where your buyers are not. |
Every option answered in full: who Mencoro is for.
Which alternatives to Semrush for AI tracking does AI name?
We asked ChatGPT, Google AI Mode and Google’s AI Overview 3 versions of this question in the United States: 8 answers, collected on November 2, 2026. The table gives the share of answers that name each tool. It is measured data, independent of the list on this page.
| Tool | All answers | ChatGPT | AI Mode | AI Overview |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs | 87.5% | 100% | 66.7% | 100% |
| Otterly.AI | 87.5% | 100% | 66.7% | 100% |
| Peec AI | 87.5% | 100% | 66.7% | 100% |
| Profound | 87.5% | 100% | 66.7% | 100% |
| SE Ranking | 75% | 66.7% | 66.7% | 100% |
| AthenaHQ | 37.5% | 66.7% | 0% | 50% |
| Scrunch AI | 37.5% | 100% | 0% | 0% |
| Similarweb | 37.5% | 0% | 100% | 0% |
| Moz | 25% | 0% | 33.3% | 50% |
| ZipTie | 25% | 0% | 66.7% | 0% |
Questions asked: «Semrush alternatives for llm tracking», «alternatives to Semrush for tracking brand mentions in chatgpt», «tools like Semrush for ai search visibility». Source: Mencoro (November 2026, answers collected through DataForSEO), in Which AI visibility tools does AI recommend?
