Gane Index
All indexesEvery index and its categoriesGTMMarketing, sales, customer and revenue operations softwareITSecurity, IT operations, cloud, developer and data softwareHRHR, payroll, recruiting, performance and learning softwareFinanceAccounting, planning, spend, billing and treasury software
Claim your listing
September 2026 Edition, expanded tier · The six flagship models on every category, as published . The public index runs on the standard tier; this record is what the Expanded Edition Pack delivers on one category. The category page →
Index › GTM › Marketing › SEO · September 2026 Edition

SEO and content optimization platforms

Asked as “SEO and content optimization platform”, and as “SEO content optimization tool”, on behalf of a mid-market B2B software company. 30 first choices recorded across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, six models each.

Gane, the publisher, sells software in this category. Every product here is measured by the same method as in every other category. How the conflict is handled.

Standing · first-choice share
30%
Semrush
Contested · Clearscope 17%
30Semrush17Clearscope10SE Ranking43others

30% of first choices, contested.

ShowinginAll 112 categories in the September 2026 Edition →

The standing

Share is the count of first choices across the direct, paraphrase, budget and scale prompts, over all six models, for a mid-market B2B software company. Ordered by share.
ProductFirst-choice shareNegative rateLabelsQuadrantSince September 2026
01Semrush30%21%28endorsed leadernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 30% now.
02Clearscope17%12%24accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 17% now.
03Surfer SEO7%19%26accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 7% now.
04Conductor7%17%12accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 7% now.
05Ahrefs3%18%22accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 3% now.
06Frase3%13%15accepted challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 3% now.
07MarketMuse3%26%19criticized challengernewNew since September 2026: not ranked then, 3% now.

The floor is 12 points of share, measured: how far the models move a leader on their own when the same questions are asked twice with nothing changed. A larger change is movement; a smaller one can't be told apart from repeat variation, and both are shown. Each index measures its own floor from its own repeat, over its own categories, so the floor differs from one index to the next. How the floor is measured

Bars are the share of first choices, 0 to 100Every product with at least 10 labels here. Every product name links to its product page.
Head to head
Semrush vs ClearscopeSemrush vs Surfer SEOSemrush vs Conductor
All twenty-one head-to-head pages: the top seven products, each against each
Semrush vs AhrefsSemrush vs FraseSemrush vs MarketMuseClearscope vs Surfer SEOClearscope vs ConductorClearscope vs AhrefsClearscope vs FraseClearscope vs MarketMuseSurfer SEO vs ConductorSurfer SEO vs AhrefsSurfer SEO vs FraseSurfer SEO vs MarketMuseConductor vs AhrefsConductor vs FraseConductor vs MarketMuseAhrefs vs FraseAhrefs vs MarketMuseFrase vs MarketMuse

Recommended versus criticized

Every product with at least 10 labels here, on both axes. The 30% line names a quadrant, not the verdict above: that one needs more than 40%.

Criticized challengerCriticized default
Negative label rate →
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
Accepted challengerEndorsed leader
0%First-choice share → · lines at 30% share and 25% negative50%
Key
01Semrush30%
02Clearscope17%
03Surfer SEO7%
04Conductor7%
05Ahrefs3%
06Frase3%
07MarketMuse3%

What they warned about

Zero of six models held their first choice under the paraphrase. Claude Opus 5, Claude Opus 4.8, GPT-6 Astra, GPT-5.6 Sol, Gemini 3.1 Pro and Perplexity Sonar Pro changed. A high negative share on a product with few labels is a warning. A low share on a product with many labels is salience, not sentiment.
MarketMuse
26%
5 of 19 labels negative · 4 of 6 models
“Content scoring tools (Surfer SEO, MarketMuse, Frase, Clearscope, etc.) are real products, but the failure mode is well documented” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Semrush
21%
6 of 28 labels negative · 4 of 6 models
“its full SEO Toolkit starts at $139.95 monthly, making it difficult to justify for most budget-constrained companies” GPT-5.6 Sol, budget prompt
Surfer SEO
19%
5 of 26 labels negative · 4 of 6 models
“Surfer's AI writing is limited to its own tool and isn't a replacement for a dedicated generation platform” Claude Opus 5, negative prompt
Ahrefs
18%
4 of 22 labels negative · 3 of 6 models
“dropping $130+ a month on premium platforms like Ahrefs, Semrush, or Clearscope often isn't feasible” Gemini 3.1 Pro, budget prompt

What they cite

Six of the six models returned a source list in this edition: six return the pages they cited.

Sites the answers cite

29 of 36 answers in this category came back with a source list, from 6 of 6 models: citations where the model returns them, or the search results it consulted. 523 links across 285 sites, every framing counted. Ranked by the number of answers carrying the site or page. None of the 36 answers across every segment cited this index's own page for the category.

semrush.com
vendor site · Semrush14 answers · 14 citations · 5 models
clearscope.io
vendor site · Clearscope11 answers · 14 citations · 4 models
surferseo.com
vendor site · Surfer SEO9 answers · 10 citations · 5 models
onelittleweb.com
8 answers · 10 citations · 3 models
searchatlas.com
vendor site · Search Atlas7 answers · 8 citations · 3 models
seoclarity.net
vendor site · seoClarity6 answers · 7 citations · 4 models
conductor.com
vendor site · Conductor6 answers · 6 citations · 2 models
frase.io
vendor site · Frase6 answers · 6 citations · 3 models
blog.hubspot.com
vendor site · HubSpot5 answers · 6 citations · 3 models
ahrefs.com
vendor site · Ahrefs5 answers · 5 citations · 2 models
marketmuse.com
vendor site · MarketMuse5 answers · 5 citations · 2 models
seranking.com
vendor site · SE Ranking5 answers · 5 citations · 4 models

Pages the answers cite

The ten pages named in the most answers, by full address. A page here is one the models returned with a recommendation, not one the index endorses.

clearscope.io/pricing
5 answers · 2 models
semrush.com/kb/1547-seo-toolkit-pricing-and-plans
5 answers · 2 models
conbersa.ai/learn/seo-content-optimization-comparison
4 answers · 2 models
genesysgrowth.com/blog/surfer-seo-vs-clearscope-vs-marketmuse
4 answers · 2 models
growthmarketingpro.com/clearscope-vs-frase-vs-marketmuse-vs-surfer-seo
4 answers · 2 models
onelittleweb.com/top-tools/best-seo-content-optimization-tools
4 answers · 2 models
aeoengine.ai/blog/best-saas-seo-tools
3 answers · 2 models
ahrefs.com/pricing
3 answers · 2 models
aiagentsquare.com/compare/surfer-vs-clearscope-vs-marketmuse
3 answers · 2 models
brightedge.com/products
3 answers · 2 models

Search against answers

Each company's standing in the answers beside its site's footprint in Google search, one row a site: the products the models named on it with their shares, and the share they add up to; monthly searches on Google, and DataForSEO's estimate of AI search demand (modeled from search signals, directional, not a count of queries to any assistant), for the most-searched of the company's and its products' names (the name is in each row's hover text); estimated monthly organic visits to the site; and its best position in Google's top ten for “best seo and content optimization platform”, “seo and content optimization platform”. US estimates from DataForSEO and Google's Ads Transparency Center. A small company's site, or a mid-sized company's site for its flagship, is marked company; a product on a large parent's site (Google, Microsoft) has no site figures. A column with no figures for this category is left out, and an empty cell means none were seen, not none exist. Two measurements side by side: neither is read as the cause of the other.
Company and productsShareOwn site citedName searches, GoogleAI search demand, est.Organic visitsPaid search a month, est.Google ads, last 30 daysBest Google position
Semrush semrush.com30%31690,5002,0552,885,637$1,727103
Clearscope clearscope.io17%147880165,7370
SE Ranking seranking.com10%888,100207309,691$2,63250
Surfer SEO surferseo.com7%1695,40014699,288221
Conductor conductor.com7%13449,50026,95645,843308
seoClarity seoclarity.net7%57720912,039$1947
Ahrefs ahrefs.com3%24449,5001,3381,260,839$44130
Frase frase.io3%936,600100,4608,8827
MarketMuse marketmuse.com3%888801698,619
BrightEdge brightedge.com3%774,40018027,2182

Google's top ten for the two searches hold 16 sites; 4 of them are among the sites the models cited here (blog.hubspot.com, conductor.com, seoclarity.net, surferseo.com). The first result for “best seo and content optimization platform” is reddit.com.

How they answered

Six framings of the same buying question, each sent to every model in a fresh session with search on. One row per model, so a row shows whether it held its answer under rewording, what it named when cost was the constraint, and what it argued against. Computed from the raw judge labels.
ShowHide
ModelDirect“What is the best SEO and content optimization platform for a mid-market B2B software company?”Paraphrase“Which SEO content optimization tool would you recommend to a mid-sized B2B software company?”Comparative“What are the top SEO and content optimization platforms and how do they differ?”Budget-constrained“What is the best SEO and content optimization platform for a company with a limited budget?”Scale-constrained“We are a 500 person company evaluating an SEO and content optimization platform. What should we look at?”Negative“Which SEO and content optimization platforms should I avoid or be cautious about?”
Claude Opus 5Semrush
Six alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Peec AI, Profound, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog
against: Conductor, Surfer SEO, seoClarityClearscopeChanged
Three alternativesAhrefs, Semrush, Surfer SEO
against: MarketMuseAhrefs, Semrush
Six alternativesClearscope, Google Search Console, MarketMuse, Moz, SE Ranking, Surfer SEO
SE Ranking
Three alternativesGoogle Search Console, Mangools, NeuronWriter
against: Ahrefs, Keysearch, Moz, Semrush, Serpstatno first choiceagainst: Clearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Moz, SEO PowerSuite, Surfer SEO, Ubersuggest
Claude Opus 4.8Ahrefs, Semrush
Two alternativesClearscope, Surfer SEO
against: MarketMuseClearscope, Surfer SEOChanged
Three alternativesFrase, MarketMuse, Semrush
Ahrefs, Semrush
Five alternativesClearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, Moz, Surfer SEO
Mangools, Ubersuggest
Three alternativesGoogle Search Console, Rank Math, Screaming Frog
against: Surfer SEOno first choicenothing named
GPT-6 AstraSemrush
Two alternativesClearscope, Conductor
ClearscopeChanged
Two alternativesMarketMuse, Surfer SEO
Ahrefs, Semrush
Six alternativesClearscope, Conductor, Frase, MarketMuse, SE Ranking, Surfer SEO
NeuronWriter
Two alternativesFrase, Google Search Console
against: SemrushConductor, Semrush, seoClarity
Two alternativesBrightEdge, Surfer SEO
against: Ahrefs, Semrush, Surfer SEO
GPT-5.6 SolSemrush
Three alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Conductor
ClearscopeChanged
Three alternativesMarketMuse, Semrush, Surfer SEO
Ahrefs, Semrush
Nine alternativesBrightEdge, Clearscope, Conductor, Frase, MarketMuse, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog, Surfer SEO, seoClarity
Frase
Three alternativesGoogle Analytics 4, Google Search Console, Ubersuggest
against: SemrushBrightEdge, Conductor, Semrush, seoClarity
Four alternativesAhrefs, Botify, Lumar, MarketMuse
against: Clearscope, Frase, MarketMuse, PageOptimizer Pro, Rank Math, Scalenut, Semrush, Surfer SEO, Yoast SEO
Gemini 3.1 ProMarketMuse, Semrush
Three alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Conductor
ClearscopeChanged
Three alternativesFrase, MarketMuse, Surfer SEO
Clearscope, Surfer SEO
Three alternativesFrase, MarketMuse, Semrush
SE Ranking
Six alternativesAhrefs, Frase, Google Search Console, Mangools, NeuronWriter, Ubersuggest
against: Ahrefs, Clearscope, MarketMuse, Semrushno first choice
Six alternativesBrightEdge, Clearscope, Conductor, MarketMuse, Semrush, seoClarity
against: Ahrefsagainst: Article Forge, BrightEdge, ChimpRewriter, Conductor, GSA Search Engine Ranker, Money Robot, SEO Autopilot, SEO PowerSuite, Spinbot, Ubersuggest, WordAi, XRumer
Perplexity Sonar ProSemrush
Three alternativesClearscope, Screaming Frog, Surfer SEO
Semrush, Surfer SEOChanged
One alternativeClearscope
Semrush
Six alternativesAhrefs, Clearscope, Google Search Console, SE Ranking, Screaming Frog, Surfer SEO
SE Ranking
Two alternativesFrase, Rank Math
no first choicenothing named
Bold is the first choiceAlternatives are counted; the count opens them.What the answer argued against

The record

One row per call: the version string exactly as returned, whether the model searched, sources cited, and latency.
Thirty-six rows: every prompt, every model, every answer.
PromptModelVersion stringTime (UTC)SearchedSourcesLatency
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:03yes3692 s
Direct recommendationClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:04yes3065 s
Direct recommendationGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:08yes433 s
Direct recommendationGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:09yes534 s
Direct recommendationGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:07no0175 s
Direct recommendationPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:04yes2013 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:09yes2054 s
ParaphraseClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:10no021 s
ParaphraseGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:11yes425 s
ParaphraseGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:12yes442 s
ParaphraseGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:11no029 s
ParaphrasePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:10yes205 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:13yes2460 s
ComparativeClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:14yes3466 s
ComparativeGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:15yes945 s
ComparativeGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:17yes1193 s
ComparativeGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:15no031 s
ComparativePerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:14yes1910 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:18yes2251 s
Budget constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:19yes3765 s
Budget constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:20yes425 s
Budget constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:21yes344 s
Budget constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:19no025 s
Budget constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:19yes207 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:22yes3891 s
Scale constrainedClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:23no023 s
Scale constrainedGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:24yes545 s
Scale constrainedGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:25yes1277 s
Scale constrainedGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:23no031 s
Scale constrainedPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:23yes208 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 5claude-opus-52026-09-08 11:27yes4262 s
Negative framingClaude Opus 4.8claude-opus-4-82026-09-08 11:27yes3950 s
Negative framingGPT-6 Astragpt-6-astra2026-09-08 11:29yes545 s
Negative framingGPT-5.6 Solgpt-5.6-sol2026-09-08 11:30yes1261 s
Negative framingGemini 3.1 Progemini-3.1-pro-preview2026-09-08 11:28yes541 s
Negative framingPerplexity Sonar Prosonar-pro2026-09-08 11:28yes197 s

Noise floor in this category

Flips between the edition run and its calibration repeat. Six prompts per model is a small sample; the index-wide floor is the number to trust.

ShowHide
Claude Opus 5
0 of 4 flipped
Claude Opus 4.8
2 of 4 flipped
GPT-6 Astra
1 of 5 flipped
GPT-5.6 Sol
2 of 5 flipped
Gemini 3.1 Pro
4 of 5 flipped
Perplexity Sonar Pro
2 of 4 flipped

Normalization in this category

Every judgment call made between the raw labels and the numbers above, listed so it is visible and reversible.

ShowHide
Category-scoped readings
None. Every name in this category resolved on its own.
Unresolved, counted raw
None awaiting human review.
Discontinued, still offered
No shut-down product was recommended here.

Also in marketing

The other categories of this function, with the leader in each.
← Paid adsSMS & WhatsApp →