Who Knows About These AI Tools?
Ryan Darani
(Note: There are no affiliate links in this article. All reviews are my own).
AI has impacted every industry. SEO is no exception.
As a nearly two-decade veteran of SEO, I’ve seen this industry adapt quicker in the last three years than in the preceding fifteen.
I’m lucky enough to work with many great people in this space. Some of whom own AI tools specifically designed for SEO. This gives me the distinct advantage of testing tools before I bring them into my workflow.
In this article, I’ll share my hands-on opinions of the five best AI SEO tools in 2024 I’ve tried (so far).
SEO-Stack.io is like having a Google engineer in your back pocket. That’s not an exaggeration.
Designed and developed by Daniel Foley Carter over three years, SEO Stack is incredibly powerful.
It was officially released in July 2024, but I got hands-on in May 2024.
With subscriptions starting from £49.00 for three websites, it’s one of the more affordable AI SEO tools I’ve used (especially for the features).
Features:
- Google Search Console without any data limitations.
- Google algorithm tracking (and predictions).
- Automatic URL tracking based on updates.
- Fully custom annotations to track what’s happening with the site.
- Click gaps and click trends for performance issues.
- AI content auditing (and content grading, which is AMAZING).
- Limits the blindness of SEO tasks.
I’m doing a disservice to SEO Stack, but the feature list is huge. It’s an SEO tool I’d recommend to anyone.
With pre-built LLMs and AI models to help with title rewrites, page analysing, and reporting, the basics of AI have been taken to a new level.
Pros of SEO Stack:SEO Stack has an offer for July: all plans are 50% off their full price (forever).
- It has 10+ tools pre-built within the system designed to simplify data analysis and SEO testing.
- The cost. For what you get out of the box, I don’t think any other tool matches the price.
- The SEO Stack academy. Daniel has invested tens of hours into walking people through specific use cases for SEO within SEO Stack.
- Familiar interface (it’s been designed to replicate GSC).
- A long list of upcoming features.
- A genuine focus on ranking organic traffic.
- Without training, the tool can feel very complicated. It has a steeper learning curve than other tools I’ve used, but that comes down to the UI.
- Basic reporting and functionality have been ignored in V1 to cater for the more advanced SEO crowd. I know these functions will be coming but, it would’ve been nice to see them in the launch.
- There are some minor bugs with exporting data.
SurferSEO started as a content optimization tool in 2017. With serious SEO OGs as investors (the likes of Matthew Diggity, undoubtedly one of my favourite SEOs).
SurferSEO has grown significantly since its inception. Evolving into a platform that leverages AI to help with every facet of SEO:
- Topical map and keyword research.
- Content editing and humanising.
- Auto-optimising (which is by far my favourite feature).
- AI-generated content outlines and briefs.
I’ve been using Surfer since 2018–2019, so I’d consider myself one of the longer-standing users. I can confidently say that the features being added by the guys at Surfer are insane value for money.
Subscriptions start at $89.00 per month, which is definitely pricier. But given the investment they’ve made in the design, the AI integrations, and the newer releases, I’d say it’s worth it.
Pros of SurferSEO:- The content editor is my jam. It’s powerful and easy to use. It provides real-time suggestions to improve content relevance using Google’s NLP (natural language processing) API.
- SERP Analyzer and the Audit Tool provide in-depth analysis, helping SEOs understand and leverage ranking factors.
- Integrates well with other tools like Google Docs and WordPress, streamlining my workflow.
- Despite its advanced features, SurferSEO is relatively easy to navigate and use (this is one of the biggest wins IMO).
- While the tool offers great value, the price can be a barrier for smaller businesses or individual SEOs. It certainly put me off in the past when I was starting.
- Costs vs. output. The outputs are fantastic. But, similar to Ahrefs, I sometimes struggle to justify the price for the limited output.
Frase.io is an SEO tool close to my heart. I was introduced to Frase some years ago.
It’s one of those tools that isn’t really under the radar, if that makes any sense.
Tomas Ratia and his team developed Frase, which has rapidly gained popularity since its launch in 2018.
Similar to SurferSEO, Frase started as a content optimization tool but has quickly progressed into a fan-favourite with SEOs globally for its list of AI features:
- Real-time SERP research using AI.
- Content outline generation and briefs.
- Integrated AI writer that uses real-time data.
- Keyword research.
- Really helpful content optimization suggestions.
With subscriptions starting from $14.99 per month for individuals and $114.99 per month for teams, Frase.io is priced competitively, given its robust feature set.
Some of my favourite features:- Heatmap of topics included in my content (vs. in my competitors). This is so effin’ useful for a visual guy like me.
- The content decay and content group reports are actually really great. I’m not sure how well-known these features are, but they’ve helped me spot new content opportunities and gaps at scale.
- It’s collaborative for people outside of SEO. I’ve brought Frase into teams of writers, and it’s become one of the most used content AI tools in the business.
- Frase is brilliant, but I wish they had more to offer. Other AI content tools have progressed so much in the last 12 months, whereas Frase feels there is some catching up.
On-page.ai is another tool that deserves way more recognition than it currently does.
Designed and developed by Eric Lancheres, this tool took content optimization and the use of AI content to another level before anybody else.
Again, I’ve used On-Page.ai for two years, and the features added genuinely impact rankings. Which is why we’re all here, right? It’s easy to navigate, fast, and powerful.
Pricing has jumped up since I started using it from $99 to now $129. But, even with this price increase, the subscription is more than worth it.
I love it because:
- It leverages similar technology as Google. Most other tools don’t use Google APIs, whereas I’m sure Eric does with his algorithms.
- There’s a huge focus on entities and secondary keywords, which means fewer people end up stuffing their page with pointless words just to hit a number.
- There’s a normal and max mode for content optimization. Max mode is designed to push the boundaries of optimisation, i.e., we’re going to the moon. Normal mode is less about money keywords and more so for supporting content (IMO).
- I don’t like the content editor interface. It feels dated compared to Surfer or Frase.
- This might just be me, but when I’ve shut down content editor drafts before, I lose all of my work. Again, this could be my mistake, but it’s happened a lot.
- The price increase for their AI Stealth Writer tool is significant which could put off beginner SEOs or those who are short on cash.
Finally, we have Spindrift. A newcomer on the block but that doesn’t make it any less impressive than the other four AI tools on my list.
SEO strategies are often convoluted with irrelevant (and complicated) suggestions. Spindrift makes content optimization suggestions that make sense.
Because it uses Google Search Console data. For content creation and content optimization, I think the speed and efficiency of Spindrift make it a huge contented in 2024 for SEO tools powered by AI.
It can help SEOs with:
- Your keyword strategy (both new content and existing).
- Hugely actionable insights that are very easy to understand and implement.
- Content ideas that you (or your content team) can deploy right away.
- Perfect for all website owners with any range of experience.
The price point is digestible for most SEOS. The starter subscription starts at just $9.99 and is more than enough for those of you with only one website to monitor and optimize for.
My final thoughtsThere has never been a better time to become an SEO or to see SEO success. With AI powering every aspect of this industry from technical SEO to link building, it would be stupid for you to ignore it.
I don’t advocate for using AI solely as your way of influencing search engine rankings but it should be a huge consideration for your workflow in 2024 and beyond.