Ahrefs vs SE Ranking

as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-10-12

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Ahrefs clearly leads AI assistants' SEO picks, scoring 64 overall against SE Ranking's 30, with Claude (64 vs 26) and Perplexity (56 vs 30) both showing wide gaps. Ahrefs gets named in 67 of 76 answers, well ahead of SE Ranking's 41 of 76, and wins more often head-to-head too, 12 questions to 3, with 5 ties. Ahrefs sweeps for keyword research, data accuracy, all-in-one platforms, beginner tools, and free options, each 4 of 4. SE Ranking matches that 4 of 4 for value-for-money, rank tracking, agency use, all-in-one platforms, and free tools, but goes unnamed for accurate data and technical audits.

Head to head

metric	Ahrefs	SE Ranking
score	62	28
questions won	23	18

By assistant

Ahrefs

assistant	score	named in, this week	usual spot, this week
ChatGPT	70	85% of answers	#2.6
Claude	62	90% of answers	#4.3
Gemini	not sampled this week
Perplexity	54	70% of answers	#3.5

SE Ranking

assistant	score	named in, this week	usual spot, this week
ChatGPT	30	40% of answers	#4.0
Claude	29	65% of answers	#8.2
Gemini	not sampled this week
Perplexity	25	35% of answers	#5.9

Where they differ

Only Ahrefs gets named for

What's the best tool for keyword research?
Which tool is best for backlink analysis and finding link building opportunities?
What are the best alternatives to SE Ranking?
What's the best SEO tool for a solo founder with no SEO experience?
What's the best tool to run a technical SEO audit of my website?
What tool should I use to optimize blog posts so they rank?

Only SE Ranking gets named for

What are the best alternatives to Ahrefs?

More comparisons

Not sold on either?

Scores count how often each assistant names a product, weighted by position. How the score works · Full SEO tools leaderboard