Ahrefs vs SE Ranking
as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-09-14
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 | 64 | 30 |
| questions won | 19 | 15 |
By assistant
Ahrefs
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 70 | 95% of answers | #3.4 |
| Claude | 64 | 90% of answers | #3.7 |
| Gemini | 68 | 94% of answers | #3.5 |
| Perplexity | 56 | 75% of answers | #3.2 |
SE Ranking
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 32 | 58% of answers | #6.5 |
| Claude | 26 | 55% of answers | #8.2 |
| Gemini | 36 | 53% of answers | #4.2 |
| Perplexity | 30 | 50% of answers | #5.6 |
Where they differ
Only Ahrefs gets named for
- Which SEO tools have the most accurate data?
- What's the best SEO tool for a Shopify or ecommerce store?
- 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
nothing exclusive
More comparisons
- Ahrefs vs Semrush
- Ahrefs vs Google Search Console
- Ahrefs vs Screaming Frog
- Ahrefs vs Google Analytics
- Screaming Frog vs SE Ranking
- Google Analytics vs SE Ranking
Not sold on either?
Scores count how often each assistant names a product, weighted by position. How the score works · Full SEO tools leaderboard