SE Ranking vs Surfer
as AI assistants see them, week of 2026-09-14
SE Ranking currently outscores Surfer across every assistant, 30 to 12 overall, and shows up far more often too: 41 of 76 answers versus 21 of 76. ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity all rank SE Ranking higher. SE Ranking is named in all 4 answers for value-for-money, rank tracking, agency use, all-in-one platforms, and free/low-cost tools, while never appearing for technical audits or ecommerce SEO. Surfer, on the other hand, sweeps all 4 answers for blog post optimization, general "best SEO tools" questions, professional software, and 2026 top-tool lists, but never shows up for keyword research or value-for-money questions. Head-to-head, SE Ranking leads on 12 questions, Surfer on 4, with 4 tied.
Head to head
| metric | SE Ranking | Surfer |
|---|---|---|
| score | 30 | 12 |
| questions won | 15 | 8 |
By assistant
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 |
Surfer
| assistant | score | named in, this week | usual spot, this week |
|---|---|---|---|
| ChatGPT | 11 | 21% of answers | #7.5 |
| Claude | 14 | 35% of answers | #15.6 |
| Gemini | 14 | 29% of answers | #8.2 |
| Perplexity | 16 | 25% of answers | #4.6 |
Where they differ
Only SE Ranking gets named for
- Which SEO tool gives the most value for the money?
- What's the best SEO tool for an agency managing lots of clients?
- What's the best rank tracker for monitoring my Google positions every day?
- What SEO tools should a beginner start with?
- Which tool is best for seeing what keywords my competitors rank for?
- What's the best SEO tool for a solo founder with no SEO experience?
- What's the best tool to track whether my brand shows up in AI answers like ChatGPT?
- What's the best tool for keyword research?
- Which tool is best for backlink analysis and finding link building opportunities?
Only Surfer gets named for
- What tool should I use to optimize blog posts so they rank?
- What's the best SEO tool for a Shopify or ecommerce store?
More comparisons
- Screaming Frog vs SE Ranking
- Google Analytics vs SE Ranking
- Google Keyword Planner vs SE Ranking
- Mangools vs SE Ranking
- Mangools vs Surfer
- Moz vs Surfer
Not sold on either?
Scores count how often each assistant names a product, weighted by position. How the score works · Full SEO tools leaderboard