I'm a fan of both tools, but there are core differences worth highlighting.
Semrush launched AIO tracking on September 3rd and Ahrefs on October 7th – with the Ahrefs database still fully populating.
Here are the main differences from my POV and what I like best about AIO tracking within each:
*Semrush*
• Device type
Within Semrush, you're able to toggle by desktop/mobile to see AIO inclusions. On mobile, you generally see less compared to desktop. AIOs on mobile appear quite differently (in terms of showing the link for a source), so I'd expect CTR to be lower. It's helpful to see this insight in Semrush. Ahrefs has device filtering, but I believe this is constrained to search volume.
• SERP screenshots
This feature is a major standout for Semrush in general. For every keyword in their database, they keep screenshots of SERPs for ~30 days. So I'm able to see what the actual search results look like for an AIO. This can be extremely helpful.
• Speed of release
It is commendable how quickly Semrush released AIO tracking in their toolset. They probably have the most extensive set of features being tracked in their Organic Research report out of any tool, being a key point of difference for them.
• AIO traffic value
When filtering by a feature, they have a traffic value metric assigned for that traffic. For instance, the overall value metric for Investopedia for AIOs on desktop in the US is $2.6M, being a helpful figure to share with clients. Ahrefs has a similar metric, but I don't believe you can get this to show when filtering by specific features.
*Ahrefs*
• Country comparison
While both tools have the ability to filter features by country, I quite like how I can click on the locations list in Ahrefs and very quickly see AIO traffic for all locations and specifically what it shows for others. e.g. I can see at a glance that NZ has AIOs appearing for Investopedia.
• Ranking in the AIO itself
Being different to the SERP screenshots tool for Semrush, all the data is stored in Ahrefs for each of the data points more intricately. So much so that you can see where your website appears in the top 3 results of the AIO itself. You can technically do this with Semrush, but it requires viewing the screenshot.
• Position assignment
Ahrefs assigns the AIO as position 1 within their dataset, whereas Semrush currently shows it without a position assigned. I suspect Semrush will have reasoning behind this due to managing historical performance, but I do like the Ahrefs approach considering standard AIOs do appear at the top.
• Specific date comparisons
Within Ahrefs, you can select very specific dates and see how AIOs have changed. I'm a big fan of this feature, especially when completing product grid analysis for eCommerce stores.
Note: if either tool thinks something isn't correct in this comparison, please feel free to comment with a screenshot showing otherwise and I'll revise.
This post was originally shared by Brodie Clark on Linkedin.