If someone at work told you to “check it in Semrush” and you nodded along, this is for you. Here’s what Semrush is, what people use it for, and how it gets its numbers, in plain English.
Last updated: 26 October 2026 · By Alan Spicer, YouTube Certified Expert
Part of the Semrush series.
Semrush is a website you log in to that tells you what people search for on Google, which websites win those searches, and how to win more of them yourself. Everything else it does grows out of that idea.
Why listen to me? I’ve been a YouTube Certified Expert since 2017, spent 2020–2021 on the vidIQ customer success team, and have been self-employed for 20 years running my own content sites. I explain marketing tools to business owners for a living, without the jargon.
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⚡ QUICK ANSWER: What is Semrush?
Semrush is an online SEO and marketing platform. It shows what people search for on Google, which websites rank for those searches, how much traffic competitors get, and what’s holding your own site back. Marketers use it for keyword research, competitor analysis, site audits, rank tracking and AI search visibility.
What is Semrush in simple terms?
Semrush is a subscription website that collects search data from Google and AI tools and turns it into reports you can act on. You type in a keyword and it tells you how many people search for it and how hard it is to rank. You type in a website and it tells you which searches that site ranks for and roughly how much traffic it gets.
SEO, short for search engine optimisation, is the work of making your website show up higher in Google’s free results. Semrush is an SEO tool first, but it also covers content writing, local listings, social media, paid ads, digital PR and, since 2025, how often AI assistants such as ChatGPT mention your brand.
Semrush was founded in 2008 and became a public company before Adobe bought it. Adobe completed the deal on 28 April 2026, so Semrush now calls itself “an Adobe company”. You still use it at semrush.com with a Semrush login.
What is Semrush used for?
Semrush is used for six main jobs, and most small businesses only need the first four.
| Job | What Semrush shows you | Main tool |
|---|---|---|
| Keyword research | What people search, how often, and how hard it is to rank | Keyword Magic Tool |
| Competitor analysis | Which keywords and pages bring competitors their traffic | Organic Research, Keyword Gap |
| Site audits | Technical problems stopping your pages from ranking | Site Audit |
| Rank tracking | Where your pages rank each day | Position Tracking |
| Backlink research | Which websites link to you and to competitors | Backlink Analytics |
| AI visibility | How ChatGPT, Gemini, Perplexity and Google’s AI features mention your brand | AI Visibility toolkit, Semrush One |
In digital marketing teams, Semrush often sits next to Google Search Console and Google Analytics. Search Console and Analytics show what’s happening on your own site. Semrush shows the wider market: what people search that you don’t rank for yet, and what your competitors are doing.
28B
keywords
43T
backlinks
808M
domain profiles
142
country databases
How does Semrush work and where does its data come from?
Semrush works by collecting search results at huge scale and estimating everything else from them. It checks which pages rank for billions of keywords across 142 country databases, crawls the web for links, and combines that with clickstream and third-party data to estimate search volumes and traffic.
Rankings are the most reliable part, because Semrush sees the actual search results. Traffic numbers for other websites are estimates: Semrush multiplies each keyword’s search volume by the click rate for that position and adds it up. Use them to compare sites and spot trends, not as exact visitor counts. For your own site, connect Google Search Console and compare.
Semrush also builds its own scores. The best known is Authority Score, a 0 to 100 grade of a website’s overall quality based on its backlinks, organic traffic and spam signals. It’s a Semrush metric, not something Google uses, but it’s a quick way to size up a site.
Who uses Semrush?
Semrush is used by in-house marketers, SEO agencies, freelancers, bloggers, affiliate site owners, ecommerce stores and local businesses. Big brands use it at enterprise level, while solo business owners usually stick to the SEO plan.
I’d recommend it to anyone whose income depends on website traffic. If your business lives on YouTube with no website, Semrush is less useful, because its data is built around Google web search. For YouTube-specific keyword research, my guide to the best YouTube SEO tools is the better starting point.
Got the data but no plan?
Semrush will hand you hundreds of keywords. I’ll help you pick the handful that can bring in customers this quarter.
- You don’t know which keywords to target first
- Competitors outrank you and you don’t know why
- You want your website and YouTube channel working together
Is Semrush free?
Semrush has a free account and a 7-day free trial of its paid plans. The free account has no time limit but only allows 10 reports a day, 1 project and 10 tracked keywords. The trial gives you full access to a paid plan for 7 days, and you can cancel before you’re charged.
Semrush also runs free single-purpose tools on its website, such as a website traffic checker, a keyword tool, a backlink checker and an AI visibility checker. They’re handy for a one-off look. My Semrush free trial guide explains how to get the most from the 7 days.
Affiliate link: if you start a trial or subscribe through it, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. The trial lasts 7 days and you can cancel before it ends.
How much does Semrush cost?
Semrush’s SEO plan costs $139 a month, Semrush One Starter $199 and Pro+ $299, with about 17% off if you pay yearly. Advanced is custom-priced for large teams. Separate toolkits for content, local, social, ads, traffic and digital PR are sold on their own.
| Plan | Monthly price | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Free | $0 | 10 reports a day, 1 project |
| SEO | $139 | Full SEO tools, 5 websites, 500 tracked keywords |
| Semrush One Starter | $199 | SEO plus AI visibility tracking |
| Pro+ | $299 | 15 websites, 1,500 keywords, historical data, content tools |
| Advanced | Custom | 40+ websites, API, share of voice |
Source: Semrush pricing page, checked 20 October 2026. US dollars; VAT may apply in the UK.
If you’ve seen Semrush Pro, Guru and Business mentioned elsewhere, those are the old plan names. Their limits now sit on SEO, Pro+ and Advanced.
How do you learn to use Semrush?
You learn Semrush fastest by using five reports on your own website rather than watching every tutorial. My honest view is that it’s a great tool and very easy to understand once you’ve opened the main reports a few times.
Learn Semrush in five sessions
- Run Site Audit on your website and read the top three issues.
- Put your main topic into the Keyword Magic Tool and filter for keyword difficulty under 30.
- Type your biggest competitor into Domain Overview and look at their top pages.
- Use Keyword Gap to compare your site with two competitors.
- Set up Position Tracking for 20 keywords and check it each week.
Semrush Academy has free video courses on each tool if you want more depth. For your own site’s real numbers, pair Semrush with Google Search Console, which my Search Console guide covers.
People also ask
What does Semrush stand for?
Semrush started as SEMrush, from SEM, short for search engine marketing. The company now writes it as Semrush and uses the name on its own rather than as an acronym.
Is Semrush owned by Google?
No. Semrush is independent of Google and is now owned by Adobe, which completed its purchase in April 2026. Semrush’s data is collected from search results rather than supplied by Google.
What is SemrushBot?
SemrushBot is the crawler Semrush uses to scan the web and build its backlink and site data. It’s a normal search-marketing crawler, and you can manage it through your robots.txt file like other bots.
Is Semrush a good tool?
Yes. Semrush is one of the two leading all-in-one SEO tools, alongside Ahrefs. It’s easy to learn and covers SEO and AI search in one place; price is the main drawback.
Frequently asked questions
What is Semrush used for in digital marketing?
In digital marketing, Semrush is used to plan content around real searches, study competitors, fix technical SEO problems, track rankings, research paid search keywords and monitor how AI assistants mention a brand.
Is Semrush only for SEO?
No. SEO is the core, but Semrush also sells toolkits for content writing, local listings, social media, paid ads, website traffic research and digital PR, plus AI visibility tracking.
Do I need Semrush if I have Google Search Console?
Search Console shows your own site’s real data for free. Semrush adds what Search Console can’t: keywords you don’t rank for yet, competitor research, daily rank tracking and deeper audits.
Is Semrush hard to learn?
Not really. Every report uses the same layout of a search bar, headline numbers and a filterable table. Most people are comfortable with the main reports within a week.
How accurate is Semrush data?
Ranking data is accurate because it comes from live search results. Search volumes and other sites’ traffic are estimates, so treat them as a guide for comparing options rather than exact figures.
Can I use Semrush for a small business?
Yes. A small business usually only needs the SEO plan, or the free account plus Search Console at the start. Focus on keyword research, Site Audit and Position Tracking.
What is the difference between Semrush and Semrush One?
Semrush is the company and platform. Semrush One is a plan that bundles the SEO toolkit with AI visibility tracking, starting at $199 a month.
About the author
Alan Spicer has been a YouTube Certified Expert since 2017 and creating on YouTube since 2012. He holds six YouTube Silver Play Buttons, has coached 500+ creators and run 500+ channel audits, and spent 2020–2021 on the vidIQ customer success team. After 20 years self-employed, he runs his consultancy and his own content sites from Huddersfield, usually fuelled by tea. Read client results.
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Want to know if Semrush is right for your business?
Tell me what you sell and where your customers find you. On a free call I’ll tell you whether Semrush, a cheaper tool or no tool at all is the right next step. I’m a YouTube Certified Expert with six Silver Play Buttons, 500+ channel audits and 20 years of running my own online businesses behind me.
Sources
- Semrush plans and pricing, checked 20 October 2026
- Semrush affiliate programme page (database sizes), checked 20 October 2026
- Semrush Knowledge Base: What is Authority Score?
- Adobe newsroom: Adobe completes Semrush acquisition, 28 April 2026
Affiliate disclosure: Some links in this post are affiliate links. If you start a Semrush trial or subscription through them, I may earn a commission at no extra cost to you. I only recommend tools I’d use myself, and programme terms and prices change, so check the current details on Semrush’s site before you buy.
