SE Ranking pricing: Core vs Growth, and which plan a small business actually needs
1h ago
AI Search for Business · 6 answers
Your customers ask AI now. Is your business showing up?
People ask ChatGPT, Copilot and Perplexity which product to buy and which business to trust, and many never see a search results page. These guides show how to check whether AI assistants mention you, what gets a page cited, how to use AI for content without hurting your site, and which tools are worth paying for. Where we can, we use our own numbers: Copilot cited this site 104,800 times in three months.
Last checked against the vendors' own pages on October 31, 2026. Written by the Aliteq Team. How we check.
Before you automate
Google's spam policies name "scaled content abuse": publishing lots of pages mainly to rank, however they were made. Tools that write and auto-publish dozens of articles a day can trigger exactly that. We recommend these tools for research, briefs, drafts and optimisation, with a person editing before anything goes live.
New in AI Search
All guides ↓Get found in AI answers
- Copilot cited us 104,800 times. What it actually sent usBeing named in AI answers and getting visitors from them are two different things. Our own Bing and Google Analytics numbers, what got cited, what didn't, and how to check the same for your business with free tools.
- Do ChatGPT and Copilot mention your business? How to check for freeYour customers ask AI assistants which product to buy and which business to trust. Four free checks show whether you're named, which pages get used and who's named instead, using Bing Webmaster Tools, Google Search Console, Google Analytics and the assistants themselves.
- How to get your pages cited by AI assistantsThere's no secret file or special markup. Microsoft and Google both say the same few things, and our own data showed which pages AI assistants picked. The checklist for a business site, with the myths, like llms.txt, sorted out.
Automate content without hurting your site
Is it free, and what it costs
- Is Semrush free?Semrush has a free plan with no card required, capped at one demo project and 10 reports a day. The 7-day trial turns into a paid plan unless you cancel, and monthly plans can't be refunded. What a small business gets for free, checked on Semrush's own pages.
- SE Ranking pricing, plan by planSE Ranking has two self-serve plans, Core and Growth, both 20% cheaper billed yearly, and a 14-day trial that needs no card. What each plan covers, what costs extra, and how it compares with Semrush on price. Checked on SE Ranking's own pages.
Which tool helps: side by side
Semrush
All-in-one search marketing suite: keyword research, site audits, rank tracking, competitor data, plus content and AI-visibility toolkits.
- Best for
- Stores and businesses that want one tool for research, audits and tracking
- Paid from
- $139/mo (SEO plan, monthly) or $117.33/mo yearly
- Free
- Free account: 1 demo project, 10 reports a day. 7-day trial on paid plans
From Semrush's own pages, October 31, 2026.
SE Ranking
Rank tracking, site audits, keyword and competitor research at a lower price than the big suites.
- Best for
- Small businesses and local services on a budget
- Paid from
- $129/mo (Core, monthly) or $103.20/mo yearly
- Free
- 14-day trial, no card required
From SE Ranking's own pages, October 31, 2026.
Surfer
Scores a page against what already ranks for its keyword and suggests terms, headings and length; also writes AI drafts.
- Best for
- Teams that write their own articles and want them optimised
- Free
- 7-day money-back guarantee, not a free trial
From Surfer's own pages, October 31, 2026.
Frase
Research and content briefs from the top results and the questions people ask, with an AI writer and optimiser.
- Best for
- Marketers who brief writers or write their own posts
- Paid from
- $49/mo (Starter)
From Frase's own pages, October 31, 2026.
Writesonic
AI writer that has moved toward tracking how brands show up in AI answers (ChatGPT, Perplexity, AI Overviews).
- Best for
- Brands that care about being named by AI assistants
- Paid from
- about $99/mo (Starter, monthly)
From Writesonic's own pages, October 31, 2026.
Not sure which one to start with?
Start from the job, not the tool: research and briefs, writing drafts, or checking a page against what already ranks. Each answer above says which tool does that job best and what it costs this month.