AI Visibility with Semrush: Honest Complete Guide (2026)
This site earns revenue through affiliate partnerships with other platforms. This article does not currently contain affiliate links for Semrush.
Last verified: July 2026, using Semrush’s official documentation and pricing page.
You’ve probably noticed AI Overviews and ChatGPT answering questions your content used to rank for — and no idea whether your brand shows up in those answers at all. I’m Andreas Maratheftis, 30 years in finance, and I use Semrush’s toolkits directly on this site. Semrush’s AI Visibility toolkit exists specifically to answer that blind spot: it shows how often you’re mentioned across ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Gemini, who’s cited instead of you, and what to actually do about it.
Key Takeaways
- Semrush’s AI Visibility toolkit runs seven reports in sequence: Visibility Overview, Competitor Research, Prompt Research, three Brand Performance reports, and Prompt Tracking.
- The free AI Visibility Checker needs no signup; the standalone paid tier tracks 25 prompts per account — verify current pricing at semrush.com.
- Prompt Tracking covers exactly three AI platforms — ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, and Gemini — not Perplexity or Claude.
- Competitor Research compares you against up to 4 rivals at once, scored on a 0-100 AI Visibility Score.
- Tracking is desktop-only today, and Semrush’s own docs confirm export isn’t built into every report yet.
Quick Answer: What Is Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit?
AI Visibility is Semrush’s toolkit for tracking how often your brand appears inside AI-generated answers on ChatGPT, Google AI Mode, and Gemini. It combines seven reports — Visibility Overview, Competitor Research, Prompt Research, three Brand Performance reports, and Prompt Tracking — plus an AI-specific Site Audit check. A free checker gets you a first snapshot with no account needed; the full toolkit requires a paid subscription and is included in Semrush One.
Start Free Before You Pay for Anything
Semrush’s free AI Visibility Checker needs no signup and no card. Enter your domain and you’ll get a basic read on whether your brand is showing up in AI answers at all.
Use this as your filter, not your final answer. If the free check shows genuinely nothing — zero mentions, zero citations — that’s useful information on its own, and it tells you whether the deeper paid toolkit is worth exploring yet for your site’s current size and traffic. For the full Semrush platform this toolkit sits inside, see our Semrush review.
The Seven Reports, in the Order Semrush Recommends
Semrush’s own getting-started guide lays out a specific sequence, and following it in order actually matters — each report builds context the next one uses.
| Step | Report | What It Shows |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Visibility Overview | AI Visibility Score (0-100), mentions, cited pages, which LLMs cite you most |
| 2 | Competitor Research | Head-to-head against up to 4 competitors, topic and prompt gaps |
| 3 | Prompt Research | What people actually ask AI about your category, by topic volume and intent |
| 4 | Brand Performance suite | Share of voice, sentiment trends, top cited domains driving your narrative |
| 5 | (Action step) | Create or update content using Content, Social, and Traffic & Market toolkits |
| 6 | Prompt Tracking | Daily visibility and average position for your chosen prompts, vs Google rankings |
| 7 | Site Audit — AI Search Health | Whether AI bots can actually access and read your site |
Step 1-2: Benchmark yourself, then your competitors
Visibility Overview is your starting snapshot: enter your domain and you get an AI Visibility Score from 0-100, plus a breakdown of which specific AI models cite you and from which countries. Competitor Research then lets you add up to four rivals and see exactly where they’re getting mentioned and you aren’t — Semrush calls these Topic & Prompt Gaps, and they’re the clearest actionable output in the whole toolkit.
Step 3-4: Find the questions, then check your reputation
Prompt Research works like keyword research for AI: enter a broad topic and you get estimated AI Topic Volume plus the intent behind each prompt, so you know which questions are worth building content around. The Brand Performance suite then goes beyond simple mention-counting — Share of Voice vs Sentiment shows whether more mentions are actually translating into a better perception, and Narrative Drivers surfaces the specific domains AI platforms cite when discussing your brand.
Pro tip: before setting up any paid tracking, test manually first. Use an incognito browser and ask ChatGPT or Perplexity the exact questions your customers would ask, then note who gets cited. This costs nothing and tells you whether formal tracking is worth the investment.
Step 6: Track your progress with Prompt Tracking
Prompt Tracking is technically part of Semrush’s Position Tracking tool, not a separate product — see our Position Tracking guide for the traditional-search side of the same tool. Set up a campaign, choose ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, or Gemini, and add your target prompts — you’ll get daily updates on Visibility and Average Position, and a side-by-side comparison against your traditional Google rankings using the Devices & Locations tab.
Step 7: Check whether AI bots can even read your site
None of the above matters if AI crawlers can’t access your content in the first place. Our Site Audit guide covers the full tool in depth, but its AI Search Health widget specifically flags a missing llms.txt file, content that’s too long for AI models to process well, stale “last-modified” headers, and robots.txt rules accidentally blocking AI bots. This is worth running before you invest time in any of the earlier six steps.
Original Framework: How Many Prompts Should You Actually Track?
Rather than a fixed number, use this decision framework, since the right prompt count depends on your niche’s AI query volume, not a universal figure.
Start with the Prompt Research report and list every prompt where your current visibility is already non-zero — these are your quickest wins, since you’re building on existing presence rather than starting cold. Add the prompts where your closest competitor appears but you don’t; these are your gap-closing targets.
If that combined list is under 25, the standalone AI Visibility Toolkit’s entry tier likely covers you. If it’s well beyond that, you’re validating a genuine case for a higher tier — verify current prompt limits and pricing at semrush.com before deciding.
Honest Limitation
Three real constraints are worth knowing before you commit time to this toolkit. Prompt Tracking currently covers only ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, and Gemini — not Perplexity, Claude, or other platforms your customers may actually use.
Tracking is desktop-only for now, so mobile AI search behaviour isn’t captured. And Semrush’s own documentation states export buttons aren’t available in every tool yet, which matters if client reporting is part of your workflow.
Who Should Actually Use This
This toolkit earns its place for brands with enough existing search presence that AI platforms have something to cite in the first place. For our take on whether the wider bundle makes sense for a smaller site, see our Semrush One guide, which covers exactly this decision.
- Established brands wanting to know if AI answers represent them accurately.
- Agencies reporting on AI visibility as a distinct client deliverable.
- Content teams deciding what to write next based on real AI-prompt demand.
If your site is new or has minimal existing organic visibility, the free checker plus manual ChatGPT spot-checks cover your needs for now — the paid toolkit’s competitive and prompt-tracking depth won’t have much to work with yet.
What To Do Next
Run the free AI Visibility Checker on your own domain right now — it takes under two minutes and needs no account. Note your mention count and which LLMs cite you, if any.
Then open an incognito browser and manually ask ChatGPT three questions your ideal customer would realistically ask. See who gets cited. If it’s a direct competitor and not you, that single gap is worth acting on before you look at any paid tracking setup at all.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Semrush’s AI Visibility Toolkit free?
Partially. Semrush’s AI Visibility Checker is free with no signup and gives a basic snapshot of your brand’s AI mentions. The full toolkit — Competitor Research, Prompt Research, Brand Performance, and Prompt Tracking — requires a paid subscription, available standalone or bundled inside Semrush One.
Which AI platforms does Semrush actually track?
Prompt Tracking currently covers ChatGPT Search, Google AI Mode, and Gemini. It does not yet track Perplexity, Claude, or other AI platforms directly inside the tracking tool, though the free Visibility Overview report does show broader LLM mention data.
What is an AI Visibility Score?
It’s Semrush’s benchmark from 0 to 100 measuring your brand’s overall presence across AI platforms relative to your industry. Treat it as directional rather than a precise measurement — it’s most useful for tracking your own trend over time and comparing against named competitors, not as an absolute figure.
Does this toolkit replace regular SEO tracking?
No. AI Visibility tracks a different, additional channel alongside traditional Google rankings, not instead of them. Semrush’s own Devices & Locations tab is specifically designed to show both side by side so you can compare rather than choose one over the other.
How many competitors can I compare at once?
The Competitor Research report allows up to four competitors alongside your own domain. Focus on your closest, most realistic rivals rather than aspirational, much larger brands — the Topic & Prompt Gaps are more actionable when the comparison is genuinely close.
Can I export AI Visibility reports for clients?
Mostly, yes — Brand Performance, Visibility Overview, Competitor Research, and Prompt Tracking all integrate with Semrush’s My Reports tool for PDF export and shareable dashboards. Semrush’s own documentation notes export isn’t available in every single tool yet, so confirm the specific report you need supports it before promising a client a deliverable.
Final Verdict
If I had to summarise Semrush’s AI Visibility toolkit in one sentence: it’s the most complete single-platform way to see how AI search represents your brand, provided you’re honest about its current gaps. The problem it solves — not knowing whether ChatGPT or Google AI Mode even mentions you — is real and growing, and the seven-report workflow genuinely does take you from blind spot to action plan.
The honest caveat: it only tracks three AI platforms, only on desktop, and export isn’t fully built out yet. Start with the free checker and a few manual ChatGPT questions before deciding whether the paid depth is worth it for your site’s current size. For the full bundled option that pairs this with the classic SEO Toolkit, see our Semrush One guide.
