SEO has always been an essential part of my work as a content marketer, but I’ll admit that certain parts of keyword research and formatting posts become tedious. The good news is there are plenty of powerful AI SEO tools that streamline my optimization process and improve rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).
It can take a long time to fully optimize content for Google, and in my experience, one of the main reasons is there are so many ranking factors to consider. Keyword usage, page load times, content quality, metadata, media — the list goes on for miles.
The whole game changed when marketers adopted AI SEO tools to automate the more repetitive parts. Building and maintaining an SEO content strategy can now be streamlined to consistently deliver results at scale, even with a small team.
If that’s your ideal, I’m here to help. In this guide, I’ll share how AI tools can improve SERP rankings, how marketers are using AI in 2024, and the best AI SEO tools on the market today.
Table of Contents
How Marketers Use AI
What Is AI in SEO?
How to Use AI for SEO
What Are AI SEO Tools?
13 Best AI SEO Tools
Free AI SEO Tools
How Marketers Use AI
As a content marketer, I use AI tools for help with a range of tasks, from research and brainstorming to project management and analytics. Digital marketers also use AI to support content creation, most commonly writing copy for social posts, blogs, and websites.
A huge caveat is that AI-generated content usually isn’t ready to publish right away. It’s best to put AI drafts through human review to ensure accuracy and quality.
In short, instead of marketing coming down to AI vs. humans, the two should work together.
Treat that list as a teaser of the perks you can enjoy. Still, I’m often asked whether marketers should use AI for SEO in the first place.
According to research by seoClarity, 86% of enterprise SEO professionals have already implemented AI into their SEO marketing strategy. However, don’t walk into it blindly. There are both advantages and drawbacks to incorporating AI SEO tools into your marketing operations.
Potential Drawbacks of Using AI for SEO
While AI helps me speed up repetitive workflows, it lacks human judgment. This can present risks because SEO is fundamentally about delivering content with relevant value to human beings.
Research by seoClarity revealed that content quality and authenticity are concerns for 65% of enterprise SEOs. Meeting these two ideals is the biggest challenge of using AI in SEO.
Another issue to look out for is over-optimization. For example, keyword stuffing will lead to a negative reader experience by making content unreadable, regardless of what an AI tool recommends.
Advantages of Using AI for SEO
In my experience, one of the main benefits of using AI in SEO is how much time you can save. In our survey of over 1,350 marketing professionals, 90% of respondents said that AI and automation reduce time spent on manual tasks so they can focus on the best part of the job — the creative work!
AI tools also have a wide variety of applications; I use them to improve multiple ranking factors, including user experience, content quality, and technical SEO.
One thing’s for sure: To use AI, you inevitably need to pick a software tool.
What Are AI SEO Tools?
AI SEO tools are software solutions that leverage artificial intelligence features like machine learning and natural language processing (NLP). Their goal is to support digital marketers’ SEO efforts like brainstorming, strategy, content optimization, and performance tracking.
You’ll get a clearer picture with some real examples. Here are my favorite AI-driven SEO solutions to help you reduce manual tasks and improve search engine rankings.
In this list, I included tools to help with all parts of the SEO process, including strategy planning, content optimization, and technical SEO.
Only interested in free tools? Skip to the next section.
1. HubSpot AI Tools
Price: Create a bundle to get a quote.
I use HubSpot’s suite of AI tools to work more efficiently, develop my SEO strategy, and create optimized content that ranks high in SERPs. What I love about these tools is that they are specifically designed to allow for easy transitions between manual and AI-assisted creation, giving me the best of both worlds.
The most impressive thing about HubSpot’s AI-driven content generation tools is that they’re adept at generating copy for a wide range of needs, from blog posts to landing pages to marketing emails and beyond.
Here’s how I use HubSpot in my day to day:
I scan my website using the SEO suggestion tools to automatically identify optimization opportunities. This tool ranks recommendations by priority, so it’s easy to see which actionable insights will be the most impactful.
I leverage the AI content writer, which helps me brainstorm topics and fill out my editorial calendar. It’s also useful for drafting email copy and pitching guest posts to chase high-quality backlinks.
Once I have ideas, I turn to the AI blog writer to transform them into comprehensive, engaging blog posts. All I have to do is feed the tool an outline or a set of bullet points, and it creates well-structured content that follows SEO best practices. From there, I can review each post and add final touches — this tool is invaluable for maintaining a consistent blog output without sacrificing quality.
The AI paragraph rewriter is my go-to tool to update existing content and maximize its reach, effectiveness, and longevity. It rephrases and revitalizes copy, ensuring my posts remain relevant, engaging, and SEO-friendly.
What I like: HubSpot’s AI-powered tools are designed to complement your creative process, offering the flexibility to toggle between manual and AI-assisted creation. It facilitates enough efficiency to produce high-quality content at scale.
2. AlliAI
Price: Starts at $299 per month.
AlliAI helps you easily optimize your website experience for SERPs. One feature I particularly enjoy is its bulk on-page optimization; I use it to set up SEO rules for my entire website. The program also handles code changes on individual pages.
I’ve also gotten a lot of use out of AlliAI’s automated SEO A/B testing, which leverages user behavior data to optimize search page titles and boost organic traffic.
What I like: This AI SEO tool works with all CMS platforms and doesn’t require coding experience, which makes it an excellent choice for anyone new to the technical side of SEO.
3. RankIQ
Price: $99 per month.
RankIQ is an SEO toolset that I like recommending to content creators and business owners who focus heavily on a blog for marketing. The platform includes several features that make it easier to create SEO blog posts, including the SEO content brief creator, which I use to identify relevant keywords and generate a blog outline in minutes.
I also like using the content-optimizing writing assistant to see which supporting keywords I can add to my posts so they’re more likely to rank at the top of SERPs. If you want to refresh older or underperforming posts, RankIQ’s tools can help you do that in less than 30 minutes.
What I like: RankIQ has an extensive keyword library of low-competition, high-traffic search terms that make it easy to find high-ROI opportunities.
4. INK
Price: Starts at $39 per month.
INK is an AI writing tool that looks at top-ranked content and helps you generate posts that outperform other brands. In that way, INK is an SEO assistant because it finds keywords that will enhance your content. This tool is especially helpful when I’m optimizing posts that target high-competition keywords.
What I like: Ink AI offers keyword clustering features, which aren’t offered on many other platforms.
5. Jasper
Price: Starts at $49 per month (per user).
Jasper is an AI writing assistant that turns one brief into a comprehensive set of marketing assets, including SEO blog posts, emails, and social copy. One thing I love about Jasper is that it makes marketing team collaboration simple through its intuitive campaign dashboard.
What I like: Jasper allows for tone-of-voice customization that helps keep your brand consistent across content.
6. Paraphrasingtool.ai (All-In-One Bundle)
Price: $20 per month.
Paraphrasingtool.ai is a writing assistant I use to paraphrase content while ensuring it’s grammatically correct, human-written, and highly clear.
The AI tool also includes detailed definitions of the words used in paraphrasing, which makes it good at speeding up research for topics that require more technical knowledge.
What I like: You can paraphrase recorded audio, which is super helpful for video-based research and repurposing content like webinars and interviews.
7. NeuronWriter
Price: Starts at $23 per month.
NeuronWriter offers AI content creation, internal linking, and competitor analysis. More specifically, it uses natural learning processing (NLP), Google SERP data, and competitor insights to help you create high-ranking blog posts that take search intent into consideration.
Since NeuronWriter includes project management and collaboration features, it’s an excellent choice for teams that focus mostly on content marketing.
What I like: NeuronWriter simplifies content management by combining SEO features with an editorial calendar.
8. OutRanking (SEO Writer Plan)
Price: $79 per month.
OutRanking uses AI SEO software to power your entire SEO content strategy. In addition to features that improve individual pieces of content, OutRanking provides in-depth keyword research tools that focus on building topical authority.
While there is a starter plan, it’s limited to five SEO documents. I recommend the SEO Writer Plan, which offers 15 documents, automated optimization, and internal linking.
What I like: OutRanking helps you create a prioritized content calendar tailored to your SEO goals. It builds topical authority, an otherwise daunting task.
9. Surfer SEO (Scale AI Plan)
Price: $219 per month.
Surfer SEO is a comprehensive tool that speeds up content creation. How? The SEO strategy platform uses AI to generate outlines and blog posts. One thing that impresses me about Surfer’s AI content generation is that it can produce articles in ten different languages.
Not to mention, Surfer AI can automatically scan SERPs to choose the best tone of voice for each article. Alternatively, have the tone match your brand’s signature. Either way, using Surfer correctly will boost your organic traffic and search engine rankings.
What I like: Surfer SEO generates an outline first so you can review and make changes before it creates a full blog post.
10. Scalenut
Price: Starts at $39 per month.
Scalenut offers a suite of SEO marketing tools, including a keyword planner, SERP analyzer, article writer, and content optimizer. With Scalenut’s feature-rich software, you can analyze the search volume and relevance of potential keywords using AI.
I like using the article writer to generate outlines based on SERP data. In the post editor, the real-time feedback and recommendations provide an easy way to increase the visibility of your posts.
What I like: Scalenut’s customer support is exceptionally fast and friendly. The company often releases new features to keep up with the latest AI SEO trends.
11. Pictory
Price: Starts at $29 per month.
Pictory is an AI video generator that creates high-quality videos in a matter of minutes. All you have to do is upload a video script to the platform; Pictory uses it as the foundation for the video’s content. You can make final tweaks before saving or publishing it.
One way I increase website retention time and engagement on blogs and socials is by adding videos that complement my written content. Honestly, I don’t have much experience creating videos manually, so I use Pictory’s AI tools as an efficient shortcut.
Pictory comes in handy when I want to repurpose webinars, podcasts, and even Zoom meetings.
What I like: Pictory is remarkably user-friendly, and its short learning curve makes for a faster ROI.
12. NitroPack
Price: Starts at $21 per month.
Page speed is another key element of SEO success, and NitroPack is an AI-driven tool that takes the guesswork (and the coding work) out of improving your website’s performance.
As someone who has more experience with content than code, having a tool that streamlines technical SEO tasks is a game changer.
NitroPack automatically resizes and compresses images to ensure your website loads faster. I also enjoy using the automatic caching tool and code optimization features to speed up page load times.
What I like: This AI SEO tool offers a test mode so you can try out new features without actually affecting your website’s user experience.
13. NeuralText
Price: Starts at $19 per month.
NeuralText is a comprehensive SEO and content tool for keyword research, AI copywriting, and content optimization. It uses data from top-ranked pages on SERPs to generate high-quality, well-researched content.
I like that the AI copywriting features include over 50 content templates spanning blog posts, social media ads, and brand slogan ideas.
I also use NeuralText’s content optimization editor to improve both new and existing blog posts based on its tailored recommendations.
What I like: The keyword research tool makes it easy to identify long-tail keywords and uncover search intent.
Free AI SEO Tools
If you want to get started without breaking the bank, check out my favorite free AI SEO tools. They’ll still save you time and boost SERP rankings.
ChatGPT
ChatGPT is one of the most popular AI-powered chatbots, partly because it has many uses, including some SEO tasks. While I don’t recommend ChatGPT for long-form content generation, I do use it as a quick escape from writer’s block. Specifically, it’s helpful for ideation, keyword brainstorming, and quickly generating ideas for titles and meta descriptions.
It’s worth noting that with generative AI, the quality of the output depends on the quality of the input. To up your ChatGPT prowess, browse our 70 AI prompts for marketers to use.
What I like: You can save conversations by topic or project, which keeps ideas organized.
Perplexity AI
Perplexity is one of my favorite tools for research because you can upload PDF files to receive a summary of key insights. The free version allows you to upload three files per day, and you can ask multiple questions related to the files you upload.
What I like: The focus feature lets you specify which types of sources you want the tool to use when generating an answer.
QuillBot AI
When you need a quick paraphrasing tool, use QuillBot — it lets you paraphrase up to 125 words at a time for free. The free plan also provides basic summaries and text generation with a limit of 50 AI prompts per day.
It’s a handy little refining tool I like to use when I have writer’s block, or when I want to summarize an article for a social post or email marketing copy.
What I like: It offers a Chrome extension, so you don’t need to switch back and forth between tabs.
Level Up Your Marketing With AI SEO Tools
If there’s one thing I know after years of working in SEO, it’s that it’s always changing, whether with search algorithm updates or user preferences. Outranking the competition means keeping up with the latest best practices.
Fortunately, advances in AI mean that the tools we use to execute our SEO strategies are also evolving and getting more efficient. To learn more about unlocking your SEO potential and boosting productivity, explore HubSpot AI tools today.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in May 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
