The AI Tools Built Into Semrush — And How to Use Them to Win SEO in 2025

🧭 Introduction

SEO in 2025 is no longer just about data — it’s about what you do with it. And Semrush has quietly become one of the most advanced AI-powered SEO platforms on the market.

Whether you’re creating content, auditing your site, or researching competitors, Semrush’s built-in AI tools can help you work smarter, not harder. This guide breaks down every major AI feature in Semrush and how to use it to gain real-world rankings, faster growth, and smarter strategy.

1. ContentShake AI – From Keywords to Articles, Fast

Semrush’s ContentShake AI is a drag-and-drop content generator designed for marketers, bloggers, and business owners who need quality SEO content — fast.

What It Does:

Generates longform blog posts based on keyword intent
Provides an outline, competitor analysis, and structure
Includes AI-powered paraphrasing and summarization tools

How to Use It:

Start by entering a keyword or topic. ContentShake analyzes current top-ranking pages and builds a brief with suggested sections, headers, and questions. You can edit live or export to Google Docs/WordPress.

Bonus Tip: Link this with Position Tracking to monitor performance once published.

Screenshot or graphic of Semrush ContentShake AI interface — Figure 1: ContentShake AI streamlines content creation from keyword to draft, integrating SEO insights for rapid, high-quality output.

2. SEO Writing Assistant – Real-Time Optimization Powered by AI

The SEO Writing Assistant is like a live editor — but smarter.

Key Features:

Readability score (based on Flesch-Kincaid scale)
SEO keyword optimization based on real-time competition
Tone of voice analysis
Originality (plagiarism checker powered by Copyleaks)

Best Use Cases:

Real-time feedback while writing in Google Docs or WordPress
Content rewrites, localization, or multiple-author editing

Use this tool to ensure every piece of content aligns with Google’s helpful content update — AI tells you if your content feels robotic, repetitive, or under-optimized.

Screenshot or graphic of Semrush SEO Writing Assistant in action — Figure 2: The SEO Writing Assistant provides live AI-powered feedback on readability, keyword optimization, and originality, enhancing content quality.

3. Keyword Strategy Builder – AI-Powered Clusters

Instead of building keyword lists manually, let AI do it. The Keyword Strategy Builder automatically groups relevant phrases into clusters based on SERP similarity and semantic relationships.

How to Use:

Start with a seed keyword in the Keyword Magic Tool
Activate “Clusters” to see AI-generated topic groups
Export as a content calendar, or use with ContentShake

This helps you build topic hubs, boost internal linking, and signal authority to Google.

Screenshot or graphic of AI-powered keyword clustering in Semrush — Figure 3: Semrush's AI-powered Keyword Strategy Builder automatically organizes keywords into relevant clusters, simplifying topic hub creation and internal linking strategies.

4. AI-Powered Site Audit Prioritization

With thousands of technical issues flagged in audits, how do you know what matters most? Semrush’s AI triages them based on your site type, industry benchmarks, and performance risk.

Instead of reacting to every “warning,” this lets you prioritize what actually impacts crawlability, speed, and indexing.

Tips:

Sort by “Top Issues” in Site Audit and use AI-generated Fix Suggestions
Focus on Core Web Vitals and Indexability first

Screenshot of Semrush Site Audit prioritizing technical SEO issues with AI — Figure 4: AI in Semrush Site Audit intelligently prioritizes technical issues, helping you focus on fixes that have the most significant impact on crawlability and ranking.

5. SERP Feature Detection & AI Change Alerts

Did Google introduce a new feature that’s stealing your traffic? Semrush AI monitors SERP changes and sends alerts when your positions drop due to carousels, snippets, FAQs, or shopping boxes.

Real-time insight → faster content updates → reclaimed traffic.

Screenshot or graphic showing AI alerts for SERP feature changes in Semrush — Figure 5: Semrush AI proactively alerts you to SERP feature changes that might impact your traffic, enabling swift content adjustments.

6. AI-Powered Competitor Analysis

Competitive research in Semrush now includes AI estimates of:

Content difficulty
Expected ranking time
Link acquisition strategy

It even highlights what they’re doing that you’re not — and shows content gaps you can exploit.

Screenshot or graphic of AI-powered competitor analysis in Semrush — Figure 6: AI-enhanced competitor analysis in Semrush provides deeper insights into content difficulty, ranking time, and backlink strategies, revealing exploitable gaps.

7. Automation with AI + Semrush Apps

Connect Semrush to Zapier or Make (formerly Integromat) to build automated workflows. AI + automation = serious scale.

Examples:

Create an SEO brief when new keywords are added to Airtable
Trigger Slack alerts when backlinks are lost
Automate weekly content checks and SEO reports

Conceptual image of AI and automation creating efficient SEO workflows — Figure 7: Integrating Semrush with automation tools like Zapier allows you to create AI-powered workflows for advanced SEO scaling and reporting.

8. Real Use Case: How Agencies Use Semrush AI to Cut Costs

In 2024, a digital agency replaced two content interns with a Semrush + ContentShake workflow, saving $40,000/year. They:

Generated outlines and drafts with ContentShake
Optimized in real time with SEO Writing Assistant
Clustered keywords and built briefs with Keyword Magic

Result? 4x faster output, 18% more organic traffic, and significantly less editorial overhead.

Case study graphic showing cost savings and results for an agency using Semrush AI — Figure 8: A real-world case study highlights how agencies are leveraging Semrush's AI tools to significantly reduce content production costs and enhance organic traffic.

🎯 Final Thoughts – Why Semrush AI Is Built Different

While most AI tools write content, Semrush builds strategy. Its AI is trained on actual SERPs, SEO rules, competitor behavior, and ranking patterns — not just generic data.

It’s not just automation. It’s intelligence.

👉 Try Semrush Free for 7 Days and explore every AI tool built to grow your site faster.