Recomaze vs Semrush vs Ubersuggest: Which Tool Do You Actually Need?

Ok Let's Be Honest Here

Recomaze, Semrush, and Ubersuggest aren't really direct competitors. They do different things.

But if you're trying to figure out where to put your time and money for better online visibility, you're probably googling comparisons. So let me break down what each actually does.

The Short Version

Semrush = Swiss Army knife of traditional SEO. Keywords, backlinks, competitors, ads, basically everything.

Ubersuggest = Simpler, cheaper SEO tool. Good for beginners and small budgets.

Recomaze = Focused on AI visibility. Will ChatGPT and Perplexity recommend you?

Here's the thing though - traditional SEO and AI optimization are becoming two different games. You might actually need both.

What Each Tool Does

Semrush

Been around since 2008. Does a LOT. Maybe too much honestly.

Good for: finding keywords, analyzing competitors, tracking Google rankings, site audits, PPC, social media, content tools.

Reality check: it's powerful but overwhelming. Most people use like 20% of it. And at $130+/month for the basic plan, you're paying for stuff you might never touch.

Best for: agencies, SEO pros, bigger companies with marketing teams.

Ubersuggest

Neil Patel built this as a simpler cheaper alternative.

Good for: basic keyword research, seeing what competitors rank for, simple backlink stuff, site audits, content ideas.

Reality check: does the fundamentals well enough for most small businesses. Not as deep as Semrush but also not as complicated or expensive.

Best for: small businesses, solo founders, people just starting with SEO.

Recomaze

Ok this is us so I'll be honest about what we do and don't do.

What we do:

• Check if AI assistants can understand and recommend your stuff
• Score your AI readiness 0-100
• Analyze your product data for ChatGPT Shopping
• Find what's blocking AI from recommending you
• Give you specific fixes

What we don't do:

• Keyword research
• Backlink analysis
• Google ranking tracking
• Competitor SEO analysis
• PPC management

We do one thing and try to do it well. If you want to know how you show up in AI-powered search, that's us. Traditional SEO tools? Semrush or Ubersuggest are better for that.

Let's Talk Money

Tool	Starting Price	Free Option
Semrush	$130/month	Very limited trial
Ubersuggest	$29/month	Limited free searches
Recomaze	Free	Full audit, no limits

Semrush is expensive, no way around it. Enterprise tools, enterprise pricing.

Ubersuggest is more accessible. They do lifetime deals sometimes too.

Recomaze is free for audits. We make money on enterprise features, not basic visibility checks.

When You Need Traditional SEO Tools

You need Semrush or Ubersuggest if:

You want to rank on Google. Keywords, backlinks, tracking - that's traditional SEO stuff.

You're doing competitor research. Want to see what keywords competitors rank for? What backlinks they have? These tools are built for it.

You're running Google Ads. Semrush especially has solid PPC tools.

You need to fix technical SEO issues. Broken links, duplicate content, crawl errors.

When You Need Recomaze

You need us if:

You want ChatGPT to recommend your products. That's literally what we built for.

You care about AI search engines. Perplexity, Google AI Overviews, Bing Chat - all growing fast. Traditional SEO tools don't tell you how you show up there.

You sell stuff online. E-commerce stores need AI-optimized product data. We check that specifically.

You've noticed AI traffic starting to matter. Or you want it to.

Here's What People Miss

Search is splitting into two worlds.

World 1: Traditional Google search. Type keywords, get links, click through. This is where Semrush and Ubersuggest focus.

World 2: AI-powered discovery. Ask a question, get an answer, maybe never click anything. This is growing fast and it's where we focus.

Both matter. But they need different strategies.

Google cares about keywords, backlinks, page authority.

AI cares about content clarity, structured data, whether it can actually understand your stuff.

A site can rank #1 on Google and be totally invisible to ChatGPT. Happens more than you'd think.

What We Actually Recommend

Even though we'd love to say "just use us!" here's the real answer:

For most businesses in 2026: use a traditional SEO tool for keyword research and ranking tracking (Ubersuggest if budget-conscious, Semrush if you need depth). And use Recomaze to check your AI visibility separately.

Semrush/Ubersuggest tell you how Google sees you. Recomaze tells you how AI sees you. Both matter now.

Wait, Doesn't Semrush Have AI Features Now?

Yeah they've added some AI stuff recently. But it's different.

Semrush's AI features are about using AI to help with traditional SEO - generating content ideas, analyzing keywords, that kind of thing. It's AI-assisted SEO.

Recomaze is about optimizing FOR AI. Different direction.

It's like the difference between using AI to write an email versus making sure AI assistants can find and recommend your website.

Quick Guide

Agency with big clients: Semrush + Recomaze

Small business doing your own marketing: Ubersuggest + Recomaze

E-commerce store: Recomaze (essential) + Ubersuggest or Semrush (helpful)

Blogger/content creator: Ubersuggest + Recomaze

Just want to check AI visibility: Recomaze (it's free, just do it)

Bottom Line

Semrush and Ubersuggest are good at traditional SEO. Pick one based on budget and complexity needs.

Recomaze does something different - tells you whether AI will recommend you. Increasingly important as ChatGPT and AI shopping grow.

The real question isn't "which one should I use?" It's "what problems am I trying to solve?"

If AI recommendations matter to you, run a Recomaze audit. Takes 2 minutes, costs nothing.

If you need keyword research and traditional SEO, grab one of the others too.

Different tools for different jobs.