Semrush reported 117,000 paying customers in Q4 2025, making it the most widely adopted SEO platform in the world. Its AI Toolkit — launched in stages throughout 2025 — added AI Overview tracking, AI-generated content analysis, and brand visibility monitoring across generative search to an already formidable feature set. For businesses already paying for Semrush, the temptation is obvious: can we handle GEO in-house using the tools we already have?
The short answer is: it depends entirely on what you mean by “handle GEO.”
What Semrush’s AI Toolkit Actually Includes
Semrush has been aggressive in adding AI-focused features. The current AI Toolkit includes:
- AI Overview Tracking — monitors which of your tracked keywords trigger Google AI Overviews and whether your domain is cited
- AI Content Score — analyses your content against the characteristics that correlate with AI citations
- Brand Monitoring for AI — tracks mentions of your brand across AI-generated responses
- ContentShake AI — AI-powered content creation with SEO and increasingly GEO-focused optimisation suggestions
- Competitive AI Visibility — shows how your AI citation share compares to competitors for tracked keywords
These are meaningful additions. Semrush has the data infrastructure, the keyword database, and the engineering resources to build genuinely useful AI visibility features. The platform excels at turning large datasets into actionable dashboards.
Where Semrush Stops and Strategy Starts
The limitation of Semrush’s AI Toolkit is the same limitation that applies to every tool in this category: it operates at the data and content layer, not the authority and entity layer.
Semrush can tell you that your content is not appearing in AI Overviews. It can suggest content improvements. It can even generate draft content optimised for AI citation signals. What it cannot do is:
- Build your brand’s entity signals across the knowledge sources that LLMs draw from
- Engineer the citation pathways that connect your expertise to the prompts your customers are asking
- Develop your Knowledge Graph presence
- Create the cross-platform authority architecture that makes an LLM trust your brand
- Implement the technical schema and structured data at scale
- Provide the strategic interpretation that turns data into a coherent programme
This is not a gap in Semrush’s product strategy. It is a fundamental difference between what a tool can do and what a managed programme delivers.
The Full Comparison
| Capability | Semrush AI Toolkit | GEO Agency (e.g., MarGen) |
|---|---|---|
| AI Overview tracking | Yes, integrated with keyword tracking | Yes, via tools + proprietary monitoring |
| AI citation monitoring | Yes, for tracked keywords | Yes, across all AI platforms |
| Content optimisation suggestions | Yes, AI Content Score | Yes, plus human editorial strategy |
| AI content generation | Yes, ContentShake AI | Yes, expert-written authority content |
| Competitor AI visibility | Yes, keyword-level | Yes, entity-level and prompt-level |
| Brand mention tracking | Yes | Yes, with sentiment and context analysis |
| Entity optimisation | No | Core service |
| Knowledge Graph development | No | Core service |
| Citation pathway engineering | No | Core service |
| Schema implementation | Audits only | Full implementation |
| Cross-platform authority building | No | Core service |
| Strategic programme management | No | Core service |
| Regulatory compliance content | No | Specialist capability |
| Typical annual cost | £2,400 – £6,000 (Guru/Business plans) | £18,000 – £60,000 |
| Internal expertise required | Significant | Minimal |
The Cost Reality
The raw price comparison looks strongly in Semrush’s favour. A Business plan at roughly £500/month versus an agency retainer at £1,500–£5,000/month is not a close contest on price alone.
But consider the total cost of a Semrush-only approach:
| Cost Component | Semrush-Only Approach | Agency Approach |
|---|---|---|
| Tool subscription | £6,000/year | £0 (agency uses own tools) |
| Content creation (outsourced or in-house) | £12,000 – £24,000/year | Included |
| In-house specialist time | £25,000 – £45,000/year (partial FTE) | £0 (2–4 hrs/month review) |
| Technical implementation | £3,000 – £8,000/year (developer time) | Included |
| Training and upskilling | £2,000 – £5,000/year | £0 |
| Total effective annual cost | £48,000 – £88,000 | £18,000 – £60,000 |
When you account for the human resource required to turn Semrush data into GEO results, the agency approach is often more cost-effective — not less. This is especially true for mid-market businesses that do not have a dedicated SEO team, let alone a GEO specialist.
The Expertise Gap
Here is the statistic that reframes this entire discussion: according to LinkedIn data from Q1 2026, there are fewer than 800 professionals worldwide who list “Generative Engine Optimisation” or “GEO” as a primary skill. In the UK, that number is under 120.
Semrush gives you world-class data. But data without expertise is noise. The AI Toolkit assumes that the person using it understands:
- How LLMs select and weight sources for citation
- The difference between SEO content signals and GEO authority signals
- How entity resolution works across knowledge graphs
- The technical implementation of schema for AI comprehension
- The cross-platform citation architecture that supports sustained visibility
If your team has this expertise, Semrush’s tools will amplify their effectiveness enormously. If your team does not — and given the scarcity of GEO specialists, most do not — the toolkit becomes a sophisticated dashboard for a discipline you are not equipped to practise.
When Semrush Alone Is Enough
A Semrush-only approach works when:
- You have an experienced SEO team that is actively upskilling in GEO
- Your primary concern is Google AI Overviews rather than the broader AI search ecosystem (ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini)
- You already have strong entity signals and authority — you just need to optimise your content layer
- You are in a low-competition niche where basic content optimisation is sufficient to earn citations
- You want to start with monitoring before committing to a full programme
When You Need More Than a Tool
An agency partnership makes more sense when:
- You are starting from zero citations and need to build authority from the ground up
- You compete in a contested space where multiple brands are actively pursuing AI visibility
- You are in a regulated sector where content authority and compliance are intertwined
- You need multi-platform visibility across ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, and AI Overviews
- You want results within a defined timeframe with accountability and milestones
The Practical Recommendation
For most UK businesses, the optimal approach is not Semrush or agency — it is Semrush within an agency programme. The best GEO agencies (MarGen included) use Semrush and similar platforms as part of their monitoring and research stack. Your agency subscription effectively gives you access to enterprise-grade tools as part of the retainer.
If budget forces a choice, prioritise the capability that is harder to build internally. Data platforms can be subscribed to at any time. Strategic GEO expertise takes years to develop.
Not sure whether your current tools are giving you the full picture? Book a free GEO audit and we will assess your AI visibility alongside your existing toolkit — and show you where the gaps are.