SEO
Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an SEO suite built on its own web index: backlink analysis, keyword research, technical audits and rank tracking. Its Brand Radar module measures a brand's visibility in AI answers. Our GEO agency uses it for its own tracking.
Ahrefs is an SEO suite that relies on its own crawler and on more than ten years of web data. It is used to analyse backlinks, find keywords, audit a site and track rankings. Since answer engines arrived, Ahrefs also measures a brand's place in ChatGPT, Perplexity or AI Overviews with Brand Radar. Our GEO agency uses Brand Radar and Search Console for its own tracking.
What is Ahrefs?
Ahrefs is best known for its link index, one of the most complete on the market. The company presents its crawler as the second most active on the web after Google's (Ahrefs pricing page). Over the years, the suite has grown to cover the whole SEO workflow.
- Site Explorer: backlinks, top pages and ranking keywords of any domain.
- Keywords Explorer: volumes, difficulty, intent and keyword clusters.
- Site Audit: technical crawling and error detection, alongside a desktop crawler such as Screaming Frog.
- Rank Tracker: ranking tracking on a keyword list.
- Brand Radar: a brand's visibility in AI engine answers.
Ahrefs Brand Radar: tracking your brand in AI
Brand Radar answers a question Search Console does not cover: which brands do AI engines cite on the questions of your market? The tool queries a base of more than 496 million prompts and lets you track your own questions through check packages. For a team already on Ahrefs, it avoids adding yet another GEO tool.
Ahrefs also publishes the most cited studies on AI search. Its analysis of brand visibility links AI citations to YouTube mentions and web mentions of the brand, far ahead of Domain Rating (Ahrefs study). Another study shows that only a minority of pages cited by ChatGPT, Perplexity and Copilot rank in Google's top 10 (Ahrefs overlap study). We draw the consequences in our article AEO vs SEO.
Brand Radar ranks sixth in our comparison of the best GEO tools, recommended for teams already subscribed to Ahrefs.
Ahrefs pricing
The prices below were taken from the official pricing page on 23 October 2026, in euros per month.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Ahrefs Free | €0 | Data on your own verified site and fixes for priority errors |
| Starter | €27 | Lighter keyword research and competitor analysis |
| Lite | €119 | 1 user, 750 tracked keywords, 150 AI prompt checks, 6 months of history, API and MCP |
| Standard | €229 | 2,000 tracked keywords, 300 prompt checks, 2 years of history, Content Explorer |
| Advanced | €419 | 5,000 tracked keywords, 600 prompt checks, 5 years of history, Looker Studio integration |
| Enterprise | €1,394 | Annual commitment, uncapped API access, SSO and unlimited history |
Brand Radar AI starts at €179 a month. Custom prompt packages range from €46.70 to €234 a month. Yearly billing cuts the bill by up to 17%.
Ahrefs or Semrush?
Both suites cover the core of SEO. Ahrefs remains the reference for backlink analysis and adds built-in AI tracking with Brand Radar. Semrush covers a wider marketing scope, including ads and social media. For an SME just starting out, Google Search Console and ChatSEO often cover the need for a fraction of the price.
Our review of Ahrefs
Ahrefs is the tool we use to understand a site's link profile and track a brand's AI visibility. Its limit is price. A full suite with Brand Radar quickly goes beyond €300 a month, a budget that makes sense for a team doing SEO every day.
Strengths
- A backlink index among the most reliable on the market.
- Brand Radar to track your brand in AI engines without switching tools.
- An MCP server to query your data from Claude or ChatGPT.
- Regular public studies on AI search.
Limits
- A high price as soon as you add users or modules.
- Estimated search volumes, to cross-check with Search Console.
- A dense interface for beginners.
The right tool does not replace strategy. Our SEO and GEO agency uses Ahrefs to set priorities, then works on the site and the mentions that move these metrics.
FAQ: frequently asked questions about Ahrefs
Is Ahrefs free?
Partly. Ahrefs Free gives access to your own site's data after verification. Competitor and keyword analysis requires a subscription, from €27 a month with Starter.
How much does Ahrefs cost?
The Lite plan costs €119 a month, Standard €229 and Advanced €419. Brand Radar AI starts at €179 a month. Yearly billing reduces the price by up to 17%.
Does Ahrefs measure visibility in ChatGPT?
Yes, with Brand Radar and tracked prompts. The tool records a brand's mentions in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and AI Overviews, on its prompt base or on your own questions.
What is the difference between Ahrefs and Search Console?
Search Console gives your own site's real Google data, for free. Ahrefs estimates data for any site, including competitors, and adds backlinks and AI visibility.
