Use SEMrush's AI Writing Assistant for SEO Content

What This Does

SEMrush's built-in AI writing tools analyze the top-ranking pages for your target keyword and help you write or optimize content to match — without leaving SEMrush or copying data into another tool.

Before You Start

• You have a SEMrush account (Guru or Business plan for full access; some features available on Pro)
• You know your target keyword for the page you're working on
• You're logged into SEMrush

Steps

1. Open the SEO Writing Assistant

In the left sidebar, navigate to Content Marketing → SEO Writing Assistant. Click Analyze new text or open an existing document.

What you should see: A Google Docs-style text editor on the left, and a panel on the right showing your SEO score, readability score, and recommendations.

2. Set your target keyword

In the right panel, click Set a new target and enter your primary keyword. Add 2-3 secondary keywords if you have them. Select your target country. Click Get recommendations.

What you should see: The right panel populates with: recommended word count, keywords to include, readability score target, and a list of top-ranking competitors for that keyword.

3. Use the AI to draft or improve content

Click the Ask AI button (magic wand icon) in the toolbar. Options appear:

• Compose — drafts new paragraphs based on your brief
• Rephrase — rewrites selected text
• Simplify — makes selected text clearer
• Expand — adds more detail to a section

For a fresh draft, click Compose and provide a brief outline of what the section should cover.

4. Optimize your content score

As you write, the right panel updates your SEO score in real time. Aim for a score above 7/10. The panel shows which recommended keywords you've used (green checkmarks) and which you're still missing (yellow dots). Work the missing keywords into your text naturally.

Troubleshooting: If your score plateaus around 6-7, check the Tone of Voice setting in the right panel. If it's set to "Casual" but competitors are formal (or vice versa), that's often the gap.

Real Example

Scenario: You need to write a 1,200-word blog post targeting "technical SEO audit checklist" for a client in the SaaS space.

What you do: Set target keyword to "technical SEO audit checklist." The tool recommends 1,100-1,400 words and flags 12 semantically related terms to include (crawlability, indexation, Core Web Vitals, etc.). Click Compose, enter "Introduction: Why technical SEO audits matter for SaaS websites." The AI writes 2-3 opening paragraphs. Continue with each section heading.

What you get: A structured draft at roughly the right word count, with your target keywords naturally incorporated. SEO score: 7.5/10 after optimization.

Tips

• Use SEMrush's ContentShake AI (under Content Marketing) for a fully automated first draft — it produces an entire article with headings, then lets you edit with the Writing Assistant.
• The Plagiarism checker in the right panel is worth running before publishing — it flags any passages that might have been over-borrowed from training data.
• Export your optimized content to Google Docs with one click using the export button — handy for sharing with clients or editors.

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the Content Marketing section of the sidebar.