Use SEMrush's AI Writing Assistant to Create SEO Content Outlines

What This Does

SEMrush's SEO Writing Assistant analyzes real-time SERP data and uses AI to help you create content outlines with recommended semantic keywords, ideal word count, and readability targets — grounding your content briefs in what's actually ranking rather than guesswork.

Before You Start

• You have a SEMrush account (Guru plan or higher includes this feature)
• You know the target keyword for the content piece
• You have your client's website URL for the tone analysis

Steps

1. Access SEO Writing Assistant

1. Log in to SEMrush at semrush.com
2. In the left navigation, click Content Marketing → SEO Writing Assistant
3. Click Analyze new text to open a new document

2. Set your target parameters

1. In the right panel, find the Target keywords field — type your primary target keyword (e.g., "best project management software for small teams")
2. Set Target location to the relevant country/region for your client
3. Set the Device (typically Desktop)
4. Click Get recommendations — SEMrush analyzes the top 10 results for your keyword

3. Review the AI-generated recommendations

The right panel now shows:

• Recommended word count — based on average of top-ranking competitors
• Readability score target — the Flesch-Kincaid range you should hit
• Recommended keywords — semantic/related terms that top-ranking content includes
• Questions to answer — based on People Also Ask and search intent signals

4. Use AI to expand your outline

1. In the main text area, type a basic outline: H1, H2 headers for sections you're planning
2. Right-click on any section heading and select Ask AI to expand it, or use the AI assistant button in the toolbar
3. The AI suggests how to develop each section to best match the keyword intent

5. Export for your content brief

1. Once your outline is complete, click the ... menu and select Export
2. Copy the outline and recommendations into your standard content brief template

Real Example

Scenario: You're writing a content brief for a client who wants to rank for "cybersecurity for small businesses." You need to know what word count to target, what subtopics to cover, and what questions to answer.

What you do: Enter the keyword, let SEMrush analyze the SERP, then use the AI to flesh out a 6-section outline that covers the recommended semantic keywords and hits the target word count.

What you get: A data-grounded content brief that tells your writer exactly what to cover — not what you assumed competitors covered

Tips

• The recommended keyword list is gold — share it with your writers as a "natural language targets" section in the brief
• If SEMrush's word count recommendation differs significantly from competitor page lengths, trust the data over intuition
• The Google Docs add-on version of SEO Writing Assistant lets your writers see the recommendations in real-time as they write

Tool interfaces change — if a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.