Best free SEO tool, according to Claude and Perplexity
We asked Claude and Perplexity a single buyer-style question and recorded what they named. This page shows the verbatim brand short lists each model returned, plus where the models agreed and what they cited.
ChatGPT
Gemini
ClaudeThe question we asked
“What are the best free SEO tools?”
At a glance
Distinct brands named
9
Across 2 of 4 models
Cited by all four models
0
No universal consensus this run
Named by only one model
6
67% of recommendations are model-specific
Total citations
17
Source URLs returned by all models combined
Brand by model coverage
Every brand named by at least one model, with the position each model gave it. First-place positions matter most: they carry disproportionate weight in how readers remember and quote AI recommendations.
| Brand | ChatGPT | Gemini | Claude | Perplexity | Models |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | · | · | 1 | 1 | 2/4 |
| Google Keyword Planner | · | · | 2 | 3 | 2/4 |
| Ahrefs Webmaster Tools | · | · | 3 | 4 | 2/4 |
| Google Analytics | · | · | · | 2 | 1/4 |
| Ubersuggest | · | · | 4 | · | 1/4 |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider | · | · | 5 | · | 1/4 |
| Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free tier) | · | · | · | 5 | 1/4 |
| Moz Link Explorer | · | · | 6 | · | 1/4 |
| Semrush (free tier) | · | · | · | 6 | 1/4 |
What each AI model named
ChatGPT
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Gemini
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Claude
- 1Google Search Console
- 2Google Keyword Planner
- 3Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
- 4Ubersuggest
- 5Screaming Frog SEO Spider
- 6Moz Link Explorer
Google Search Console is the top free SEO tool, offering indexing and performance data directly from Google. Google Keyword Planner helps with keyword research. Ahrefs Webmaster Tools provides free site audits and backlink data. Ubersuggest offers keyword and competitor insights. Screaming Frog's free tier crawls up to 500 URLs for technical audits. Moz Link Explorer gives limited but useful backlink analysis.
Perplexity
- 1Google Search Console
- 2Google Analytics
- 3Google Keyword Planner
- 4Ahrefs Webmaster Tools
- 5Screaming Frog SEO Spider (free tier)
- 6Semrush (free tier)
These tools cover core SEO needs—indexing and performance (Search Console), analytics (GA), keyword research (Keyword Planner), backlinks and audits (Ahrefs), technical crawling (Screaming Frog), and competitive/keyword data (Semrush). All have genuinely useful free tiers, are widely recommended by practitioners, and appear consistently across multiple 2026 roundups and reviews.
Where the models agreed
3 brands were named by more than one model. AI models diverge often; cross-model agreement is a stronger signal than a single mention.
| Brand | Models that named it | Best position |
|---|---|---|
| Google Search Console | Claude (#1), Perplexity (#1) | #1 |
| Google Keyword Planner | Claude (#2), Perplexity (#3) | #2 |
| Ahrefs Webmaster Tools | Claude (#3), Perplexity (#4) | #3 |
What this snapshot suggests
For the question "What are the best free SEO tools?", the 2 models reporting collectively named 9 distinct brands on July 29, 2026.
Each model led with a different recommendation in many cases. Claude opened with Google Search Console. Perplexity opened with Google Search Console. The brand a model names first carries disproportionate weight, because first-place recommendations are the most likely to be remembered by readers and quoted by downstream AI agents.
Treat this as a snapshot, not a definitive ranking. AI Overview content changes 70 percent of the time for the same query, and SparkToro found less than a 1-in-100 chance that two identical queries return the same brand list. The pattern across many runs is more informative than any single result. That is why Honeyb measures across a full prompt set on a schedule, rather than a single question, for the brands we monitor.
If your brand appears here, the recommendation work is paying off. If it does not, the gap is measurable and improvable. The pillars of getting recommended by AI are documented in our guide to generative engine optimization.
Source domains AI cited
Most-cited domains across the four models. Stacked segments show which engine drove each citation. Perplexity and Claude expose citations consistently; ChatGPT and Gemini do so inconsistently, so absence does not mean a model used no source.
Full citation list
- https://search.google.com/search-console/about
- https://ahrefs.com/webmaster-tools
- https://neilpatel.com/ubersuggest/
- https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/
- https://moz.com/link-explorer
- https://thecmo.com/tools/free-seo-tools/
- https://searchengineland.com/seo-free-tools-know-443896
- https://seranking.com/free-tools.html
- https://cmswire.com/digital-marketing/10-best-free-seo-tools-for-marketers/
- https://learn.g2.com/best-free-seo-tools
- https://www.marketermilk.com/blog/best-seo-tools
- https://backlinko.com/best-free-seo-tools
- https://moz.com/blog/best-free-seo-tools
- https://lowfruits.io/blog/best-free-seo-tools/
- https://www.reddit.com/r/SaaS/comments/1ho4hbu/best_free_seo_tools/
- https://www.cmswire.com/digital-marketing/10-best-free-seo-tools-for-marketers/
- https://www.semrush.com/blog/free-seo-tools/
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