Ahrefs AEO Course vs Semrush AI SEO Course
Two AI SEO courses compared on the facts their official pages show, checked September 26, 2026.
- Ahrefs AEO Course: Free, self-paced, from Ahrefs Academy.
- Semrush AI SEO Course: Free, self-paced, from Semrush Academy.
- Both show AI citation work, AI visibility tracking, classic SEO, link and mention building and ChatGPT by name.
- Only Ahrefs AEO Course shows AEO. Only Semrush AI SEO Course shows a certificate.
Checked against official course pages. Last data check September 26, 2026.
Show as table
| Course | First-year cost |
|---|---|
| Ahrefs AEO Course | Free or varies |
| Semrush AI SEO Course | Free or varies |
Side by side
| Ahrefs AEO Course | Semrush AI SEO Course | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Format | Self-paced | Self-paced |
| Level | Beginner | Not stated |
| GEO | No | No |
| AEO | Yes | No |
| AI citations | Yes | Yes |
| AI visibility tracking | Yes | Yes |
| Entity SEO | No | No |
| Classic SEO | Yes | Yes |
| Links and mentions | Yes | Yes |
| ChatGPT named | Yes | Yes |
| Certificate | Not shown | Yes |
| Live support | No | No |
| Community | No | No |
Ahrefs AEO Course
The course page frames the goal as getting your brand mentioned, cited and recommended by ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity and Gemini. Lessons include one on brand mentions and how to get cited by AI, keyword and prompt research for AEO, technical AEO (robots.txt, GPTBot, llms.txt) and tracking AI traffic in GA4 and Ahrefs Web Analytics. The term GEO and the words entity or knowledge graph do not appear on the course page; Ahrefs counts it as 12 lessons in 5 modules.
Free.
Semrush AI SEO Course
The course page describes moving from tracking keywords to tracking prompts, optimizing for LLMs like ChatGPT, measuring AI visibility versus competitors, share of voice and brand perception, prompt research, identifying untapped citation sources and earning mentions on platforms AI systems trust, creating citation-worthy content, and technical SEO for AI systems. The literal terms Generative Engine Optimization, Answer Engine Optimization, entity and knowledge graph do not appear on the page. The modules value is the stated lesson count; no separate module grouping is shown.
Free; certificate on passing the final assessment.
Which one should you take?
Pick Ahrefs AEO Course if you want AEO.
Pick Semrush AI SEO Course if you want a certificate.
If neither fits, the full AI SEO course database has 41 programs to filter.
Frequently asked questions
Is Ahrefs AEO Course or Semrush AI SEO Course better?
Neither is better for everyone. Pick Ahrefs AEO Course if you want AEO. Pick Semrush AI SEO Course if you want a certificate.
Which is cheaper, Ahrefs AEO Course or Semrush AI SEO Course?
Ahrefs AEO Course: Free. Semrush AI SEO Course: Free; certificate on passing the final assessment.