Frase.io vs Surfer SEO: Which AI SEO Platform Wins in 2025?

As a team of writers whose success is measured by SEO performance, our old workflow of scattered tools finally hit a wall. We landed a high-stakes SaaS client who made one thing clear: they were paying for rankings, not just words.

This forced a critical debate within our team: should we double down on a tool that perfects our research and drafting speed or a data-driven machine built for pure optimization?

This led us to the showdown: Frase.io vs. Surfer SEO. We invested our own money in both and put them through a 3-month trial on that very project. This is our honest report on which tool is the smarter investment for writers who need to win. Let’s dive in!

Frase.io Overview

Frase is an AI tool that combines SEO and GEO for optimized content

Frase is an AI-powered platform designed to help you research, write, and optimize content. It offers a suite of tools that cover the entire content creation lifecycle, from analyzing search engine results to generating full-length drafts.

For us, Frase acts as our “Content Creation Hub”—the central platform that takes us from a single keyword to a complete, well-researched first draft. What makes it essential for us today, however, is its crucial added dimension: GEO (Generative Engine Optimization). This approach ensures our work is no longer just optimized for Google; it’s strategically built to be trusted and cited as a source by AI platforms like ChatGPT, making every piece of content we create work twice as hard.

Surfer SEO Overview

Surfer SEO is a data-driven tool for on-page optimization

Surfer SEO is a content intelligence tool that focuses intensely on the on-page optimization aspect of content. It analyzes top-ranking pages to give you a data-driven blueprint for what your article needs to include to have the best chance of ranking.

We view Surfer as an ‘SEO Optimization Lab’. Its job isn’t primarily creation; it’s to scientifically refine and polish your content with data to win on the search engine results page.

Frase vs Surfer: A Head-to-Head Workflow Test

To make this comparison as real as possible, we’re going to walk you through a typical project that landed on our desk.

The Scenario: A new client, a promising SaaS startup, hired us to write a foundational blog post for their content marketing. The Topic: “Best project management software for small business.” The Goal: Create a comprehensive, long-form article that not only provides genuine value to the reader but is also heavily optimized to rank for this highly competitive keyword.

Our typical workflow for a project like this involves five critical stages. Let’s see how Frase and Surfer handled the pressure at each step.

Research and Competitor Analysis

This is where every great article begins. The goal is to understand the search intent, see what competitors are doing right, and find gaps we can exploit.

Frase’s Approach

We started by plugging our keyword, “best project management software for small business,” into a new Frase document. A “Research” pane immediately populated on the right. This is what blew us away: Frase didn’t just give us a list of URLs. It acted like a research assistant who had already read everything for us, organizing the key intel into clean tabs:

• Competitors: We could instantly see the full H2/H3 structure of all top 20 competitors without opening a single new browser tab.
• Questions: It pulled dozens of questions directly from Google’s “People Also Ask,” Quora, and Reddit. We immediately saw what real users were struggling with, like “Is Trello or Asana better for a 5-person team?”
• SERP: A clean summary of meta descriptions, word counts, and other key data points.

It felt like having a complete competitive analysis handed to us on a silver platter in under 60 seconds.

Frase excels in research and competitor analysis

Surfer’s Approach

We did the same in Surfer’s Content Editor. The right-hand sidebar is also populated with data, but with a different focus. Instead of summarizing the SERP for strategic insight, Surfer immediately gave us an optimization checklist:

• Keywords: A long list of keywords and NLP terms to include, like “task management,” “Gantt charts,” and “team collaboration,” along with the exact number of times we should use them.
• Structure: It provided a target word count (e.g., 3000-3500 words), a recommended number of headings (40-55), and paragraphs (100+).

Surfer’s research is laser-focused on the “what”—the specific ingredients you need to rank. Frase is focused on the “why”—understanding the landscape so you can build a better strategy.

Surfer SEO focuses on providing an optimization checklist for content

Winner: Frase.

For the initial research phase, Frase is in a league of its own. It saved us an incredible amount of time. Instead of spending hours manually clicking through SERPs and copy-pasting headings into a separate document, Frase gave us a strategic overview instantly. This allowed us to spend our brainpower on analyzing the information, not just gathering it.

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Creating the Content Outline

With our research done, the next step was to build the skeleton of our article.

Frase’s Approach

This is where Frase’s research seamlessly transitions into creation. We used two key features:

1. We browsed the competitor outlines in the “Research” tab and simply clicked to add the best, most relevant headings to our own document.
2. We then used the “Insert SERP Outline” feature, which automatically generated a logical structure based on the most common headings across all top competitors.

We could then easily drag-and-drop these sections, combining the best of the SERP with our own unique angle. The process felt like building with LEGOs—creative, intuitive, and fast.

Frase creates content outlines by combining research and structure

Surfer’s Approach

Surfer’s AI-powered “Outline Builder” took a different path. It generated unique, AI-written titles and headings. For our project, it suggested sections like “Unlock Peak Productivity with These Tools” and “Key Features Every Small Business Needs.” While some of these were decent starting points, they felt generic and disconnected from the deep SERP data. It was more of an “idea generator” than a “structure builder.”

Using Frase to create an outline is like an architect finalizing a detailed blueprint before construction begins. It provides a logical, research-backed foundation. Surfer’s approach is more like a builder getting a list of materials (keywords, topics) and some general ideas for rooms. Both are useful, but the detailed architectural plan is what ensures the final structure is sound.

Winner: Frase.

Surfer SEO generates AI titles, but lacks detailed outlines

AI Content Generation

Now for the heavy lifting: turning the outline into a first draft.

Frase’s Approach

Frase’s AI is a core part of its editor. We could highlight any heading in our outline, like “Top 5 Features to Look For,” and use the “Write About This” command. It would then generate a well-structured paragraph. More powerfully, it has a vast library of AI Templates. We used the “Listicle” template to draft the main review sections and the “Introduction” template to get started. For sheer speed, its ability to write a full article from just a title is unmatched for overcoming the dreaded “blank page” syndrome.

Frase quickly generates drafts using AI templates

Surfer’s Approach

Surfer’s built-in AI has evolved significantly. It can now generate full-length articles from a single keyword, complete with unique headings and paragraphs designed to meet its own SEO guidelines. Its core strength remains its deep integration with the SEO checklist; the AI’s primary goal is to write content that satisfies the Content Score from the outset. While it doesn’t have the extensive library of creative templates that Frase offers for varied tasks, its raw article-writing capability is now a direct competitor.

We must be honest here: no AI writes a publish-ready article. Frase’s AI produces an excellent “B+ grade” first draft. It saved us roughly 50% of the raw writing time. The other crucial 50% was our human effort: fact-checking, adding our team’s unique insights, refining the tone, and injecting storytelling to elevate it to an A+ piece. AI is your co-pilot, not the pilot.

Winner: Frase (for its built-in versatility, speed, and value).

Surfer’s AI generates articles with SEO focus

SEO Content Optimization

With a solid draft written, it was time to refine it into a finely tuned SEO machine.

Frase’s Approach

Frase uses a “Topic Score” (a percentage) which is based on a simple concept: how many of the competitors’ key topics have you covered? As we added missing terms from its suggestion list (like “resource allocation” or “kanban board”), our score increased. It’s a great way to ensure topical relevance.

Surfer’s Approach

This is where Surfer truly shines and justifies its reputation. The “Content Score” (1-100) is the command center, and the sidebar becomes an incredibly detailed dashboard. It gave us hyper-specific, data-driven targets:

• Use the term “task management” 8-15 times.
• Add 50-70 NLP terms like “agile methodology,” “project timeline,” and “budget tracking.”
• Ensure the article has between 50-65 headings. It’s an intense, data-rich environment that leaves no stone unturned.

Winner: Surfer SEO.

There’s no contest here. Surfer is the undisputed champion of deep optimization. Its power is backed by a well-known industry study from Originality.ai which found that Surfer’s Content Score has a 28% correlation with higher Google rankings. That’s a tangible data point we can’t ignore. However, a word of warning from our team: don’t become a slave to the score. We’ve seen writers sacrifice readability to cram in one more keyword just to get from 88 to 90. Use Surfer’s recommendations as expert guidance, not as strict rules.

Repurposing Content for Social Media

The article is done and optimized. But in 2025, our job isn’t over. We need to promote it.

Frase’s Approach

This is Frase’s secret weapon. We took our finished 3,000-word article, opened the AI Template library, and ran it through several templates:

• “LinkedIn Post”: Instantly created a professional summary with key takeaways.
• “Tweet Ideas”: Generated five different hooks to promote the post on X (Twitter).
• “Email Newsletter”: Wrote a compelling email to send to our client’s subscriber list.

The entire process took less than 15 minutes.

Surfer’s Approach

Surfer has no features designed for this task. Its focus ends once the on-page optimization is complete.

Winner: Frase.

A blog post is an asset, and Frase helps you maximize its return on investment. The ability to instantly repurpose a major piece of content into a week’s worth of promotional material is a massive value proposition for any content writer or marketer.

The Modern Search Landscape: SEO vs GEO

For years, our mission was clear: get the client on page one of Google. But the game has fundamentally changed. Our readers now get answers from two places: traditional search engines and AI chatbots. A successful content strategy in 2025 must compete in both arenas. This isn’t a future problem; it’s a today problem.

Frase’s Approach

This is where our team had a genuine “wow” moment during the trial. Inside the Frase editor, right next to the familiar “SEO Score,” we saw a new tab: “GEO Score.” It was the first time we’d seen a tool actively measure and guide optimization for AI citations.

Instead of just keywords, Frase’s GEO score is built on three pillars that language models care about most:

1. Authority: It scanned our article and flagged claims we made without backing them up. For our SaaS post, it suggested we add external links to authoritative sources like TechCrunch or G2 when mentioning specific software.
2. Readability: It gave our text a grade-level score. It flagged one of our paragraphs on “agile methodology” as being at a “Grade 14” reading level and offered a simpler, more direct AI-rewrite that was instantly clearer.
3. Structure: It analyzed how “scannable” our content was. It recommended breaking a long paragraph into a bulleted list to make the key features of a product easier for an AI to extract as a snippet.

Honestly, it felt like we had a coach specifically for writing for AI.

Frase’s GEO Score optimizes content for AI citations and readability

Surfer’s Approach

Surfer remains the undisputed master of the traditional SEO game. Its entire system is a perfectly tuned machine for deconstructing Google’s algorithm. We asked ourselves, “Does Surfer prepare us for GEO?”

As of today, the answer is no. Its analysis is 100% focused on the top 10 blue links on Google. It gives no specific feedback on citing sources for authority, simplifying text for readability, or structuring content for AI extraction. It operates on the principle that what ranks on Google will eventually feed the AI models, which isn’t always the case.

Winner: Frase

You may be interested in: Copy AI vs Frase (2025): Which Is Better for Content Marketing?

Our Honest Pros & Cons

Using a tool every day reveals the small things that don’t show up in a feature list. Here are the little details we loved and the things that bugged us.

Frase.io

• Pros: The Custom AI Templates feature is its true power, especially for writers working with diverse clients. We built our own template called ‘Explain Like I’m 5’ to simplify complex tech topics for a SaaS client. It allowed us to maintain a consistent, simple tone across dozens of articles and has been unbelievably effective.
• Cons: The editor can sometimes feel a bit slow when handling very long articles (4,000+ words). It’s not a deal-breaker, but it can be irritating. Our workaround: We often do the initial raw drafting for these epic posts in Google Docs and then paste the content into Frase for the research and optimization phases.

Surfer SEO

• Pros: The Audit feature for refreshing existing content is worth its weight in gold, particularly for writers managing their own blogs or long-term client sites. It shows us exactly which posts are experiencing ‘content decay’ and what keywords to add. Using this, we revived an old post for a client and saw its traffic increase by over 30% in two months.
• Cons: The “gamification” of the Content Score is a double-edged sword. It can lead writers to focus on hitting a number rather than writing a great, readable article. Our pro-tip: We coach our team to aim for the green zone (typically 70+) and then stop looking at the score. From that point on, the focus should shift entirely to readability and user experience.

Pricing: Which Tool Offers Better Value for a Writer?

A great tool is only great if it fits the budget. So, let’s break down the real-world cost and value of investing in either Frase or Surfer SEO, focusing on the details that matter most to a writer making a decision.

Surfer SEO Pricing Plans

Frase.io Pricing Plans

Our Final Recommendation

Our Team’s Choice: After all our testing, Frase.io is the tool we open every single day. It solves more of our daily problems as content writers. While Surfer is an excellent specialist tool we bring out for high-stakes SEO projects, Frase is the better all-around partner for the craft of creating content.

Choose Frase if:

• You are a freelancer or part of a content team, and your biggest bottlenecks are research, outlining, and drafting.
• You want a single tool to manage your entire content creation process, from the initial idea to the final social media post.
• You value speed, workflow efficiency, and ease of use.
• You need to create content that performs in today’s dual environment: ranking on Google (SEO) and getting cited by AI chatbots (GEO).

Choose Surfer SEO if:

• You are an SEO specialist, or your primary job is to rank content in hyper-competitive niches.
• You need the most detailed, data-driven SEO suggestions available on the market.
• You have the budget for a highly specialized tool.