I’ve been following Matt Diggity for a while now. He seems like a great dude. In fact, his Affiliate Lab was one of the first SEO courses I purchased and it really helped me get my start in the affiliate marketing space. 

One of the tools Matt recommends in his training and on YouTube is Surfer SEO. I think he might even have a share in the company itself. 

A few months back, Matt created this video:

What’s really interesting about this video was the fact that Matt was able to build an AI-only content website to over $8k a month which is pretty wild. 

But like most of us, he quickly realized the limitations of ChatGPT and current AI writing tools. Even with AI content writers, it still requires time to optimize the content, fix factual errors, and check for grammatical errors.

So, he set out to create the ultimate AI writing tool. One that would create 1-click-ready content that was fully Surfer SEO optimized – saving him a bunch of time and money.

Essentially having to cut out the writer, take half the time and half the costs. 

This week, that dream came into fruition. 

Introducing Surfer SEO AI. 

The one-click fully optimized SEO AI writing tool. 

But how good is it? And more importantly, is it worth the high asking price? 

Well, after spending some time with the tool I wanted to give you my honest review so you can make up your own mind. 

What is Surfer SEO:

If you’re not already familiar, Surfer SEO is a cloud-based on-page optimization tool designed to help with SEO optimization of written content like blog posts, and articles.

To do this, it analyzes the content of a page against “500+ on-page” signals and compares them to high-ranking results for the same keywords.

It then provides a data-driven analysis of what’s missing from content helping you to add the missing pieces – to rank higher in the SERPs.

How does the new Surfer SEO AI tool work:

I made a short video to explain how the tool works and my thoughts on the content. Put simply you:

1. Select a keyword
2. Open up the Content Editor
3. Let it read the SERPs for your chosen keyword
4. Select your tone of voice
5. Review the outline
6. Review the websites already ranking for your keyword
7. Hit create, and then wait patiently

A Huge Surfer SEO score on the first go:

Basically, when I created my article, I thought I’d try doing it without any direct input. So I left everything on the default settings, entered my keyword – hit create and sat back (for almost 15 minutes) and waited to see what came back. 

Here’s the result: 77, not bad. Not bad at all! 

Most AI content I’ve put into Surfer SEO generally sits around 40-60. And yes, I know you can also use a bunch of prompts and scripts to get it higher, but honestly, I don’t have time for that. 

I could probably keep messing with the LSI keywords and bump that 77 somewhere into the 80’s range, but I think my article would probably still land somewhere on the first page without too much editing.

A few more articles, and some additional topical authority content and this article would do really well.  

But how did the article actually read? Was it natural sounding? Did it flow and read well?

I think, for the most part, it did a really good job. No AI tool will ever get this perfect, and that’s because most human writers will never get it perfect either. But it reads well and I think the article headlines and structure are good. Big tick. Nice one Surfer.

via GIPHY

One thing I always have trouble with is the main target keyword. I always overuse it, especially if I’m talking about a review of some sort. So it’s good to see Surfer SEO AI use this more than the recommended amount too. It has no impact on the score, but overuse can sometimes lead to keyword stuffing. And now I don’t feel so silly. 🤣

What’s the quality of the content like?

Rather than me saying “It’s great”, I figure it’s easier for you to read the content yourself and make up your own mind. 

Here’s a link to content I create with the tool in a Google Doc. 

Personally, I’m happy with the content. My friend (who is a professional copywriter) thought it felt a bit dry and lacking personality, but for the type of article it is, I think it’s plenty good enough. I’d happily pay someone $50 for it.

P.S. Please don’t steal this content for your own site cause I might use it one day 🙂 

Do you still need to edit for plagiarism? 

There are heaps of tools out there that can help you check for plagiarism – but Surfer SEO’s new AI content editor includes a built-in check. Once the article finishes and you land on the CE screen, you can go up to the top right hand side (near the content score) and click the small check icon. 

Here you’ll get the option to run a plagiarism check right within Surfer SEO. Alternatively, you can use Grammarly or any of the multiple tools online to see if the content comes back with any issues. 

I’d be very surprised if you did get any errors because the team at Surfer has done a lot of internal work to make sure all AI content is free of any problems.

Outputting directly to WordPress

Like the previous versions of Surfer SEO, there’s the ability to directly send AI content directly into your WordPress site. 

I love this feature and I use it all the time. 

1. You start by connecting your site to Surfer SEO
2. Click the WordPress icon in the content editor
3. Click either ‘new post’ or ‘update existing post’ 
4. Tab across to your WordPress site
5. Check the article has come across correctly
6. Make sure there are no errors with the layout (happens sometimes)
7. Hit Publish and you’re done. Love it! So easy.

This will save you so much time copying and pasting – plus it generally does a great job of keeping the layout in the setup when you move it across to your site. 

Pricing

Alrighty… So here’s the burning question on everyone’s mind. Is Surfer’s new AI article writer actually worth it? When I first saw the cost of $29 PER ARTICLE, I was shocked. I mean you can get a quality AI writer like Koala.sh or Agility Writer for $25-$49 a month. Which would let you create about 20+ articles.

Why, in my right mind would I pay $29 for ONE article? 

Then, I spent some time with the tool. I created an article, and the result (a score of 77) made me sit back and think twice. 

I think the new Surfer SEO AI tool is actually worth it, for the right person. 

For example, if you’re an agency that creates content all day, or you build and flip websites for a living (like Matt) and you need the highest quality AI content – that you know will rank extremely well, wouldn’t you rather pay $29 for one article vs. $40-$100 per human written article? Yeah, you probably would.

I don’t think the new Surfer SEO AI content writer is aimed at everyone, and that’s totally okay. 

They’ve looked at what the rest of the AI market is doing and said – how can we separate ourselves from the rest of the pack and make sure the quality of the content is always really high. 

Will I keep using Surfer SEO AI to create my articles? Hmm. I’m not sure. I do like it, but I also really like Koala.sh + NeuronWriter. 

My suggestion to you is to try the following:

Try 5,000 words with Koala.sh for free + NeuronWriter for $1 

Then compare it to an article with Surfer SEO and see what you think. 

If you’re interested in the higher plans from the new Surfer SEO AI tool, here’s the full list of plans:

Price	AI Credits
💵 $29	1 Article
💵 $145	5 + 2 Free
💵 $290	10 + 5 Free
💵 $725	25 + 15 Free

Conclusion

It’s a really interesting time for blogging, affiliate marketing and SEO. AI is making tracks at record speeds. 

ChatGPT and AI writing tools are making it extremely easy for people to build high-quality authority blogs without the need for a whole team of writers. 

Big-name bloggers like Matt Diggity, Jon Dryska, and Anne Moss (among many others) are moving away from having multiple writers, to having “AI wranglers”. People who create AI content all day, every day.

The good news is Google has publicly stated, they don’t care if it’s AI content in the SERPs as long as it’s helpful to the reader. 

Surfer’s new AI tool is pretty awesome. It’s expensive, yes. But you pay for quality.

Personally, I can’t wait to see what people are able to do with the tool once they’ve had a bit more time with it. But first impressions are really really good.

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