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🎙️ In this episode, we get into:
- Which SEO tools are actually getting traffic — and which ones are bleeding quietly
- Why AISEO is at the top, even after shedding 700K visits
- How Denmark, Vietnam, and Poland became SEO powerhouses (no, really)
- The rise of SurgeGraph, RivalFlow, and AITDK — and why you should pay attention
- The difference between tools that generate content and tools that actually help you rank
- Why niche tools (naming, microcopy, clustering) are outperforming the generic content bots
- What traffic trends reveal about the next wave of SEO innovation
- Why ChatGPT is eating half the market and writing smug case studies about it
We’re the team behind whatisthat.ai, the AI discovery platform built to cut through all the hype, and WITAI Advisory, the strategic services arm helping founders and leadership teams turn AI exploration into execution.
If this all feels overwhelming, it’s not your fault. The landscape is moving too fast for most teams to keep up!💨
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Creators and Guests
What is AI on Air by whatisthat.ai?
An AI-generated podcast that rips the glossy marketing veneer off the AI industry and tells you what’s actually happening underneath — tools, takeovers, weird experiments, and the occasional digital chaos.
witai.substack.com
Broadcasting live from somewhere inside the algorithm, this is AI on air, the official podcast from whatisthat.ai, we're your AI generated hosts, let's get into it.
Speaker 2:Welcome to the deep dive. Today, we're going to, cut right through all the marketing noise around SEO tools.
Speaker 1:Yeah. There's a lot of chatter out there.
Speaker 2:There really is. You hear so much about who's got the latest features, who's innovating, which tool you just have to use. Right. But our source for this deep dive, it gives us something much more fundamental. It says, and I quote, traffic is the best lie detector in marketing.
Speaker 2:These numbers tell a story.
Speaker 1:I like that. It's direct.
Speaker 2:Exactly. So we're not looking at hype. We're looking at actual eyeballs, actual user traffic to see who's really winning the visibility war right now.
Speaker 1:And that's why traffic is, well, such a powerful metric, isn't it? It's raw validation.
Speaker 2:Pure signal.
Speaker 1:Exactly. And what we have here is data from, June 2025, the latest monthly stats. So think of it like a scoreboard. Cuts right through the usual industry talk, the affiliate roundup.
Speaker 2:It's biased lists. Yeah.
Speaker 1:Totally. Yeah. And just a quick note, when we mentioned where these companies are based like Amsterdam or Poland, that's their headquarters. It's where the company is rooted, not necessarily where all the clicks are coming from.
Speaker 2:Got it. Okay. Let's dive into these numbers then. First up, the traffic titans. These are the top 10 by total monthly visits.
Speaker 1:Raw volume.
Speaker 2:Just sheer eyeballs on the page. Doesn't matter if they stayed, paid, or, rage quit immediately. This is just who got the clicks.
Speaker 1:Okay. Lay it on us.
Speaker 2:Number one, and this one's a bit of a surprise maybe, AAACO based in Amsterdam. They pulled in 2,420,000 visits.
Speaker 1:Wow. 2,400,000.
Speaker 2:Yeah. But here's the kicker. They were actually down by over 700,000 visits compared to the previous month.
Speaker 1:Okay, hold on. Down 700 k and still number one by a mile at 2,400,000.
Speaker 2:That's right.
Speaker 1:That is striking. It tells you they must have had an absolutely enormous previous month or maybe some huge launch campaign. That kind of volume, even declining, is massive. But the drop is significant too. Makes you wonder about sustainability.
Speaker 2:Definitely something to watch. Okay. Moving down. Number two, BrightSonic, US based. 1,080,000 visits.
Speaker 2:They're also down by about a 166,000.
Speaker 1:Okay. So another big player seen a dip.
Speaker 2:Yep. And number three, Surfer SEO from Poland. 955,000 visits and they're down to about a 172,000.
Speaker 1:Right, Sonic. Surfer. These are pretty established names in the content and SEO space. Seeing declines there is interesting.
Speaker 2:It is. Then number four, TubeBuddy, also from The US, 790,000 visits. Their drop was much smaller though, only about 8,600.
Speaker 1:Okay. TubeBuddy holding steadier, that likely points to their specific niche. Right? YouTube optimization.
Speaker 2:Mhmm.
Speaker 1:Probably a dedicated user base less swayed by general AI trends.
Speaker 2:That makes sense. Okay. Number five takes us to Vietnam. AIKTP. 539,000 visits down about 30,000.
Speaker 1:Vietnam, interesting, quietly pulling in half a million visits.
Speaker 2:Then number six, back to Poland with Sunuto. 325,000 visits, but they had a larger drop down a 132,000.
Speaker 1:Now both Polish contenders in the top 10, but Sunuto's dip is quite large.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Now number seven is where the trend breaks. Seo.ai from Denmark. 309,000 visits, and they were up almost 14,000.
Speaker 1:Ah, okay. Our first gainer in the top 10. Denmark represent.
Speaker 2:Right. Then number eight, junior dot ai from Estonia, 243,000 visits down about 33,000.
Speaker 1:Estonia on the map too, Baltic presence.
Speaker 2:Number nine, Zarla back in The US, 220,000 visits, and they were also up by almost 6,000.
Speaker 1:So the only two gainers are seo.ai from Denmark and Zara from The US. Yes. It's a key takeaway right there. Most of the big guys are shedding traffic, but these two are growing.
Speaker 2:Exactly. And rounding out the top 10 is seawriting.ai, another US tool, a 195,000 visits down about 23,000.
Speaker 1:So big picture from the titans. Azio way out front despite a drop established players like Right Sonic and Surfer losing ground, TubeBuddy holding steady and only two tools actually showing growth in this top tier. Plus a really interesting geographic mix with Poland, Vietnam, Estonia, Denmark.
Speaker 2:It definitely paints a picture of a market that's, shifting. Some giants might be stumbling a bit.
Speaker 1:Yeah. Momentum isn't necessarily with the biggest names right now with a couple of exceptions.
Speaker 2:So total traffic gives us a snapshot. You mentioned momentum. Growth is where the action is, right? Where's the energy?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. Total visits are one thing, but seeing who's adding the most new visitors month over month that tells you who's resonating right now, who's got the buzz. These are the potential future titans.
Speaker 2:Okay. Let's look at that list. The top 10 tools with the biggest increase in traffic from May to June 2025. Number one for growth is SurgiGraph. They're based in Malaysia.
Speaker 1:In Malaysia. Okay.
Speaker 2:They hit a 178,000 total visits, adding over 36,000 new visits in the month. That's a big jump.
Speaker 1:36,000 added visits is substantial. That's strong momentum, especially coming from Southeast Asia. It shows they're not just, you know, copying what others are doing. They're carving their own path.
Speaker 2:Number two for growth. Quick Creator from The US, a 171,000 total visits. They added over 18,000.
Speaker 1:Still a very healthy game.
Speaker 2:And number three, look who is again. SEO dot AI from Denmark. We saw them in the top 10 overall, and they're third for growth, adding nearly 14,000 visits to reach 309,000.
Speaker 1:Okay. SEO dot AI showing up strong on both lists. That's a really good sign for them. Decent volume and strong growth.
Speaker 2:Definitely. Number four, Rival Flow, US based. They're smaller overall, 58,000 visits, but they added almost 14,000 visits.
Speaker 1:Woah. Wait. 58 k total. Adding almost 14 k. That's like a 30% jump in traffic in one month.
Speaker 2:Yeah. A really significant percentage increase.
Speaker 1:That suggests they really hit on something. Found a nerve or a gap in the market. Very impressive growth rate.
Speaker 2:Okay, number five, AATDK from Hong Kong. 37,000 visits total, adding over 10,000.
Speaker 1:Hong Kong now too. Yeah. This growth list is really global.
Speaker 2:It is. Number six, outranking US 39,000 visits up by over 9,400.
Speaker 1:Another solid gain.
Speaker 2:Number seven, WOOP US again. Smaller base, 14,000 visits, but up by over 6,200.
Speaker 1:So nearly doubled their traffic or close to it.
Speaker 2:Significant percentage gain again. Number eight, Percy dot ai US. Even smaller, 6,800 visits, but they added almost 6,000.
Speaker 1:Great. Percy.ai basically exploded onto the scene relatively speaking.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Tiny base, huge growth percentage.
Speaker 2:Number nine, Zara, US. We saw them gaining in the top 10 overall list too. 220,000 visits and they added another 5,700 plus.
Speaker 1:Zara showing steady growth on a larger base. Consistent.
Speaker 2:And number 10, Abun from India. 14,700 visits up by over 5,700.
Speaker 1:India joining the party. So look at this list of gainers. Malaysia, Denmark, Hong Kong, India, alongside The US players. It really underlines that point about innovation happening everywhere.
Speaker 2:It really does.
Speaker 1:And notice how some of these are smaller tools, right? Well, Percy, Abone. They might seem tiny compared to ASIO's millions, but this growth, this is where the market churns. These are the ones our source says are the future players to watch. You really don't sleep on these.
Speaker 2:That's a great point. It's not always about the absolute number, but the rate of change. So when you look at these fast movers, what does it tell you about where things are heading? What stands out?
Speaker 1:Well, first, the geographic diversity we just talked about. It's impossible to ignore.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That idea of a, like, a Silicon Valley monopoly.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:It just doesn't hold up here, does it?
Speaker 1:Not at all.
Speaker 2:I mean, the map of these tools, it's described as more like a game of risk, which feels right.
Speaker 1:That's a good analogy.
Speaker 2:The US is still a major player, no doubt. Six of the top 10 by total traffic, six of the top 10 gainers.
Speaker 1:Sure. Still dominant in terms of sheer numbers of tools.
Speaker 2:But then you've got Poland being surprisingly powerful with surfer Issio and Sunuto both in the top 10 traffic list.
Speaker 1:Right. Punching above their weight, you might say.
Speaker 2:And Southeast Asia is clearly on the come up. Vietnam's AIKTP in the top 10, Malaysia's SurgiGraph leading the growth chart.
Speaker 1:Significant presence there.
Speaker 2:And we mentioned Denmark and Estonia. Our source jokes, the Baltic States are doing more than exporting furniture and digital nomads.
Speaker 1:Hey. Yeah. They're building serious tools. Seo.ai and junior.ai are proof.
Speaker 2:Plus Amsterdam, you know, with ASIO at the very top of the traffic chart.
Speaker 1:So the bottom line is really, really clear. If you're still thinking all the cool new stuff comes out of SF or the Valley, you're just wrong.
Speaker 2:You're missing a huge part of the picture.
Speaker 1:Completely. It forces you to think more broadly about where innovation is actually happening, where user needs are being met. It's decentralized.
Speaker 2:Which is probably healthier for the ecosystem overall. Right?
Speaker 1:You'd think so. More competition, more diverse approaches.
Speaker 2:Okay. So we know who's getting the clicks and where they're based, but what are these tools actually do? Let's maybe do that rapid fire rundown, our source suggested. Just plain English. What's their main job?
Speaker 1:Good idea. Connect the dots between the traffic and the function. Let's start with the traffic titans. Right. AZO.
Speaker 1:Long form AI writing, apparently with a pretty user friendly UI.
Speaker 2:Write Sonic.
Speaker 1:More general AI writing blogs, ads, social media like LinkedIn posts.
Speaker 2:Surfer SEO.
Speaker 1:That's more about on page optimization. Yeah. Analyzing content, suggesting keywords, that kind of thing.
Speaker 2:Too baddy.
Speaker 1:YouTube focused. Yeah. Thumbnails, tags, channel growth assistant.
Speaker 2:AI KTP from Vietnam.
Speaker 1:Minimalist AI writer, but also does keyword clustering, described as very slick. Senuto from Poland. A Polish market focused Serpi and content tool. Kinda like a localized Semrush maybe.
Speaker 2:Seo dot ai from Denmark.
Speaker 1:AI assistant specifically for creating SEO optimized content. Scandinavian precision was the phrase used.
Speaker 2:Okay. Junior. AI from Estonia.
Speaker 1:AI writing assistant sounds like it has a clean SAW style interface for content headlines, meta descriptions.
Speaker 2:Marla, the other gainer in the top 10.
Speaker 1:This one's different. AI powered business name generator.
Speaker 2:Oh, interesting niche. And seerwriting.ai.
Speaker 1:Pretty much what the name says. Basic AI for blog posts and other SEO content. So quite a mix in the top 10 from broad AI writers to very specific optimizers and even a name generator.
Speaker 2:Yeah. Now what about the fast movers? The ones surging, search a graph.
Speaker 1:Long form content builder, gaming for those big skyscraper style articles, includes keyword clustering
Speaker 2:Quick creator.
Speaker 1:Landing pages and blog posts. Focus seems to be on speed and generating content at scale.
Speaker 2:Rival flow, the one with the big percentage jump.
Speaker 1:Content gap analysis helps you see what your competitors rank for that you don't. Competitive intelligence.
Speaker 2:AATK from Hong Kong.
Speaker 1:Called AI KTP's cousin. Smaller, minimalist AI writer, but surprisingly competent.
Speaker 2:Outranking.
Speaker 1:This one sounds geared towards agencies. Structured content briefs plus AI generation, helping teams create optimized content.
Speaker 2:Oh, boat.
Speaker 1:Performance monitoring, tracking rankings, site speed, crawl errors, the technical SEO side.
Speaker 2:Percy.ai, the one with tiny traffic but huge growth.
Speaker 1:Micro copywriting AI. Focus on calls to action, product descriptions, those little conversion nudges. Very specific.
Speaker 2:Super specific. And Abun from India.
Speaker 1:An India based content tool described as nibbling at the edges of the market currently. What strikes me looking at both lists, but especially the gainers, is the specialization. Yes, AI writing is everywhere, but the tools really gaining traction seem to be solving very specific problems within the SEO workflow.
Speaker 2:Yeah. That seems to be the pattern emerging, doesn't it? Our source highlights this. AI writing tools are flooding the zone, but the ones gaining traffic aren't just writing, they're diagnosing, they're optimizing. That feels like the key distinction.
Speaker 1:Absolutely critical point. It's not just about spitting out words anymore. The platforms that are actually growing, the ones getting traction now, are doing more.
Speaker 2:Like what specifically?
Speaker 1:They're helping people improve existing content like Surfer or Outranking or they're helping find new opportunities like Rival Flows Gap Analysis or as we saw they're doing one niche thing really, really well.
Speaker 2:Like Zarlow with names or Kersey with microcopy or tools focusing on keyword clustering strategy.
Speaker 1:Exactly. Those specialized functions. Meanwhile, the more generalized just write me a blog post tools like Writesonic or ceowriting.ai according to this data. Yeah. They seem to be stagnating.
Speaker 2:Their traffic is declining.
Speaker 1:Right. And the source speculates pretty convincingly I think that ChatGPT most likely ate their lunch and probably wrote 10 articles about it while doing so.
Speaker 2:Probably true. The barrier to basic AI text generation is basically zero now.
Speaker 1:Exactly. So the value is shifted. It's moved towards tools that offer more specific analysis, optimization guidance, or unique workflows built around the AI.
Speaker 2:So here's the really interesting part then. The FARCIT, judging by this traffic data, is rewarding specificity. It's rewarding depth strategic application, not just the sheer volume of AI output.
Speaker 1:Precisely. It's a sign of the market maturing, maybe. Moving past the initial wow, AI can write phase into, okay, how can AI intelligently help me achieve specific SEO goals?
Speaker 2:That makes a lot of sense.
Speaker 1:You know, people can argue forever about which tool has the slickest UI or the most features or whose founder posts the funniest stuff online.
Speaker 2:Sure. The subjective stuff.
Speaker 1:But this traffic data, it doesn't care about any of that. It just reflects where users are actually spending their time and attention. It tells the real story.
Speaker 2:So wrapping this deep dive up, these numbers give us a pretty clear picture of the SEO tool landscape right now, at least for June 2025.
Speaker 1:Yeah. A real snapshot based on usage.
Speaker 2:And the key takeaways seem to be, the really big tools are plateauing or even declining in many cases.
Speaker 1:Check.
Speaker 2:Meanwhile, some tiny tools are surging, showing massive growth percentages by focusing on specific niches.
Speaker 1:Definitely seeing that.
Speaker 2:And maybe the biggest surprise. Innovation's coming from everywhere except where you'd expect. It's truly global.
Speaker 1:Couldn't agree more. Poland, Malaysia, Denmark, Vietnam, Hong Kong, India. Just all over the map.
Speaker 2:So a final thought then.
Speaker 1:Well, the core message is simple. Next time someone asks you which SEO tool they should try, maybe tell them to skip the usual influencer roundups for a second.
Speaker 2:Look at the numbers.
Speaker 1:Just look at the traffic numbers. Yeah. Because ultimately in the SEO game, traffic is the only KPI that really truly matters and that maybe leads to a bigger question for you, the listener, to think about. Okay. If traffic is the undeniable KPI here, the real measure of success, what other areas, maybe in business, maybe even in life, are we measuring success by the wrong metrics?
Speaker 1:Where else are we looking at hype instead of reality?
Speaker 2:That's it for this episode of AI on Air powered by whatisthat.ai. If your brain survived this episode, go ahead and subscribe. We drop new episodes every week. Wanna go deeper? Join our community on Substack to get early drops, tool breakdowns, and weird AI stuff the mainstream hasn't caught yet.
Speaker 2:See you there.