Search Atlas emphasizes AI workflows, new authority metrics, and scalable content systems. It was developed under the direction of Manick Bhan, a name you might recognize if you follow developments in search and algorithm research. The platform aims to challenge long-standing industry standards.
We’ll take a closer look at Search Atlas in this review. We’ll talk about what it offers, how it compares to more traditional SEO tools, and whether its novel approach is useful for professionals who manage content, rankings, and strategy on a large scale.
Search Atlas was created by Manick Bhan, a data scientist and SEO expert, and it promises to go beyond basic metrics and introduce new concepts. How well it performs will likely depend on how you use it.
It includes AI tools designed to reduce manual work and streamline your SEO workflow. But it is also an all-in-one SEO and PPC platform, especially useful if you’re juggling multiple clients.
Here is a summary of the Search Atlas tools:
These tools have been released within the past year, so this is a fresh look at some of the latest features of Search Atlas:
The Search Atlas Site Explorer lets you see how well any website is doing with SEO in detail. Enter a URL and select the country and URL type, and you’ll get data on metrics like Domain Power, traffic, keyword rankings, backlinks, and spam scores.
It’s a helpful way to quickly assess a site’s strengths, weaknesses, and competitive position.
If you’re focused on content strategy, the Topical Dominance tool might be worth exploring. It evaluates how thoroughly your site covers a subject—something Search Atlas claims is more closely tied to rankings than backlinks.
There are other tools focused on competitors, such as SERP Tracker to monitor keyword rankings over time and the Competitor Gap Analyzer to compare your content with top-ranking competitors.
Search Atlas includes several tools aimed at supporting SEO and content strategy, one of which is Scholar, a new feature developed in response to insights from the recent Google API leaks.
These leaks provided a closer look at how Google might evaluate page quality and authority, and Scholar was designed to reflect those factors more directly than older tools.
Unlike other checkers that focus on keyword use or readability scores, Scholar takes a different approach. Some of the key metrics it offers include content clarity, factuality, semantic relevance, entity optimization, human effort (e.g., use of images, schema), and information gain—how much new value your content provides beyond what already exists in search results.
You’ll also have access to Content Genius, an AI content assistant, and a Content Planner to help you organize content around keyword intent. The Topical Map Generator allows you to build keyword clusters for broader topic coverage.
According to Search Atlas, an AI SEO agent doesn’t just give recommendations but makes the changes on the website. Search Atlas’s AI SEO agent is called OTTO SEO.
Once installed, OTTO connects to your site and starts scanning for issues. That includes updating meta tags, adding schema markup, fixing broken links, content creation, keyword inclusion, and optimizing internal linking.
This makes OTTO one of the platform’s main differentiators, as it’s not limited to an AI content writer and also goes a step further by taking action on your website. It could save you time with a large website or if you’re managing multiple websites. That said, how well it fits your workflow may depend on how much control you want over the changes it makes.
Domain Power is a newer authority metric from Search Atlas that aims to offer an alternative to traditional scores like Domain Authority (DA) and Domain Rating (DR). These older metrics can be inconsistent and are sometimes easy to manipulate. Domain Power (DP) takes a different approach by using Google Search Console data, organic traffic, and keyword rankings to assess site performance.
For example, instead of just checking a website’s backlink profile, DP better reflects how Google evaluates authority from its own point of view. You might find it more useful for link building today or to complement your decision-making process.
This metric can be found in the competitor analysis tools, but it’s also integrated into tools like the bulk URL analyzer.
Search Atlas has introduced a tool called WILDFIRE for link-building. The process is straightforward: you add two outbound links to other relevant websites and, in return, receive one backlink from a topically aligned domain.
You can approve or reject each suggestion, and unapproved requests are auto-approved after 72 hours. The links you choose are added in the footer HTML of your website. That means they are not visible to users but are detectable via DevTools and Google.
Search Atlas also has tools for outreach, like a tool to outreach automatically to editors, newswires, and possible partners. There are email templates, a dashboard for follow-ups, and HARO automation.
Search Atlas was always easy to use, but in the last few months, they updated the dashboard again, and it’s even easier to use. Everything is located on panels on the left, and you can switch between the tools easily, including keyword research, content tools, technical audits, the AI SEO agent, and others.
Gartner stated that Search Atlas ranks above other competitors like Ahrefs, Semrush, and MarketMuse in usability. Our opinion is the same, as its interface eliminates unnecessary complexity.
Search Atlas plans start at $99/month for the Starter tier, with higher-tier pricing and custom pricing available for enterprise needs. The pricing is affordable compared to Ahrefs and Semrush. If you’re managing multiple projects and are going to use the AI SEO agent, you are also saving time and human staff, so it’s worth counting this.
If you’re working with several websites, the platform’s scalability can be a key benefit. As you add more sites, the cost per OTTO SEO activation decreases from $99 to as low as $39 per site. A 7-day free trial is available, and the onboarding emails help you get familiar with the platform.
You can sign up to Search Atlas directly on their website. They offer a 7-day free trial that includes access to key tools like OTTO SEO, Content Genius, and WILDFIRE.
We’ve signed up, and we received onboarding emails to help navigate the platform and test its features. This may be a good way to see how it fits into your workflow before committing to a paid plan.
