What’s the Most Accurate Rank Tracker? (Top 7 Comparison)
Have you ever wondered if your rank-tracking tool’s data is accurate?
If you have, you’re not alone. A quick Google search reveals that thousands of people are asking that same question about every rank tracker under the sun.
We’re here to simplify that search for you.
We’ve researched and tested the top 7 rank trackers to compare their accuracy and feature sets to help you decide which tool to trust with your business.
Let’s get started!
ProRankTracker
ProRankTracker is one of the most advanced rank-tracking tools available, and it’s the perfect choice for businesses looking to improve their SEO.
You’re able to track:
- Rankings across locations (even down to the zip code)
- Rankings for Google, Bing, YouTube, Amazon, and Yahoo
- Desktop and mobile devices
- Videos
- Google Maps
- Other SERP features like Featured Snippets
Since ProRankTracker is a dedicated rank-tracking tool, it provides rank-tracking depth and functionality that all-in-one SEO tools can’t compete with. A dedicated rank tracker is the way to go if your goal is complete rank-tracking accuracy.
Unlike many general SEO tools offering rank tracking, ProRankTracker doesn’t limit you to the number of URLs and projects you can track. Plus, using a dedicated rank tracker, you can avoid paying for features you don’t need for local SEO.
But is it accurate?
Let’s find out!
Accuracy
ProRankTracker is a highly specialized rank tracker known for its detailed rank tracking, especially for local-specific rankings.
It provides daily updates on EVERY plan (even the cheapest ones!) and tracks keywords across different devices and search engines, including YouTube and Amazon (and smaller search engines like Bing).
You’re also able to update your data on demand.
Even better? ProRankTracker guarantees 100% accurate ranking data daily, meaning you never have to wonder whether the data you get genuinely reflects the current SERPs.
ProRankTracker offers 6 different Ranking Views to give you a deep understanding of your ranks:
- Dashboard
- Project View
- URL View
- Term View
- Daily View
- Full SERPs
Additionally, you can use PRT’s 20+ reports to automatically compile all that accurate data into an easy-to-read report delivered directly to your inbox.
You also get access to Shared reports that you can view and share via a live URL.
That’s not even to mention the other advanced rank-tracking features like:
- Local rank tracking down to specific neighborhoods
- Google Maps rank tracking
- Keyword research
- Instant SERP checks
ProRankTracker is a fantastic choice for those who want a rank tracker with advanced features at a low cost.
Ahrefs
Ahrefs has one of the most extensive keyword databases you can find anywhere, and it provides valuable information for businesses looking to find keywords for any type of SEO (whether that’s global, local, or some other SEO format).
In addition to its famed keyword database, Ahrefs offers a rank tracker. It also includes a host of other valuable SEO tools.
Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools, but does its accuracy hold up to scrutiny?
Accuracy
Ahrefs is known for its extensive keyword database and robust rank-tracking capabilities.
However, that doesn’t mean this SEO giant’s data is always spot-on. In fact, one of the most frequent complaints is about rank-tracking data inaccuracies. How can this be?
This is most likely because Ahrefs only updates its rank-tracking data once a week, whereas other tools like ProRankTracker update theirs daily. This discrepancy can cause MASSIVE issues if one of your ranks suddenly drops (due to a Google penalty, a competitor’s strategic move, a broken link, or another issue).
You’re also unable to update your rank data on demand.
That being said, we recommend using a dedicated rank tracker due to the potential accuracy issues.
Semrush
Semrush is another SEO and online marketing tool known for being extremely comprehensive, but it also offers a rank tracker that tracks rankings across locations, devices, and SERP features.
If you’re looking for a rank-tracking SEO tool that offers a little bit of everything, Semrush might be the perfect tool.
However, be warned that Semrush can get extremely expensive and will probably be outside many smaller businesses’ price range.
Let’s examine Semrush’s rank tracker accuracy in more detail.
Accuracy
Semrush is widely recognized as a versatile tool with comprehensive SEO and rank-tracking capabilities.
Unlike similar all-in-one tools (looking at you, Ahrefs!) Semrush updates its data daily, giving you access to fresh and accurate ranks in its Position Tracking tools.
However, you don’t get access to on-demand updates, and the historical data for your rankings only goes back 60 days, which makes analyzing long-term data impossible.
Again, the major downside of Semrush is the PRICE.
Moz
Moz is another all-in-one SEO tool that offers rank tracking for local SEO, mobile devices, SERP features, and videos.
Is it accurate enough to find a place in your SEO toolbox?
Let’s find out.
Accuracy
Moz provides solid accuracy in rank tracking, but some users have expressed concerns over its accuracy in certain areas.
Similar to Ahrefs, Moz only updates its ranking data once per WEEK! This means that your rank data will only be accurate the day it refreshes (rankings often change day by day).
Unfortunately, we consider weekly ranking updates to be lacking–especially when other, cheaper tools like ProRankTracker provide daily updates on every single plan.
Moz does offer on-demand ranking updates.
SpyFu
SpyFu, as the name suggests, is a tool that helps you spy on your competitors and improve your SEO by stealing their best strategies.
SpyFu offers a full suite of SEO tools, including basic rank tracking that shows historical data going back 6 months for their Basic plan and 10+ years for their Professional plan.
In other words, SpyFu is an all-in-one SEO tool similar to Ahrefs and Semrush.
Let’s take a minute to see how SpyFu’s accuracy stands up against its competitors.
Accuracy
Even though SpyFu is a top-rated SEO tool, there’s a glaring issue with its data accuracy:
They say they update ranking data weekly, but they’ve also mentioned that data is only updated about once a month on average.
Note that this doesn’t mean SpyFu fetches inaccurate ranking data from the SERPs. It just means that the data isn’t fresh for long. Two weeks later, and you could be looking at entirely incorrect ranks without realizing it.
Ranks change quickly, so ranking tools should update their database frequently enough to reflect that.
They also do not offer on-demand updates, location-based tracking, mobile tracking, SERP feature tracking, and video tracking.
AccuRanker
AccuRanker is another popular dedicated rank-tracking tool, meaning it’s focused exclusively on helping you track rankings across the globe, devices, and SERP features.
In other words, AccuRanker is similar to ProRankTracker in that it is a specialized rank-tracking tool. However, be aware that the lowest pricing options on AccuRanker are MUCH higher than the smallest plans offered by PRT, making this a difficult option for small or medium-sized businesses.
Let’s take a look at AccuRanker’s accuracy to see how it stacks up!
Accuracy
AccuRanker is dedicated to providing reliable data across Google and other search engines. To that end, AccuRanker updates ALL its ranking data daily (on every plan).
In addition to standard daily updates, AccuRanker offers unlimited on-demand updates. On-demand updates can come in handy when you’re expecting your ranks to change (like if you’ve requested a Google recrawl) so you can refresh your ranks and see if anything has changed.
Google Search Console
After looking at many other tools, some people start to ask themselves a simple question:
Why not get your data straight from the horse’s mouth using Google Search Console?
Google Search Console helps you see how your website performs on Google’s search results. It gives you critical information to help you determine how you’re ranking:
- Impressions
- CTR
- Ranks
- Website errors that can lead to decreased ranks
But is the data ACCURATE?
Accuracy
Here’s the thing: Google has direct access to its own data, so you can trust that it’s giving you highly accurate data.
So, should you stop looking at rank trackers and just use Google Search Console?
NO!
There are several problems with that plan:
- Google Search Console only gives you data for Google. What if you want to track your ranks on Bing (you should), Amazon, and YouTube?
- Google Search Console just doesn’t give you a lot of detail when it comes to ranks (as shown below). You need to fill in the gaps with a dedicated rank tracker.
- Google Search Console doesn’t give you the flexibility that dedicated rank trackers do.
However, if you’re on a budget and only have a few keywords to track every month or so, it could save you some money.
The main problem with it is it won’t automatically generate easy-to-access rankings reports for the keywords you care about.
You also can’t get on-demand rank data… GSC data often lags behind by 1-2 days.
Why Rank-Tracking Accuracy Is So Important
At this point, you may be asking yourself a very reasonable question:
Who cares?
Seriously. Who cares about the difference between a 95% accurate rank tracker and a 100% accurate rank tracker?
The answer is that everyone who wants to maximize their rankings on the SERPs should care about the accuracy of their rank tracker.
If you have inaccurate or ranking data and you base strategic decisions on that data, you can expect those decisions not to help. Even worse, they could actively hurt you.
For example, you might drastically change an article because the rank stalled at the 12th position.
What if the article actually jumped to the 5th spot 4 days ago, but your rank tracker only updates data once a week? Now you’ve wasted all that work and you could actually DECREASE your article’s ranking on Google!
In other words, increasing the accuracy of your rank tracker will ALWAYS help you improve your rankings faster and more efficiently than less accurate rank trackers.
This is especially important if you’re running a global SEO campaign or need to see where you rank in locations that you can’t physically search from.
FAQ
What is the best search engine rank checker tool?
The best rank checker meets 3 criteria:
- It’s accurate
- It provides the data you need
- It’s easy enough to use that you ACTUALLY use it regularly
You can’t go wrong if your rank tracker meets those 3 criteria. Start with the list above to find some great tools.
Is a rank tracker free?
Some rank trackers and other SEO tools are free, but that doesn’t necessarily make them the best choice. For example, Google Search Console is free but only provides limited rank-tracking data.
Instead of trying to find a free rank tracker and settling for subpar data, we recommend upgrading to an inexpensive dedicated rank tracker like ProRankTracker.
Conclusion
So, what’s the most accurate rank tracker?
ProRankTracker offers 100% accurate ranks across the globe, multiple search engines, devices, and SERP features.
Plus, it’s available at a great price and offers a 14-day free trial to help you get started.
Whatever tool you use, start tracking your ranks soon to help you get the edge over your competitors!
Happy tracking!
