What needs improvement
PSA for agencies: Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit locks you into $99/mo per brand with no self-service removal
Wanted to share my experience so other agencies don't get caught off guard.
We recently started using Semrush's AI Visibility Toolkit (Brand Performance feature). As an agency, we added a couple of brand domains to evaluate — one was for a pitch we didn't even win.
When I went to remove the unused domain, I discovered:
You can't remove brands yourself. There's no button, no setting, no self-service option.
Each brand you add triggers a $99/month recurring charge that continues indefinitely whether you use it or not.
To remove a domain, you have to contact support and wait for their team to handle it manually.
To cancel the toolkit entirely, you have to fill out a cancellation form, then confirm via an email button within 24 hours, or it doesn't go through.
When I asked support about this, even the agent seemed confused about how billing works for these slots. At one point they told me billing is "based on term length, not usage" but also confirmed we're on a monthly term — which... should mean it drops off next month? They couldn't clearly explain it either.
Why this matters for agencies: We add and drop brands constantly — pitches, audits, short-term projects. A tool that silently locks you into ongoing charges per domain with no way to manage it yourself is a dealbreaker. This isn't a pricing problem, it's a product design problem.
For what it's worth, support was polite and did offer to remove the domain manually. But the fact that this is the only way to do it — combined with the multi-step cancellation process — feels like textbook dark pattern design.
We're moving to another provider. Just wanted to put this out there for anyone evaluating Semrush's AI tools for agency use.
TL;DR: Semrush charges $99/mo per brand in their AI Visibility Toolkit with no self-service way to remove brands or stop charges. Cancellation requires a form + email confirmation within 24 hours. Even their support couldn't clearly explain the billing. Agencies beware.
How responsive and helpful is SEMrush customer support?
They try to be helpful, but the product team has created so many dark patterns that
