Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR): Business Model Canvas

In der sich schnell entwickelnden digitalen Marketinglandschaft entwickelt sich Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) zu einer leistungsstarken Plattform, die die Art und Weise verändert, wie Unternehmen Online-Marketing-Herausforderungen verstehen und meistern. Durch das Angebot einer umfassenden Suite von SEO-, Wettbewerbsintelligenz- und Marketinganalysetools hat Semrush die Art und Weise revolutioniert, wie Digitalprofis und Unternehmen ihre Online-Präsenz strategisch gestalten. Dieser tiefe Einblick in ihr Business Model Canvas enthüllt die komplizierten Mechanismen hinter ihrem Erfolg und zeigt, wie eine hochentwickelte Technologieplattform Marketingfachleuten in verschiedenen Branchen und auf Organisationsebene einen beispiellosen Mehrwert bieten kann.

SEMrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Wichtige Partnerschaften

Agenturen und Freiberufler für digitales Marketing

SEMrush unterhält strategische Partnerschaften mit über 500 Agenturen für digitales Marketing weltweit. Diese Partnerschaften generieren schätzungsweise 35 % des Empfehlungsumsatzes des Unternehmens.

Partnerschaftstyp	Anzahl der Partner	Jährlicher Empfehlungswert
Agenturen für digitales Marketing	500+	12,4 Millionen US-Dollar
Freiberufliche Marketingprofis	2,500+	3,7 Millionen US-Dollar

Partner für Software- und Technologieintegration

SEMrush arbeitet mit über 75 Technologieintegrationspartnern auf verschiedenen Plattformen zusammen.

• HubSpot
• Google Analytics
• Zapier
• WordPress
• Shopify

Cloud-Infrastrukturanbieter

SEMrush nutzt Amazon Web Services (AWS) als primärer Cloud-Infrastrukturanbieter, der eine Plattformverfügbarkeit von 99,99 % unterstützt.

Cloud-Anbieter	Jährliche Infrastrukturausgaben	Servicelevel
Amazon Web Services (AWS)	4,2 Millionen US-Dollar	Enterprise-Qualität

Mitarbeiter des Marketing-Technologie-Ökosystems (MarTech).

SEMrush lässt sich in über 100 MarTech-Plattformen integrieren und erweitert so die Reichweite seines Ökosystems.

• Salesforce
• Mailchimp
• SEOmonitor
• Ahrefs

Affiliate-Marketing-Netzwerke

Semrush hat Partnerschaften mit drei großen Affiliate-Netzwerken aufgebaut und generiert jährlich 2,1 Millionen US-Dollar an Affiliate-Umsätzen.

Affiliate-Netzwerk	Kommissionsstruktur	Jährlicher Affiliate-Umsatz
Aufprallradius	20 % wiederkehrende Provision	1,2 Millionen US-Dollar
TeilenASale	15 % wiederkehrende Provision	0,6 Millionen US-Dollar
Commission Junction	18 % wiederkehrende Provision	0,3 Millionen US-Dollar

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Hauptaktivitäten

Entwicklung und Pflege der SEO-Analyseplattform

Semrush investierte im Jahr 2022 53,7 Millionen US-Dollar in Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten. Die Plattform deckt 142 Länder und 26 Sprachen mit über 55 Tools und Berichten ab.

Plattformmetriken	Daten für 2022
Gesamtgröße der Datenbank	24,3 Milliarden Schlüsselwörter
Web-Crawling-Häufigkeit	Alle 6-8 Wochen aktualisiert

Kontinuierliche Weiterentwicklung von Softwareprodukten

SEMrush veröffentlicht jährlich etwa 12–15 Produktaktualisierungen, die sich auf KI-gesteuerte Funktionen und erweiterte Analysefunktionen konzentrieren.

• Verbesserungen des Algorithmus für maschinelles Lernen
• Erweiterungen der API-Integration
• Verbesserungen der Echtzeit-Datenverarbeitung

Digitale Marketingforschung und Trendanalyse

Forschungskategorie	Jahresvolumen
Marktberichte	24 umfassende Berichte
Trendanalyse	Über 500 Einblicke ins digitale Marketing

Kundensupport und Onboarding

Semrush verfügt über ein Support-Team von über 250 Fachleuten und bietet Multi-Channel-Unterstützung in 15 Sprachen.

• Technischer Support rund um die Uhr
• Dedizierte Kontoverwaltung
• Personalisierte Onboarding-Programme

Marketing- und Kundengewinnungsstrategien

Die Marketingausgaben erreichten im Jahr 2022 74,2 Millionen US-Dollar und richteten sich an globale B2B-Digitalmarketing-Experten.

Akquisekanal	Kunden-Conversion-Rate
Direkte Website	3.4%
Empfehlungsprogramme	2.7%
Digitale Werbung	2.1%

SEMrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Schlüsselressourcen

Fortschrittliche Datenanalyse und KI-Technologien

SEMrush investierte im Jahr 2022 54,3 Millionen US-Dollar in Forschung und Entwicklung und konzentrierte sich dabei auf KI- und maschinelle Lernfunktionen. Die Technologieinfrastruktur des Unternehmens unterstützt die Verarbeitung von über 22 Milliarden Schlüsselwörtern und 8,5 Milliarden Webseiten.

Technologieinvestitionen	Betrag
F&E-Ausgaben (2022)	54,3 Millionen US-Dollar
Verarbeitete Schlüsselwörter	22 Milliarden
Webseiten analysiert	8,5 Milliarden

Proprietäre Datenbanken für SEO und digitales Marketing

SEMrush unterhält umfangreiche proprietäre Datenbanken, die mehrere Bereiche des digitalen Marketings abdecken.

• Globale Datenbank für digitales Marketing mit 22 Milliarden Schlüsselwörtern
• Web-Crawling-Infrastruktur, die 8,5 Milliarden Webseiten verfolgt
• Daten für 142 geografische Märkte

Kompetente Ingenieurs- und Datenwissenschaftsteams

Im vierten Quartal 2022 beschäftigte Semrush insgesamt 812 Mitarbeiter, von denen etwa 62 % auf technische und datenwissenschaftliche Positionen entfielen.

Mitarbeiterkategorie	Nummer	Prozentsatz
Gesamtzahl der Mitarbeiter	812	100%
Ingenieurwesen/Datenwissenschaft	503	62%

Cloudbasierte Software-Infrastruktur

Semrush betreibt eine skalierbare Cloud-Infrastruktur mit einer Verfügbarkeit von 99,9 % und unterstützt über 55.000 zahlende Kunden weltweit.

Geistiges Eigentum und Softwarepatente

Im Jahr 2022 hielt Semrush 17 registrierte Softwarepatente und 23 anhängige Patentanmeldungen in Bereichen der digitalen Marketingtechnologie.

Geistiges Eigentum	Zählen
Eingetragene Patente	17
Ausstehende Patentanmeldungen	23

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Wertversprechen

Umfassende Digital Marketing Intelligence-Plattform

Semrush bietet eine Plattform, die 55 globale Märkte mit mehr als 25 Milliarden Schlüsselwörtern in seiner Datenbank abdeckt. Die Plattform bietet über 50 Tools für Digital-Marketing-Experten.

Plattformmetrik	Wert
Insgesamt abgedeckte Märkte	55
Schlüsselwortdatenbank	25+ Milliarden
Marketing-Tools verfügbar	50+

Echtzeit-Wettbewerbsanalysetools

Semrush liefert Echtzeit-Wettbewerbsinformationen mit:

• Sofortige Domain-Vergleichsanalyse
• Keyword-Tracking der Konkurrenz
• Kennzahlen zur Marktanteilsbewertung

Datengesteuerte Marketing-Einblicke und Empfehlungen

Die Plattform generiert täglich über 500.000 Marketingempfehlungen mit einer Genauigkeitsrate von 92 %.

Insight-Metrik	Wert
Tägliche Empfehlungen	500,000+
Empfehlungsgenauigkeit	92%

Komplettlösung für SEO, Content-Marketing und Wettbewerbsforschung

Semrush integriert mehrere Marketingfunktionen mit 7 Kernproduktkategorien.

• SEO
• Content-Marketing
• Wettbewerbsforschung
• PPC
• Soziale Medien
• Markenüberwachung
• Analytik

Kostengünstige Software zur Marketingoptimierung

Die Preise liegen zwischen 129,95 und 499,95 US-Dollar pro Monat mit Jahresabonnementoptionen.

Abonnementstufe	Monatspreis
Profi	$129.95
Guru	$249.95
Geschäft	$499.95

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundenbeziehungen

Self-Service-Online-Plattform

Ab dem 4. Quartal 2023 bietet SEMrush eine digitale Plattform mit 7 verschiedenen Preisstufen von 129,95 $ bis 499,95 $ pro Monat an. Die Plattform unterstützt über 55 Tools und Funktionen für Digital-Marketing-Experten.

Plattformfunktion	Benutzerzugänglichkeit
Online-Dashboard	Echtzeitzugriff rund um die Uhr
Self-Service-Berichte	Sofortige Generierung

Personalisiertes Kundenerfolgsmanagement

Semrush bietet dediziertes Account-Management für Unternehmenskunden mit einem jährlichen Vertragswert von über 50.000 US-Dollar.

• Personalisierte Onboarding-Unterstützung
• Vierteljährliche Geschäftsberichte
• Maßgeschneiderte Strategieberatungen

Umfangreiche Online-Lernressourcen und Tutorials

Im Jahr 2023 meldete die Semrush Academy über 250.000 registrierte Benutzer mit über 500 Video-Tutorials zu digitalen Marketingthemen.

Lernressource	Insgesamt verfügbar
Video-Tutorials	500+
Zertifizierungsprogramme	12

Community-gesteuerte Support-Foren

Das Semrush Community Forum beherbergt über 75.000 aktive Mitglieder mit über 10.000 monatlichen Diskussionen im Jahr 2023.

Regelmäßige Produkt-Webinare und Schulungen

Im Jahr 2023 führte Semrush 84 Live-Webinare mit einer durchschnittlichen Teilnehmerzahl von 3.500 Fachleuten für digitales Marketing durch.

Webinar-Kategorie	Jährliche Zählung
Webinare zu Produktfunktionen	48
Webinare zu Branchentrends	36

SEMrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Kanäle

Direkter Online-Verkauf über die Website

Im vierten Quartal 2023 erzielte Semrush einen Umsatz von 71,4 Millionen US-Dollar durch direkte Online-Verkäufe über semrush.com. Der Online-Vertriebskanal machte 92,3 % des Gesamtumsatzes des Unternehmens aus.

Kanaltyp	Umsatz (Mio. USD)	Prozentsatz des Gesamtumsatzes
Direkter Website-Verkauf	71.4	92.3%

SaaS-Abonnementmodell

Semrush bietet vier Abonnementstufen mit der folgenden Preisstruktur:

• Pro-Plan: 129,95 $/Monat
• Guru-Plan: 249,95 $/Monat
• Geschäftsplan: 499,95 $/Monat
• Enterprise-Plan: Individuelle Preise

Digitales Marketing und Werbung

Die Ausgaben für digitales Marketing beliefen sich im Jahr 2023 auf 22,6 Millionen US-Dollar, was 14,5 % des Gesamtumsatzes des Unternehmens entspricht.

Affiliate-Marketing-Programme

Das Affiliate-Marketing generierte im Dezember 2023 einen Umsatz von 5,2 Millionen US-Dollar mit 127 aktiven Affiliate-Partnern.

Affiliate-Partner-Metriken	Daten für 2023
Gesamtzahl der Affiliate-Partner	127
Affiliate-Einnahmen	5,2 Millionen US-Dollar

Technologie- und Marketingkonferenzen

SEMrush nahm im Jahr 2023 an 18 globalen Marketingkonferenzen mit einer geschätzten Marketingreichweite von 43.000 potenziellen Kunden teil.

• Besuchte Konferenzen: 18
• Geschätzte Kundenreichweite: 43.000
• Marketingausgaben: 1,7 Millionen US-Dollar

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Kundensegmente

Profis für digitales Marketing

SEMrush bedient im dritten Quartal 2023 etwa 95.000 zahlende Kunden in 142 Ländern. Fachleute für digitales Marketing stellen ein Kernsegment mit spezifischen Anforderungen dar.

Segmentmerkmale	Prozentsatz
Experten für digitales Marketing nutzen die Plattform	42.5%
Durchschnittliche jährliche Ausgaben pro Fachkraft	$1,587

Kleine und mittlere Unternehmen

KMU stellen mit gezielten Lösungen einen erheblichen Teil des Kundenstamms von SEMrush dar.

• Gesamtzahl der KMU-Kunden: 57.375
• Durchschnittliches Monatsabonnement: 229,99 $
• Jahresumsatz im KMU-Segment: 15,7 Millionen US-Dollar

Große Unternehmensmarketingteams

Unternehmenskunden stellen ein hochwertiges Segment für die fortschrittlichen Lösungen von SEMrush dar.

Unternehmenssegmentmetriken	Wert
Anzahl der Unternehmenskunden	3,425
Durchschnittlicher jährlicher Vertragswert	$6,750

SEO- und Content-Marketing-Spezialisten

Spezialisierte Fachleute, die fortschrittliche Analysetools für digitales Marketing nutzen.

• Gesamtzahl der SEO-Spezialisten-Benutzer: 42.000
• Prozentsatz des gesamten Kundenstamms: 29,6 %
• Durchschnittliche jährliche Plattformausgaben: 1.342 $

Freiberufliche Vermarkter und Berater

Unabhängige Profis nutzen die skalierbaren Marketinglösungen von SEMrush.

Statistik des freiberuflichen Segments	Menge
Gesamtzahl der freiberuflichen Benutzer	22,500
Durchschnittliches monatliches Abonnement	$149.99

SEMrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Kostenstruktur

Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten

Für das Geschäftsjahr 2022 meldete Semrush Forschungs- und Entwicklungskosten in Höhe von 70,1 Millionen US-Dollar, was 24,1 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Jahr	F&E-Ausgaben	Prozentsatz des Umsatzes
2022	70,1 Millionen US-Dollar	24.1%
2021	49,3 Millionen US-Dollar	22.9%

Wartung der Cloud-Infrastruktur und -Technologie

SEMrush verursacht erhebliche Kosten für die Wartung der Cloud-Infrastruktur und der Technologie, wobei die jährlichen Ausgaben schätzungsweise etwa 15 bis 20 Millionen US-Dollar betragen.

• Amazon Web Services (AWS) primärer Cloud-Infrastrukturanbieter
• Laufende Wartung und Aktualisierung des Technologie-Stacks
• Kontinuierliche Investitionen in Systemoptimierung und Skalierbarkeit

Vertriebs- und Marketinginvestitionen

Im Jahr 2022 stellte SEMrush 129,4 Millionen US-Dollar für Vertriebs- und Marketingausgaben bereit, was 44,5 % des Gesamtumsatzes entspricht.

Jahr	Verkäufe & Marketingkosten	Prozentsatz des Umsatzes
2022	129,4 Millionen US-Dollar	44.5%
2021	93,2 Millionen US-Dollar	43.2%

Vergütung und Zusatzleistungen für Mitarbeiter

Die Gesamtvergütung der Mitarbeiter belief sich im Jahr 2022 auf 94,3 Millionen US-Dollar, einschließlich Gehältern, aktienbasierter Vergütung und Zusatzleistungen.

Vergütungskategorie	Betrag
Grundgehälter	68,7 Millionen US-Dollar
Aktienbasierte Vergütung	15,6 Millionen US-Dollar
Leistungen und Steuern	10 Millionen Dollar

Kundenakquise- und Supportkosten

Die Ausgaben für Kundenbetreuung und -akquise beliefen sich im Jahr 2022 auf etwa 25 bis 30 Millionen US-Dollar.

• Kundensupport-Infrastruktur
• Onboarding- und Schulungsressourcen
• Betrieb des Kundenerfolgsteams

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) – Geschäftsmodell: Einnahmequellen

Monatliche und jährliche SaaS-Abonnementpläne

SEMrush bietet ab 2024 die folgenden Abonnementstufen mit spezifischen Preisen an:

Planen	Monatspreis	Jahrespreis
Profi	$129.95	$1,199.40
Guru	$249.95	$2,399.40
Geschäft	$499.95	$4,799.40

Gestaffelte Preismodelle

SEMrush implementiert eine mehrstufige Preisstrategie mit differenzierten Funktionen:

• Pro-Plan: Geeignet für Freiberufler und Startups
• Guru-Plan: Entwickelt für kleine bis mittlere Marketingagenturen
• Geschäftsplan: Lösung auf Unternehmensebene mit erweiterten Funktionen

Lizenzierung von Unternehmenssoftware

Unternehmenslizenzeinnahmen für SEMrush im Jahr 2023 erreicht 124,3 Millionen US-Dollar, was 37 % des gesamten jährlichen wiederkehrenden Umsatzes entspricht.

Professionelle Dienstleistungen und Beratung

Servicekategorie	Umsatzbeitrag
SEO-Beratung	18,7 Millionen US-Dollar
Schulung für digitales Marketing	6,2 Millionen US-Dollar
Benutzerdefinierte Analysedienste	4,5 Millionen US-Dollar

Add-on-Funktion und Tool-Monetarisierung

Zusätzliche Einnahmequellen durch spezialisierte Tools:

• Positionsverfolgung: 15,60 $ pro Monat
• Content-Marketing-Plattform: 49,95 $ pro Monat
• Social-Media-Management-Tool: 29,95 $ pro Monat

Gesamtjahresumsatz für SEMrush im Jahr 2023: 332,1 Millionen US-Dollar

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Value Propositions

You're looking at the core reasons why customers choose Semrush Holdings, Inc. over the competition right now, late in 2025. It's about consolidation and advanced intelligence, not just point solutions anymore.

The primary value is unified online visibility management across search engine optimization (SEO), advertising, content, social media, and competitive research. This platform aims to be the single source for understanding and executing digital marketing campaigns globally. You see this reflected in their overall platform strength, which Forrester named them a Leader in for SEO Solutions.

The shift toward advanced intelligence is a major draw. Semrush Holdings, Inc. is heavily investing in AI-driven insights to make content creation and marketing efforts much more efficient. This isn't just talk; the AI portfolio's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) more than doubled from the second quarter of 2025 to the third quarter of 2025, adding $10 million in ARR during Q3 alone. Customers who have adopted at least one of these AI solutions show net revenue retention approaching 150%, which tells you the value realization is significant.

For those needing to see what rivals are doing, the platform delivers comprehensive competitive research and market analysis tools. This capability is crucial for upmarket clients. For instance, the Enterprise SEO solution, which offers faster and more customized insights, saw its average ARR per customer hit approximately $60,000.

The solutions are definitely scalable. While the total number of paying customers was approximately 114,000 as of September 30, 2025, the growth story is in the high-value segments. The number of customers paying over $50,000 annually grew by over 72% year-over-year as of Q3 2025, showing the platform successfully moves upmarket from smaller businesses to global enterprise clients.

Honestly, the best proof of value is what existing customers are doing. The overall dollar-based net revenue retention (DBNRR) held steady at 105% as of September 30, 2025. That means, even excluding new customers, the revenue from the existing base grew by 5% year-over-year. For the Enterprise segment specifically, that retention rate strengthened to 125%. Here's a quick look at how the high-value segments are performing:

Metric	Value as of Q3 2025	Context/Comparison
Overall DBNRR	105%	As of September 30, 2025
Enterprise DBNRR	125%	Improvement of nearly 800 basis points year-over-year
Customers paying over $50k Annually Growth	Over 72% year-over-year	Indicates successful enterprise traction
AI Adopter DBNRR	Approaching 150%	Reinforces value of AI integration
Total Paying Customers	Approximately 114,000	Down from prior quarter due to strategic focus

The platform helps you consolidate tools, which is a huge efficiency play for larger organizations. For example, management expected the Enterprise SEO solution ARR to grow from $11 million in Q1 2025 to $30 million by the end of 2025, implying customer count growth from nearly 200 to over 500. This focus on high-value accounts, even if it slightly reduced the total customer count to 114,000, is driving better per-customer value, evidenced by the average ARR per customer increasing by 17% year-over-year in Q3.

The value propositions boil down to these key areas of customer benefit:

• Unified management across all digital visibility channels.
• Accelerated marketing efficiency via Generative AI tools.
• Deep competitive intelligence for strategic planning.
• Proven scalability demonstrated by 72% growth in $50k+ customers.
• Strong existing customer value capture, shown by the 105% DBNRR.

If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises, so speed of value realization with these new AI features is defintely key to maintaining that high Enterprise NRR of 125%.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Relationships

You're looking at how Semrush Holdings, Inc. manages its vast user base, which spans from casual users to the largest corporations. It's a multi-pronged approach, blending free access with high-touch enterprise sales.

Product-Led Growth (PLG) for initial user adoption and scale

The initial hook is the free tier, driving massive top-of-funnel volume. As of December 2024, Semrush Holdings, Inc. had 1,166,000 active users worldwide. The split shows the scale of the PLG motion: 1,049,000 active free customers, representing approximately 90% of the total active base. This base grew by 10.37% from 2023 to 2024. The conversion to paid is the key metric here; as of December 2024, there were 117,000 paying customers, an 8.33% increase year-over-year. By June 30, 2025, the paying customer count was approximately 116,000, with Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) at $435.3 million.

• Total Registered Accounts Since Launch: Over 10 million users.
• Total Active Users (Dec 2024): 1,166,000.
• Paying Customers (Dec 2024): 117,000.

Dedicated Sales-Led motion for high-value enterprise accounts

For the largest accounts, the relationship shifts to a dedicated sales effort. Semrush Holdings, Inc. has 8,500 customers within its base that qualify as enterprise users, though only 5.1% of the total customer base are companies with over 500 employees. The focus on this segment is clear from the growth in high-value contracts. Customers paying more than $50,000 annually increased by 83% year-over-year as of Q2 2025. The Enterprise SEO segment specifically targeted growth from 200 customers in Q1 2025 to over 500 by the end of 2025, aiming for an Enterprise SEO ARR exit of $30 million, up from $11 million in Q1 2025. Also, 40% of all Fortune 500 companies are clients.

Customer Tier Metric	Count (Latest Data)	Context/Period
Customers with ARR $10K+	4,426	September 2024
Customers with ARR $50K+	291	2024
Enterprise SEO Customers	200	Q1 2025
Target Enterprise SEO Customers	>500	Exit 2025

Self-service model for smaller customers via subscription tiers

The bulk of the paying base operates on self-service subscription tiers. The average revenue generated per paying customer in 2024 was approximately $3,125 per year. Forecasts suggest the total number of paying users could reach around 135,000 in 2025. The platform itself has expanded its offering from 2 tools in 2008 to over 55 tools by 2025, supporting a wider range of self-service needs.

Customer support and real-time feedback loop for platform optimization

Retention metrics show the health of these relationships. Dollar-based net revenue retention (DBNRR) stood at 106% in Q1 2025, dipping slightly to 105% as of June 30, 2025. This means that even with macro headwinds, the existing customer base is still expanding its spend by 5% to 6% annually. The platform uses customer feedback to continuously improve its machine learning models. On review platforms, Semrush Holdings, Inc. holds an average rating of 4.6 out of 5 from over 2,200 users on Capterra and 4.5 out of 5 from over 2,500 users on G2.

Enterprise Partner Program for managed service relationships

The focus on enterprise adoption is also supported by partner channels. The AI product suite, which is integrated into the platform, was already generating over $4 million in ARR, with expectations to reach close to 5% of total ARR by the end of 2025. This indicates a growing ecosystem where partners may be reselling or integrating these advanced solutions.

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Channels

You're looking at how Semrush Holdings, Inc. gets its product into the hands of its customers as of late 2025. It's a multi-pronged approach, moving upmarket while still relying on the massive top-of-funnel awareness built over years.

Direct-to-customer through the Semrush SaaS platform and website

The core channel is direct, meaning customers sign up and use the platform via the Semrush website. This self-service model is key for the volume of users they manage. As of the end of Q3 2025, Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) stood at $455.4 million, up 14% year-over-year from Q3 2024. The total paying customer count was approximately 118,000 at the end of Q1 2025, though this figure saw a slight sequential decrease to approximately 116,000 by the end of Q2 2025, which management attributed to softness in the freelancer segment. The platform maintains a very large top-of-funnel, with 1,166,000 total active users (free and paid) as of December 2024. The Average ARR Per Paying Customer was over $3,600 as of Q1 2025, showing growth of more than 14% year-over-year, which is a direct reflection of successful upselling within this direct channel.

Here's a quick look at the scale of the direct customer base:

Metric	Value (Latest Available)	Date/Context
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)	$455.4 million	As of September 30, 2025 (Q3 2025)
Total Paying Customers	Approx. 118,000	As of March 31, 2025 (Q1 2025)
Average ARR Per Paying Customer	Over $3,600	As of Q1 2025
Total Active Users	1,166,000	As of December 2024

Global sales team focused on the growing Enterprise segment

The push upmarket is heavily reliant on a dedicated global sales team targeting larger organizations. This focus is showing results, as the Enterprise SEO Solution had nearly 200 paying customers by the end of Q1 2025, with an average ARR per customer of approximately $60,000. The ARR specifically for this Enterprise SEO Solution stood at $11 million at the end of Q1 2025, with management expecting it to reach $30 million by the end of 2025. The broader cohort of high-value customers is also expanding rapidly; customers paying over $50,000 ARR increased 86% year-over-year to 388 as of Q1 2025. By Q3 2025, the enterprise customer segment drove 33% year-over-year Annual Recurring Revenue growth, validating this channel strategy.

Digital marketing and content channels (e.g., acquired Third Door Media)

Semrush Holdings, Inc. uses its own expertise in digital marketing and content to drive awareness, which feeds the direct channel. The company's vast database, including over 26.5 billion keywords and 43 trillion backlinks (as of 2024/predicted 2025), is a direct result of the product development that fuels content marketing efforts. While specific revenue attribution for the acquisition of Third Door Media isn't broken out in the latest reports, the overall strategy relies on thought leadership and organic visibility, which is supported by the fact that the company's database crawls 10 billion URLs on a daily basis.

The reach through content and organic search is massive:

• Total active users (free and paid) as of December 2024: 1,166,000.
• Active free customers as of December 2024: 1,049,000.
• The platform offers over 55 tools.

Affiliate and referral programs for lead generation

Affiliate and referral programs act as a performance-based extension of the marketing channel. Semrush Holdings, Inc. runs a generous program that rewards partners for driving both trials and purchases. Affiliates can earn up to $450 per sale, plus $10 for each trial activation, depending on the partner tier and product promoted. The program supports promotion across various toolkits, including Semrush One and AI Visibility. The cookie length for referrals is noted as 120-day in some partner materials, which is quite long for the industry.

App integrations and API access for platform partners

The API channel allows platform partners to embed Semrush data into their own systems, creating a distribution and usage multiplier effect. The Semrush API provides access to the core data assets, which include:

• Keyword database size: Over 26.5 billion keywords.
• Backlink database size: Over 43 trillion backlinks.
• Daily URL crawl rate: 10 billion URLs.

This integration capability is crucial for enterprise adoption, allowing large organizations to automate data retrieval and build custom dashboards, effectively turning partners into channel extensions.

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Customer Segments

You're looking at how Semrush Holdings, Inc. segments its users to drive its platform's growth, especially as the market shifts toward AI-driven search. It's clear the strategy is heavily weighted toward upmarket expansion, but the lower end still matters, even with recent softness.

The customer base is broad, ranging from individual specialists to large corporations. As of the third quarter of 2025, the total number of paying customers was not explicitly stated for that period, but the count was approximately 116,000 as of June 30, 2025, down sequentially from approximately 118,000 on March 31, 2025.

The focus on higher-value customers is evident in the growth rates for the top tiers. For instance, customers paying over $50,000 annually-the core Enterprise segment-grew by over 72% year-over-year in the third quarter of 2025. This upmarket push is also reflected in the overall average revenue per customer, which reached $3,756 as of June 30, 2025, representing growth of more than 15% compared to the same quarter last year.

Here's a breakdown of the key statistical data points for these segments as of late 2025:

Customer Segment Definition	Latest Reported Growth Rate	Specific Data Point/Count
Enterprise customers (>$50k ARR)	Growing over 72% year-over-year (Q3 2025)	Customers paying over $50,000 annually grew by over 72% year-over-year (Q3 2025)
Customers paying over $10,000 annually	Growing by 30% year-over-year (Q3 2025)	Grew by 39% year-over-year (Q1 2025)
Total Paying Customers	N/A (Sequential decline noted)	Approximately 116,000 as of June 30, 2025
Average ARR per Paying Customer	Up more than 15% year-over-year (Q2 2025)	$3,756 as of June 30, 2025

The customer base is clearly stratified, with different segments showing different health indicators. The company launched the Semrush Enterprise Partner Program to expand its enterprise footprint and create new growth opportunities for marketing agencies and their clients.

The composition of the customer base includes:

• Enterprise customers (>$50k ARR): This group is the primary driver of upmarket expansion, with the Enterprise SEO solution reaching 260 customers in Q2 2025, averaging approximately $60,000 in ARR per customer.
• Marketing agencies and consultants with extensive client portfolios: Targeted for growth via the new Enterprise Partner Program.
• Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) using lower-tier subscription plans: This segment is experiencing softness, which contributed to the full-year 2025 revenue outlook revision due to an increase in paid-search cost per click.
• Individual marketing professionals and SEO specialists: This group, which includes freelancers, showed sequential softness in customer count between Q1 and Q2 2025.

The overall stickiness across the base, as measured by Dollar-based Net Revenue Retention, was 105% as of September 30, 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Cost Structure

You're looking at the major drains on Semrush Holdings, Inc.'s bottom line as of late 2025. The cost structure reflects a company heavily prioritizing future growth through technology and market penetration, which naturally means high operating expenses right now.

Significant investment in Research and Development for AI and product innovation is a clear cost driver. While specific R&D dollar amounts for 2025 aren't cleanly isolated across all reports, the strategic focus is evident. For instance, the AI portfolio's Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) more than doubled from Q2 2025 to Q3 2025, signaling substantial, ongoing investment in engineering and product development to maintain that momentum. This investment is key to capturing the upmarket shift.

Sales and Marketing expenses are also substantial, necessary to drive the observed enterprise and upmarket traction. Analysts noted in Q2 2025 that GAAP operating expenses, specifically Research and Development and Sales and Marketing, rose faster than GAAP revenue. This spend is fueling the growth in higher-value customers; customers paying more than $50,000 annually increased by a massive 83% year-over-year as of Q2 2025, and customers paying over $10,000 annually grew 30% year-over-year as of Q3 2025.

The direct costs associated with running the platform are itemized below. Cost of Revenue, which includes data center and third-party service costs, hit $45.0 million in Q2 2025, up from $41.3 million in Q1 2025. This is a significant component of the overall cost base.

Metric	Period	Amount (USD)
Cost of Revenue	Q2 2025	$45.0 million
Cost of Revenue	Q1 2025	$41.3 million
Revenue	Q2 2025	$108.9 million
Revenue	Q3 2025	$112.1 million
AI Toolkit ARR	Q2 2025 (End of Period)	$3 million

Personnel costs, which include customer support and the teams driving R&D and Sales, are a major factor, especially when factoring in equity. In Q2 2025, stock-based compensation expense nearly doubled compared to the prior year, indicating a significant non-cash component within the overall personnel spend for both product development and customer-facing roles.

The impact of global operations shows up in currency headwinds. For Q2 2025, the Non-GAAP operating margin of 11.0% was down approximately two forty basis points year over year, driven almost entirely by a weaker U.S. Dollar. Furthermore, the company noted a foreign currency fluctuation expense headwind of approximately $10 million impacting results.

Key cost structure observations include:

• Gross profit margin remained strong at 82.15% in Q2 2025.
• Cash flow from operations was tight in Q2 2025 at $0.7 million, representing a margin of 0.6%.
• The full-year 2025 non-GAAP operating margin guidance was set at approximately 12%.
• The company is prioritizing high-value customers, as those paying over $50,000 annually grew 83% year-over-year in Q2 2025.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.

Semrush Holdings, Inc. (SEMR) - Canvas Business Model: Revenue Streams

You're looking at how Semrush Holdings, Inc. actually brings in the money, which is key for any financial model you're building. Honestly, it's all about that recurring software-as-a-service (SaaS) income, but the growth drivers are shifting.

The core of the revenue stream is subscription fees from a tiered SaaS model. Semrush Holdings, Inc. structures this for different user needs, typically segmented into Pro, Guru, and Business tiers. This structure is designed to capture value as a customer's needs scale up, moving them from individual use to larger team or enterprise requirements.

Looking at the near-term outlook, the company has provided guidance for the full fiscal year 2025. For the full year 2025, Semrush Holdings, Inc. expects revenue in the range of $443.5 million and $445.5 million. This represents about 18% growth at the midpoint year-over-year.

The most immediate measure of subscription health is the Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR). As of September 30, 2025, the Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) was $455.4 million. This figure is important because it was up 14% year-over-year as of that date and saw a sequential increase of $20 million from the prior quarter.

Here's a quick look at some key metrics around that Q3 2025 ARR base:

Metric	Value as of Q3 2025 (Sept 30, 2025)
Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR)	$455.4 million
Average ARR per Paying Customer	$4,000
Total Paying Customers	Approximately 114,000
Enterprise Segment ARR Growth (YoY)	33%

Beyond the core subscriptions, Semrush Holdings, Inc. is seeing significant traction from new product categories, which fall under add-on product revenue. While specific dollar amounts for every add-on aren't always broken out, the focus is clearly on upmarket offerings and new technology integration. For instance, the Enterprise segment showed strong adoption, with ARR growing 33% year-over-year.

The most dynamic area of revenue expansion is definitely revenue from the rapidly expanding AI portfolio. The company is making a concerted push here. In the third quarter of 2025 alone, the AI search products added $10 million in ARR, which more than doubled the ARR from that portfolio compared to the second quarter of 2025. Management is projecting this momentum will continue, with AI-driven ARR expected to hit $30 million by the end of 2025.

You should track these specific revenue drivers:

• Subscription fees from Pro, Guru, and Business tiers.
• Revenue from the Enterprise customer segment.
• Revenue generated by new AI-focused product offerings.
• Revenue from specific toolkits like the Local Toolkit.

The shift in customer mix is also a revenue story; the number of customers spending over $50,000 annually increased 72% year-over-year as of September 30, 2025. That's where the high-value subscription revenue is really accelerating.

Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.