Content optimization / head-to-head
Scalenut vs Surfer SEO
Neither content score predicted where a page ranked: Scalenut at ρ -0.071, Surfer SEO at ρ -0.102. Both give you a term list.
Every number here comes from our own runs, not from either vendor, and is read straight out of the test report it came from. How each one is measured is set out in our methodology.
Side by side
| Measurement | Scalenut | Surfer SEO |
|---|---|---|
| Score ↔ rank (ρ)Mean Spearman between the tool's content score and real Google position | -0.07132 pages · 2026-08-21 | -0.10296 pages · 2026-08-24 |
| Term precision@30Of the top 30 terms it suggests, how many the ranking pages actually share | 0.168 keywords · 2026-08-21 | 0.1620 keywords · 2026-08-24 |
| SERP overlapDomains its own top 10 shares with the real Google (us) top 10 | 87%8 keywords · 2026-08-21 | 85%20 keywords · 2026-08-24 |
← swipe the table sideways for the rest of the columns
The two runs did not cover the same keywords. Scalenut ran 8 keywords, Surfer SEO 20 (keywords-v1 ids 1–8 against keywords-v1). The ground truth and the scoring are identical, but the keyword sets are not, so this is not a head-to-head. Read each column as its own result.
Who each one suits
Neither content score told us where a page would rank. If you are picking between these two on the strength of the number each product asks you to work toward, our tests give you nothing to go on.
The runs behind this page
- Scalenut review — A weighted term list and a scored competitor table, under a content score that did not track rank against Google or against its own SERP. Eight-keyword run. Tested 2026-08-21
- Surfer SEO review — A full 20-keyword run: its content score did not track Google rank under either URL match, and a day-two re-run swapped terms on three of five keywords while the scores held still. Tested 2026-08-24
Build the term list yourself
The ground truth behind both columns is the set of terms the current top-10 pages share. Our Top 10 Term Finder pulls that list for any keyword, free and without an account, using the same extraction that produced the numbers above.