Volume gap between Ahrefs and Semrush averages 27%

Volume gap between Ahrefs and Semrush averages 27%
Across 1,200 shared keywords we pulled from both tools on the same day, monthly volume estimates diverged more than most teams assume.
— Ahrefs reads higher on informational queries: ▇▇▇▇▇▇ +34% median
— Semrush reads higher on transactional/buyer terms: ▇▇▇▇ +19% median
— Agreement within 15% on only 41% of the sample
— Both pull from clickstream + Google data, but model recency differs (Ahrefs leans broader clickstream, Semrush leans Keyword Planner banding)
So what: never compare a volume number across tools as if it's the same metric. Pick one tool as your system of record per project, and only switch when you're rebaselining everything at once.
Benchmark of the week: tool-to-tool volume variance on long-tail (under 200 vol) hits 60%+ because both are extrapolating from thin data.