MarketMuse (by Siteimprove) — Topical-Authority Content Planning Engine With Patented Topic Modeling (Active, Acquired-Kept, Free 10-Query Tier, Paid Behind Demo Wall)

MarketMuse (founded 2013 Boston, patented “Semantic Keyword Analysis” Nov 2019) was acquired by Siteimprove Oct 31 2024 — brand survives, product still sold at marketmuse.com, tech now also powers Siteimprove’s “SEO Intelligence Suite / Content Blueprint AI” (May 2025). Per your Roam Around→Layla rule this is acquired-kept (not shutdown, not rebrand of the SKU). As of 2026-08 public list prices are gone — every paid tier routes to “Book a demo”, last-confirmed rates Optimize ~$149 / Research ~$399 / Strategy custom. Category ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none. Killer differentiator = patented site-wide topic modeling + Personalized Difficulty (scored against your domain authority, not generic KD) + full content inventory heatmap — it tells you what to write across a whole site, not how to tune one draft; not Surfer (per-page SERP match), not Clearscope (editorial grading), not Frase (brief+draft+publish), not HubSpot AI (CRM-native). 2026 trap: self-serve dead (sales call mandatory even for free tier eval), free = 10 queries/no briefs/no inventory, AI writing is assist-only (no publish, no CMS scheduler), integrations thin (WordPress paste-only, no GSC/GA native connectors documented), price opaque post-acquisition.

1. One-line positioning

MarketMuse = strategy-first content intelligence: crawl site → build patented topic model (entities/concepts/second-order gaps) → score each page’s topical authority → Surface heatmap of weak clusters → Personalized Difficulty per topic vs your domain → generate 9 brief types (Article/Pillar/Landing/FAQ…) + Strategy Docs (cluster roadmap) → writer drafts in Optimize with generative assist (OpenAI/Bedrock under hood) → human publishes to CMS. Fits ai-productivity-data; pipeline_stage none (inventory→gap→brief→draft-score→handoff). For 100+ page sites / publishers / SaaS content ops deciding next-quarter editorial roadmap, it’s the authority-mapping benchmark; for a solo writing today’s blog post, Surfer+Frase is 5× cheaper and actually drafts.

2. Core features

Layer	Capability	Notes
Content Inventory	Crawls entire site, scores every page/topic combo, flags thin/cannibalizing/quick-win	Unique depth; no manual upload
Patented Topic Modeling	Entity graph per topic, essential/important/optional concepts, second-order gaps competitors miss	US Patent 10,487,508 (2019)
Personalized Difficulty	1–100 rank ease weighted to your domain authority, not Ahrefs/KW generic KD	Differentiated, not in Surfer/Clearscope
Topic Navigator	Query a term → cluster map, related topics, SERP x-ray, SERP heatmap	Free tier sees this (10 queries)
Site Heatmap + Connect	Visual authority coverage across site; internal-link suggestions (Connect = Strategy tier+)
Brief Generator	9 brief types, outlines with depth/wordcount/entity targets, 5–20 briefs/mo by tier	Not a draft, a prescriptive outline
Strategy Documents	Cluster roadmap, 1–5/mo by tier, “50 hrs → 15 min” claim	Research/Strategy only
Optimize Editor	Score draft vs topic model, generative assist (expand/shorten/outline) via OpenAI+Bedrock, human-in-loop	“Copy for Publishing” → clipboard paste to WP/HubSpot only, no scheduler
Research apps	Compete, Questions, Keywords (Grepwords 6B DB since 2021)
Governance	Human-review-required on AI output (ToS), GDPR, ISO 27001 via Siteimprove, no train-on-your-data stated

3. Pricing (2026-08, USD — paid tiers demo-only, figures = last public before Siteimprove pull)

Tier	Last-confirmed $/mo	Annual	Caps
Free	$0	$0	1 user, 10 queries/mo, Topic Navigator + SERP x-ray/heatmap + Site Heatmap view, 0 inventory / 0 tracked topics / 0 briefs
Optimize	~$149 (historically $99–149)	~$1,500/yr	1 user, 1 site inventory, 100 tracked topics, 5 briefs/mo, 1 Strategy Doc/mo, 100 queries
Research	~$399 (hist. $249)	custom	3 users, 1,000 topics, 10 briefs/mo, 3 Strategy Docs, unlimited queries
Strategy	Custom (hist. ~$499, now enterprise quote)	custom	5 users, 10K topics, 20 briefs/mo, all 9 brief types, 5 Strategy Docs, Connect internal links
Premium (old name, folded to Strategy/Enterprise)	~$999 hist.	custom	unlimited users/briefs, managed services add-on

No self-serve checkout since early 2026 — every “See plan” button → calendar. Free tier is real but non-production (10 queries). 7-day trial of Optimize historically offered in demo.

pricing_type = freemium-then-quote-only; starting_price = $0 (Free 10-query; practical paid floor = ~$149 Optimize behind sales call); free_tier = "yes; $0 / 1 user / 10 queries/mo / 0 briefs / 0 inventory / Topic Navigator + SERP tools only"; pricing_note = "oct-2024-acquired-by-siteimprove-brand-kept; early-2026-list-prices-removed-all-paid-tiers-book-a-demo; last-confirmed-optimize-149-research-399-strategy-custom; free-10-queries-no-briefs-no-inventory; no-self-serve-checkout; ai-writing-assist-only-openai-bedrock-not-proprietary-llm; optimize-editor-copy-for-publishing-clipboard-no-scheduler; connect-internal-links-strategy-tier-plus"

4. Access Type

access_type: web-dashboard-analysis-plus-editor

access_display: 🌐 app.marketmuse.com · 🔌 WordPress paste / HubSpot paste (no native GSC/GA/Zapier connectors documented, no MCP, no public API docs post-acquisition)

5. Reviews (2026)

Source	Score	Signal
G2	4.6/5 (216 reviews)	Inventory + Personalized Difficulty praised; price/UI dinged
Capterra / TrustRadius	4.3–4.5 blended	“Strategy-first depth unmatched”; “overkill for <50 pages”
ToolChase / AISO / BlogPilot	3.8–4.4	“Buy only if you have writers + 100+ pages; sales-led pricing is friction”
AI Agent Index	4/5 facts, 2/5 pricing clarity	“No MCP, no API docs, demo-walled, not for individuals”

Praise: patented topic model surfaces gaps Surfer/Clearscope miss, Personalized Difficulty is genuinely yours-not-generic, Site Inventory heatmap finds decay/cannibalization at scale, Strategy Docs compress 50 hrs→15 min, enterprise editorial governance clean.

Gripes: sales-call-only pricing post-Siteimprove, free tier unusable for work, Optimize editor doesn’t publish (clipboard paste), integrations thin vs HubSpot/Surf, UI dense/old-school, AI assist is OpenAI/Bedrock wrapper not proprietary, no social/paid/local/listening, acquired-kept uncertainty about standalone longevity (blog quiet since mid-2025), $149 floor steep for what’s essentially planning-not-writing.

6. Best for / Not for

Best for	Not for
Publishers / enterprise content ops with 100+ pages & in-house writers	Solo bloggers, freelancers (Frase/Surfer 3–5× cheaper, actually draft)
SaaS/SEO agencies planning client topical authority across sites	Teams needing publish+schedule+CMS automation (Frase/Hootsuite)
Editors auditing 2–5 yr old content libraries for decay/cannibalization	Page-level live optimization teams (Surfer wins per-draft loop)
Orgs already Siteimprove customers wanting content+accessibility in one	Budget buyers refusing sales calls (no self-serve)
Brand with clean IA wanting “what to write next 12 mos” roadmap	AI-copy-first teams (Jasper/ChatGPT)

7. Competitors

Tool	Lane	Starts
Surfer SEO	Per-page SERP optimization + Surfer AI	$89/mo
Clearscope	Editorial content grading, Google-Docs/WordPress	$129/mo
Frase	Brief+draft+publish+GEO, mid-market	$39/mo annual
WriterZen	Keyword cluster + brief, cheaper	$23/mo
NeuronWriter	NLP grading, LTD available	$19/mo
Semrush / Ahrefs	Full SEO suite, lighter content gap	$130+
Siteimprove SEO Intelligence	Parent suite (MarketMuse engine inside)	Custom