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Once used exclusively by the cybercriminals behind REVil ransomware and the Gootkit banking trojan, GootLoader and its primary payload have evolved into an initial access as a service platform—with Gootkit providing information stealing capabilities as well as the capability to deploy post-exploitation tools and ransomware.
GootLoader is known for using search engine optimization (SEO) poisoning for its initial access. Victims are often enticed into clicking on malicious adware or links disguised as legitimate marketing, or in this case a legitimate Google search directing the user to a compromised website hosting a malicious payload masquerading as the desired file. If the malware remains undetected on the victim’s machine, it makes way for a second-stage payload known as GootKit, which is a highly evasive info stealer and remote access Trojan (RAT) used to establish a persistent foothold in the victim’s network environment.  GootKit can be used to deploy ransomware or other tools, including Cobalt Strike, for follow-on exploitation.
Detection of a new GootLoader variant actively being used by adversaries earlier this year led to a broad threat hunting campaign by Sophos X-Ops MDR for GootLoader instances across customer environments. As is typical of Gootloader, the new variant was found to be using SEO poisoning—the use of search engine optimization tactics to put malicious websites controlled by GootLoader’s operators high in the results for specific search terms—to deliver the new, JavaScript-based Gootloader package.  In this case, we found the GootLoader actors using search results for information about a particular cat and a particular geography being used to deliver the payload: “Are Bengal Cats legal in Australia?”
During the threat hunt campaign, MDR discovered a .zip archive used to deliver  GootLoader’s first-stage payload while reviewing an impacted user’s browser history. This allowed MDR to identify the compromised website that was hosting the malicious payload. This report highlights the MDR investigation process and the technical details of the uncovered GootLoader campaign.
On March 27, 2024, the MDR team performed a proactive threat hunting campaign across multiple customers estates, following recently reported identification of a new GootLoader variant being actively exploited in the wild.
Our investigation revealed the threat actor was using SEO poisoning through an easily accessed online forum found via a simple Google search, initiated by the user for ‘Do you need a license to own a Bengal cat in Australia’. The first search result took us to this URL:
Immediately after the user clicks the link, a suspicious .zip file was downloaded to C:Users<Username>DownloadsAre_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_33924.zip onto the victim’s machine, and the user’s browser was directed to the URL  hxxps:[//]www[.]chanderbhushan[.]com/doc[.]php.
Upon review of the running processes, we were able to determine that a small JavaScript file was dropping a large JavaScript file at the location C:Users<Username>AppDataRoamingMicrosoft on the user’s machine. During our testing, the large JavaScript file generated by the malicious site and its name, downloaded to the user’s %temp% directory, were different each time the initial JavaScript was executed. The file we observed in this case was named Temp1_Are_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_33924.zipare_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_80872.js.
We additionally observed the creation of a scheduled task named “Business Aviation” with the command line “wscript REHABI~1.JS” (as shown in Figure 3). This was suspected to be a persistence method in which the threat actor was utilizing WScript.exe to execute the second-stage payload of GootKit.
We also noted the utilization of the command C:WindowsSystem32cscript.exe REHABI~1.JS spawning PowerShell.exe, as shown in Figure 4. The cscript.exe command line tool is specific to Windows Server. The commands passed to PowerShell were not captured in this case.
However, examining the URL history, we observed PowerShell.exe reaching out to the following domains, as shown in Figure 5. Third-stage payload
In the case the MDR team examined, our team did not observe the third stage being successful in reaching a full deployment of GootKit, preventing the download of any additional malicious tooling. This stage typically is where the deployment of additional tools such as Cobalt Strike occurs, or when ransomware is added to the victim’s machine.
MDR performed a static analysis of the of the .zip sample obtained from the malicious URL hxxps[://]ledabel[.]be/en/are-bengal-cats-legal-in-australia-understanding-the-laws-and-regulations/#:~:text=In%20most%20cases%2C%20you%20do,a%20Bengal%20cat%20in%20Australia. Within the zip file was a JavaScript named “are bengal cats legal in australia 72495.js”.
As we noted above, the JavaScript’s name is modified each time the file is downloaded with a different concluding numerical sequence. This was also observed when extracting the small JavaScript from the zip file, as shown in Figure 6. For example, users may observe a filename with are bengal cats legal in australia 75876.zip instead, when attempting to obtain a sample from the malicious URL.
A string analysis of the dropped file was not useful in identifying its intent, as the JavaScript was heavily obfuscated—as is common in Gootloader samples. The script also included boilerplate licensing comments to make it appear to be a legitimate JavaScript, as shown in Figure 7.
However, Strings analysis of the secondary larger JavaScript that was downloaded into C:Users<Username>AppDataRoamingNotepad++Small Unit Tactics.js revealed a heavily obfuscated script, as shown in Figure 8.
MDR used a Python script created by Mandiant for auto-decoding of GootLoader JavaScript to statically analyze the initially downloaded Are_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_72495.js. As shown in Figure 9, the file was identified as Gootloader variant 3.0 through the obfuscation method, where the first file created was named Huthwaite SPIN selling.dat followed by Small Units Tactics.js and Scheduled Task named Destination Branding. The decoder also identified various malicious domain names within the obfuscated strings.
Various dynamic analysis tools were utilized to examine the behavior of the malicious JavaScript. Upon execution, WScript.exe was observed creating the first file located within C:Users<Username>AppDataRoamingNotepad++ , as shown in Figure 10. Despite being observed via Windows Sysinternals Process Monitor with a CreateFile event, this was not written to disk and no deletion event was seen. 

Shortly after Wscript.exe executed Are_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_72495.js, Process Hacker showed CScript.exe and Powershell.exe being created with a conhost.exe spawned, as shown in Figure 11. MDR observed that Wscript.exe would terminate, followed by Cscript.exe that would also terminate shortly after, after which Powershell.exe was created.
Persistence was obtained via CScript.exe executing the file SMALLU~1.js via a scheduled task named Destination Branding (with command line wscript SMALLU ~1.js , as shown in Figure 12). During the lab analysis, the secondary JavaScript can be dropped within any folders located within C:Users<Username>AppDataRoaming<at any existing folder>.
MDR  conducted network and C2 examinations using Wireshark and FakeNet to perform a network capture during the execution of Are_bengal_cats_legal_in_australia_72495.js. FakeNet showed various domain names being reached out to with GET /xmlrpc.php HTTP/1.1 requests via Powershell.exe. The requests contained Base64-encoded cookies which, when decoded, showed enumeration information regarding device directories and host information such as the folder path of C:Users<Username>AppDataRoaming , as shown in Figure 13. As shown below, the process would read USERNAME and USER DOMAIN information and send the data to the URIs.
Examination of the PCAP capture lists various domain names that were also identified during static analysis, as shown in Figure 14. These domain names and IOCs have been classified by Sophos Labs as malware/callhome ; the initial and secondary JavaScript files are classified as JS/Drop-DIJ and JS/Gootkit-AW respectively.
The following chart maps the observed tactics to the MITRE ATT&CK® framework. 
SEO Poisoning
T1608.006
GootLoader is one of a number of continuing malware-delivery-as-a-service operations that heavily leverage search results as a means to reach victims. The use of search engine optimization, and abuse of search engine advertising to lure targets to download malware loaders and dropper, are not new—GootLoader has been doing this since at least 2020, and we’ve observed Raccoon Stealer and other malware-as-a-service operations doing the same for just as long. But we’ve seen continued growth in this approach to initial compromise, with several massive campaigns using this technique over the past year.
Sophos endpoint protection blocks GootLoader through a number of behavioral and malware-specific detections. But users should still look out for search results and search advertisements that seem too good to be true on domains that are off the beaten path—whether they’re looking to get a Bengal Cat or not.
A list of IOCs is available as a CSV file in the Sophos GitHub repository here.
Trang Tang is a Threat Analyst for Sophos MDR Operations in Australia. She previously served as a cyber operator in the Royal Australian Navy.
Hikaru Koike is a Sophos MDR Analyst based in Tokyo, Japan. He previously worked as a Security Operations Center Analyst for Accenture Japan.
Asha Castle is a Threat Analyst for Sophos MDR in Australia. She has a certificate in Cybersecurity from Monash University.
Sean Gallagher is Principal Threat Researcher, Sophos X-Ops. Prior to joining Sophos, he was an information security and technology journalist for over 30 years, including 10 as information security and national security editor for Ars Technica.
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Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
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Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us as we dive into exclusive survey data from industry-leading SEOs, digital marketers, content marketers, and more to highlight the top priorities and challenges that will shape the future of search in 2025.
Are you looking for alternative search engines & chatbots to use? Here’s an analysis of multiple options so you can try each one and see how it can improve your search experience.
For over two decades, Google has been the search engine that most people use for everyday searches, product research, and staying up to date on the latest news.
Because of this market dominance, Google has also been the main search engine of focus for SEO and marketing professionals.
However, following the introduction of ChatGPT and Bing Chat, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin reportedly returned to take an active role in Google’s plans to add chatbot features to Google Search.
Shortly after that, around May 2023, Google introduced the chatbot Bard, and after a year, rolled out “AI Overviews” on May 14, 2024 to USA-based searchers. OpenAI followed suit with ChatGPT search in late 2024, transforming the former SearchGPT prototype into a fully integrated search feature within ChatGPT.
However, no matter what happens, there are still several alternative search engines that offer distinct advantages over Google, such as enhanced privacy, specialized content, unique algorithms, and tailored user experiences.
Here are 24 of the best alternative search engines you can try.
Where search engines include AI chatbots based on large language models, they become prone to errors and hallucinations.
Always verify critical information you get from AI-based search engines, such as medical, financial, legal, safety, etc., using authoritative sources.
(Editor’s note: Creating content using generative AI is subject to the implications of a number of unresolved legal proceedings, and you should avoid publishing generative AI outputs as your own content.)
As of December 2023, Microsoft Bing sites handled 7.45% of all search queries in the United States.
One could argue that Bing outperforms Google in certain respects.
For starters, Bing has a rewards program that allows one to accumulate points while searching. These points are redeemable at the Microsoft and Windows stores, which is a nice perk.
In my view, the Bing visual search API is superior to its rivals and much more intuitive.
Bing carries that same clean user experience to video, making it the go-to source for video searches without a YouTube bias.
On February 7, 2023, Bing announced an all-new, AI-powered version of its search engine called “Bing Chat,” which is now called Copilot. The stated goal is to “deliver better search, more complete answers, a new chat experience, and the ability to generate content.”
According to Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, there are 10 billion search queries a day, but approximately half of those go unanswered. Bing is looking to fill that void.
Perplexity.ai, founded in 2022, is an innovative alternative to Google that provides contextually rich answers. It has 15 million users and answered 250 million queries as of July 2024.
Unlike traditional search engines that primarily link to webpages, Perplexity.ai is a chatbot that directly answers questions by citing sources from which it fetches information, with an option to ask follow-up questions.
This feature allows users to delve deeper into their initial queries by asking subsequent, related questions. This interactive approach mimics a conversational style, making it easier for users to refine their search and get more precise answers.
This evolving, dialog-based search experience positions Perplexity.ai as a compelling choice for users seeking a more intuitive and responsive search tool. Below is the feedback from Tobi Lütke, the CEO of Shopify, on Perplexity.ai.
However, since it uses LLMs for answer extraction, it can hallucinate, leading to incorrect or misleading answers.
You.com is an AI-powered search engine founded by Richard Socher, a prominent natural language processing (NLP) researcher and former chief scientist of Salesforce. It reportedly has 11 million users as of May 2024.
The site operates in two modes: a personal mode and a private mode.
In personal mode, users can configure their source preferences.  While in private mode, they enjoy a completely untraceable experience; no telemetry data is recorded.
The company also offers a Chrome extension, AI-powered image generation, and YouWrite, an AI writing assistant.
The open search platform encourages developers to build apps and contribute to a more open and collaborative internet.
Recently, OpenAI has introduced ChatGPT search, a new search feature that leverages live web data and AI to deliver relevant answers to users, including clear citations.
Previously released as a prototype called SearchGPT, it can now be used by anyone with a Plus or Team account, as well as those who signed up for the SearchGPT waitlist.
Key features:
While ChatGPT search is currently available only to a limited group, it will be rolled out to all Free users in the future. It has the potential to shake up the search engine market.
We’ll continue to update this article as more details emerge.
Yep.com (by Ahrefs) promotes itself as being a search engine with a difference that emphasizes user privacy by not tracking users or selling their data.
It monitors the frequency of specific word searches and the popularity of certain links in terms of clicks. However, it doesn’t compile a personal profile for the purpose of targeted advertising.
It is designed to directly reward and compensate content creators by using a 90/10 revenue share business model.
This means that 90% of all advertising revenue goes directly to the creators of content, allowing them to earn money for their work.
In addition, this business model allows users to directly support their favorite content creators and ensures that content creators are fairly compensated.
Openverse should be your first stop on the hunt for nearly any type of copyright-free content.
While Google provides a broader range of search results, Openverse stands out with its focus on a vast, searchable collection of open-source media, including images, audio, and videos.
This search engine is perfect if you need music for a video, an image for a blog post, or anything else without worrying about angry artists coming after you for ripping off their work.
Mainstream search engines are the Google alternatives that have managed to maintain a modest market share over the past several years.
As of December 2023, Yahoo.com (Verizon Media) had a search market share of 2.56% in the US.
Yahoo’s strength is in diversification by offering services like email, news, finance, and more in addition to search.
Yahoo has been innovating and evolving for more than two decades.
It made a cryptic tweet on January 20 about making search cool again but did not take me up on my request to explain what that means.
Ecosia’s primary distinguishing feature is its commitment to using ad revenue for environmental purposes, specifically tree planting.
The company is a not-for-profit business and dedicates 100% of its profits to the planet, collaborating with local communities to plant and care for trees around the world.
It partners with Microsoft’s Bing to use its search index and web advertisement and offers a browser extension for quicker access to the search engine.
AOL Search is one of the first search engines on the Internet, with a market share of 0.09% in the US.
It relies on partnerships with Google and Bing for its search results.
Unlike Google’s broad focus, AOL leans towards curated content, prioritizing news, entertainment, and a mix of AOL-owned, syndicated, and external website results.
While AOL tracks user data to personalize its advertising, it’s generally considered less sophisticated compared to Google. Its targeting relies more on broad demographics and interests than the highly granular individual profiles Google often builds.
Privacy is an increasingly important issue among internet users.
Privacy-focused search engines prioritize users’ privacy, and their appeal is that they do not track users’ activities or collect personal data.
Some of the most popular include:
As of December 2023, DuckDuckGo had a search market share of 2.13% in the United States.
DuckDuckGo is a search engine that could also fit into the mainstream category, but the primary “selling feature” is that it doesn’t collect or store any of your personal information.
Unlike Google, which collects extensive user data to personalize search results and advertisements, DuckDuckGo does not track or profile its users. This means that when you search on DuckDuckGo, your activity remains anonymous.
Because DuckDuckGo does not track search history or create user profiles, it does not offer filter options based on a user’s search history profile, and there are no persistent targeted ads.
That means you can run your searches in peace without having to worry about the boogeyman watching you through your computer screen.
DuckDuckGo is the perfect choice for those who wish to keep their browsing habits and personal information private.
DuckDuckGo Lite is the mobile version.
Startpage is a search engine aggregation and does not crawl the web itself.
Instead, it utilizes a metasearch approach, fetching results from multiple search engines, including Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, etc., and prioritizing links that appear in all.
It’s a great choice for those who prefer Google’s search results but aren’t keen on having their search history tracked and stored.
It also includes a URL generator, proxy service, and HTTPS support.
The URL generator is especially useful because it eliminates the need to collect cookies. Instead, it remembers your settings in a way that promotes privacy.
Swisscows is a unique option on this list, billing itself as a family-friendly semantic search engine.
It utilizes Bing for its web search capabilities but has also developed its own index for the German language edition.
It also prides itself on respecting users’ privacy, never collecting, storing, or tracking data.
It uses artificial intelligence to determine the context of a user’s query.
Over time, Swisscows promises to answer your questions with surprising accuracy.
According to its website, Gibiru features “Uncensored Private Search” with no retargeting and no selling of private data.
It claims its search results are sourced from a modified Google algorithm, so users are able to query the information they seek without worrying about Google’s tracking activities.
Gibiru earns commissions when users buy something or take action through its search results, aligning with its privacy-centric approach by not relying on personal data for advertising.
In 2023, Brave Search achieved full independence from other search engines like Bing. It now operates solely on its own index, a move that emphasizes user privacy and transparency in search results.
Brave Search has experienced rapid growth; as of January 2024, it had 24.57 million daily active users. This growth reflects the increasing popularity of privacy-focused search engines.
It features free video calls, offline playlists, and a customizable news feed.
Advanced security features like IPFS integration, Tor (Onion Routing), and a crypto wallet are also available.
Brave offers rewards for opting into privacy-preserving ads. It claims over 65 million people use its browser each month for a faster and safer web experience.
Wiki.com pulls its results from thousands of wikis on the net.
It is the perfect search engine for those who appreciate community-led information, as found on sites like Wikipedia.
X is hard to beat as a real-time search engine.
It’s the perfect place to go for minute-by-minute updates in case of an emergency.
Google will catch up eventually, but nothing beats a tweet in the heat of the moment.
To make the most of it, check out our guide to X/Twitter Advanced Search.
SlideShare allows you to search for documented slideshow presentations.
You can also search for ebooks and PDFs, making it an excellent tool if you have a business presentation to prepare for.
SlideShare also allows you to save slides and even download the entire slideshow for use on your local computer.
Internet Archive, a.k.a. the Wayback Machine, is great for researching old websites, but it’s also so much more.
As the name implies, this search engine queries a massive collection of documented material, including millions of free videos, books, music, and software.
Essentially, the Internet Archive is a vast online library where you can access just about anything you could imagine.
Specialized search engines cater to particular needs, providing results based on specific criteria. For example:
WolframAlpha is a computational knowledge engine that allows you to compute answers to problems and search through expert-level data on a variety of subjects, from algebra to words and linguistics.
It also offers Pro features for individuals, students, and educators who need professional-grade computation and analysis of imported data.
Pricing starts at $5.49 per month.
LinkedIn, recognized as a professional networking platform, is increasingly being utilized as a business-focused search engine which has 61 million searches a week.
LinkedIn‘s search algorithm for organizations considers the uniqueness and specificity of an organization’s LinkedIn Page name, as generic names tend to yield broad, less relevant results.
For instance, an organization named “Innovative Tech Solutions” would likely rank higher than one named “Professional Technology Services” due to the uniqueness of the name.
However, overloading a profile with keywords can be counterproductive, as it might trigger spam detection algorithms and negatively impact search visibility.
The algorithm also factors in the number of Page followers, connections between the Page and the searcher, the activity level on the Page, and the ratio of relevant search terms in the organization’s name.
International search engines cater to specific regions and provide results based on local language and culture.
Some popular international search engines include:
Baidu is the largest search engine in China and has a 66% market share there.
Like Google, it offers a broad range of services, including maps, music, videos, and an app store.
Baidu also has a mobile browser and mobile app.
Yandex is used by more than 69% of Russian internet users. It is also used in Belarus, Kazakhstan, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Yandex is an overall easy-to-use search engine.
As a bonus, it offers a suite of some pretty cool tools.
It had a data leak in January 2023, leaving many speculating about the relevance of what was revealed.
Sogou is a Chinese search engine that is growing in popularity and has a 5% market share in China.
Sogou Search is an interactive search engine supporting WeChat, article search, English search and translation, and more.
It prides itself on providing users with professional, accurate, and convenient search through self-developed artificial intelligence algorithms.
Naver is a popular search engine in South Korea with a 34% market share in the country. It offers a range of services, including blogs, news, music, and shopping.
It also has a mobile app for searching on the go.
Naver is a great option for those looking for a search engine tailored to the Korean market.
Google may be the most popular choice in search engines, but it may not always be the best choice, depending on your needs and priorities.
Alternative search engines can offer a wide range of benefits, including a better search experience and higher levels of privacy.
Nonetheless, do yourself a favor and give some of these a try.
More Resources:
Featured Image: Dilok Klaisataporn/Shutterstock
Switching to an alternative search engine is a relatively simple process. Simply change your default search engine in your web browser to the desired search engine.
Unlike mainstream search engines that may use extensive data for personalized ads, private search engines rely on search terms for contextual ads, affiliate links for purchases via their platform, and user donations for funding.
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Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Maximize your SEO efforts in 2024 with insights on Google’s SGE, algorithm updates, and expert tips to keep your site ahead.
Download this guide and learn how to optimize and manage Google Performance Max campaigns, with expert insights and actionable strategies to ensure your campaigns are effective.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us in analyzing 3 case studies that show the importance of driving brand search behavior and engagement, and how to do it in months, instead of years.
Join us as we dive into exclusive survey data from industry-leading SEOs, digital marketers, content marketers, and more to highlight the top priorities and challenges that will shape the future of search in 2025.
Unlock the power of AI in SEO with Ahrefs. Automate your content and SEO workflows to save time and boost your strategies.
This post was sponsored by Ahrefs. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.
Having the right SEO AI tools in your martech stack can help you:
At Ahrefs, we’ve been hard at work releasing AI features that will give you a competitive edge you can’t get anywhere else.
Check out how to automate your content and SEO workflows with Ahrefs’ AI capabilities.
When doing keyword research, it’s a fairly common practice to start by searching for your main topic, product, or service.
For instance, if you’re in the gardening niche, you and your competitors will likely compete quite heavily on keywords containing the word “gardening.”
To find untapped opportunities, you can try out the AI keyword suggestions in Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.
You can either select an existing preset or add your own prompt:
With either option, this tool’s benefit is generating a list of unique content ideas your competitors have likely not considered.
For example, check out the technical and specialized keyword ideas related to “gardening”:
You can run with all of these ideas or cherry-pick the best ones for your site. It helps to search each in isolation to get a better feel for how easy the topic may be for your site to rank.
For example, looking at “xeriscaping” we can see this topic has a decent search volume of 7.5K searches per month and only 8 difficulty!
This is a great example of a niche topic with low competition levels.
Uncovering more opportunities like this is a great place for niche bloggers and small businesses to start building an audience on a low budget. It’s also great for freelancers and agencies to pitch unique content angles to clients or prospects quickly and easily.
PRO TIP: For topics with loads of related keywords, you can use the clustering feature to group keywords into potential pages.
 
It’s often likely that one page you create will be able to rank for most keywords in a cluster, so you can further fast-track your content planning this way.
Keyword intent, also called searcher intent, is the reason why someone searches for a particular term. It’s the unconscious motivation that drives their search journey and influences what content they expect to find.
Common intents that search marketers group keywords into include:
Verifying the intent of your target keywords before you start writing content is always a good idea so that you can match the content you create to what searchers want.
In Ahrefs, you can easily filter your keyword list by the above intents and other common scenarios like branded or localized mentions:
However, on their own, these classifications may not be enough to indicate exactly what type of content you should create.
For example, the intent behind the keyword “backlink checker” does not neatly fit into one of the above classifications.
Using the AI Identify Intents feature instead, you can get a more granular indication of exactly what type of content is ranking for each keyword.
In this case, it’s pretty obvious that people want a tool to use. So, the best page to optimize should include a backlink checker tool on it.
But looking at a keyword like “laser cutter”, it’s not as obvious what the dominant intent is or what type of content would perform well.
This same feature can give you a percentage breakdown to completely take the guesswork out of what type of content is likely to rank:
For instance, here’s the keyword intent breakdown based on content that ranks on the first page of Google results:
If you guess and get it wrong, you’ll have to allocate your limited SEO funds toward fixing the mistake (ie, rewriting your content) instead of working on new tasks.
It’s better to have data on your side confirming the intent of any keyword before you publish content with an intent misalignment.
Now that you have some topics to create content about and you’ve verified they align with the search intent you can fulfill, it’s time to create your content.
There are so many AI tools on the market that can help with content creation. Here’s how Ahrefs’ AI Content Helper stands out from the crowd.
For example, say you wanted to create content to target the keyword “xeriscaping”. You could select a specific intent to optimize for:
Or you could choose specific competitors you’d like to outrank:
Then, as you start writing, you can check your progress against all relevant topics and competitors that match the intent you’re optimizing for:
If you have existing content you’d like to improve, you can check out AI Content Grader instead.
Add your target keyword and existing URL:
Once the report is generated, you’ll get a comparison view of your article with your top competitors.
You’ll be able to see the grade for each topic and how you compare against each competitor. You’ll also get some practical AI suggestions for how to further improve your topical coverage.
This is a great way for your writers to know what sections they can add to existing content, allowing them to confidently close topical gaps without having to rewrite each post from scratch.
If you’re targeting international or multilingual audiences with your SEO strategy, Ahrefs’ AI Keyword Translator is a must-have tool in your tech stack.
Streamlining such a task by using Ahrefs allows you to:
It lets you translate an entire list of keywords automatically while preserving dialect nuances and local lingo.
For example, there are over a dozen ways to say ‘popcorn’ across all Spanish-speaking countries and dialects.
The AI translator is able to detect the most popular variation in each country.
It currently offers automatic translations for 40+ languages and dialects in 180+ countries, with more coming soon.
One of our most exciting upcoming features that will integrate AI is Patches.
Patches allows you to fix simple technical issues on your website with one click, and without involving a developer. It works through Cloudflare workers or JavaScript snippets.
<embed>
Soon in Ahrefs: Patches
This feature will allow you to use AI to implement quick and easy fixes to maintain your content’s technical health over time.
The edits you make can be at a page level and implemented by non-technical team members.
For instance, say you have a list of pages flagged with titles that are missing, too short, or too long. Your content team will be able to use AI to correct these issues and deploy them to your website directly from the Ahrefs dashboard.
Your SEO or development teams will also be able to roll out sitewide technical fixes in similar ways.
SEO and content marketing can’t be automated to perfection; no AI tool can promise that.
But there are many AI use cases that speed up and improve what you’re already doing. AI can make your marketing dollar go further by saving time on busy work and removing the guesswork from your SEO strategy.
If you’re new to Ahrefs, you can try our platform for free with Ahrefs Webmaster Tools.
We also offer a low-cost Starter plan for anyone interested in going beyond the free version and taking their keyword and competitive research further.
Image Credits
Featured Image: Image by Ahrefs. Used with permission.
In-Post Image: Images by Ahrefs. Used with permission.
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FAD Magazine
FAD Magazine covers contemporary art – News, Exhibitions and Interviews reported on from London

By Mark Westall • 8 November 2024
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White Cube is pleased to present ‘Park Seo-Bo: The Newspaper Ecritures, 2022–23’, an exhibition showcasing the final body of work by the late master of Dansaekhwa and Korean contemporary art. 
Made shortly before Park’s passing in 2023, aged 91, this is the first time these paintings have been shown publicly. Executed on his personal archive of dated, pre-color newspapers, they are the last iteration of his renowned ‘Ecriture’ series, which he started in the late 1960s. 
Park’s best-known series, the ‘Ecritures’ can be understood as a spiritual approach to ‘drawing’ within painting, comprising gestural, repeated pencil lines incised into wet paint. Born in 1931 in Yeocheon, Gyeongbuk, in eastern South Korea, the artist was part of a generation that was deeply affected by the Korean War (1950–53). This new body of work stands as a culmination of Park’s lifelong creative practice, one profoundly influenced by Taoist and Buddhist philosophies and driven by the radical pursuit of emptiness.  
Conscious of the limitations imposed by his advanced age and terminal illness, Park opted to work at a smaller scale for ‘The Newspaper Ecritures’. Although recognized as his final series, the artist first experimented with newspapers during his time studying in Paris in the late-1970s, painting on copies of Le Monde which he originally used to clean his paint brushes. Park returned to this concept in the final years of his life, working with his collection of old international newspapers, many of them with significant dates such as family birthdays and anniversaries.  
Each made in a single sitting, the works feature strokes, drips, and speckles of paint on newsprint adhered to Korean Hanji paper. Although most of the newsprint body text is obscured, certain elements such as the mastheads remain visible, including the titles The New York Times, The Chosun Ilbo, The Guardian and Le Petit Provençal. On the reverse, Park recorded the time and place of the making of the work. It is through this interplay of symbolic record and inscription that the artist has made what curator Hans Ulrich Obrist referred to as an ‘atlas’ or an ‘encyclopedia’ that blends temporality with creation.  
In 2019, Park founded the GIZI Foundation in Seoul, a non-profit organisation dedicated to managing his artworks and archive, as well as supporting young artists. It was renamed the PARKSEOBO FOUNDATION in 2023. In 2025, the Park Seo-Bo Museum Seoul will open next to the foundation, as well as the Park Seo-Bo Museum Jeju, on Jeju Island in South Korea. 
‘Park Seo-Bo: The Newspaper Ecritures, 2022–23’ includes more than 30 works, on view for the first time at White Cube New York, from 8 November 2024 until 11 January 2025. A fully-illustrated catalogue will accompany the exhibition including an interview with Park conducted by Hans Ulrich Obrist during the final months of the artist’s life, an essay by Korean-American academic Mina Kim, along with illustrations of the complete collection of 51 ‘Newspaper Ecriture’ canvases, shown front and back. 
Park Seo-Bo, The Newspaper Ecritures, 2022–23, 8th November 2024 – 11th January 2025
White Cube New York
Widely considered one of the leading figures in contemporary Korean art, Park Seo-Bo is credited as being the father of the ‘Dansaekhwa’ movement. Born in 1931 in Yecheon, Gyeongbuk, Park was part of a generation that was deeply affected by the Korean War (1950–53) which divided the country into North and South. After experimenting with Western abstraction, particularly the style of ‘Art Informel’ with which he became familiar during his time in Paris in 1961, Park began to explore a more introspective methodology that had its origins in Taoist and Buddhist philosophy and also in the Korean tradition of calligraphy. MORE
Mark Westall
Mark Westall is the Founder and Editor of FAD magazine –

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