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wp.org search vs our merit ranking: “seo analysis”

wp.org orders by popularity, so a plugin a host bundled onto millions of sites, or a big-brand one that's slow and mediocre, can sit at the top. Our ranking is built to answer a different question: which of these is actually worth installing. How this works →

For “seo analysis”, we agree with wp.org on the top plugin, and our order differs from theirs on 8 of the top 20. 4 plugins are pushed down for signals wp.org ignores: errors, a host-installed base, or removal risk.

wp.org search ranks on

Install count (uncapped), the raw star average, freshness, and support. Popularity dominates, so the biggest install base usually wins regardless of how it got there.

We add

A cap on the install boost, volume-weighted ratings, and signals wp.org can't see: whether it throws errors on current PHP, whether the install base is organic or host-pushed, and its risk of being pulled.

Ranked above its merit

WPGraphQL Yoast SEO Addon shows at wp.org #8 but places #19 on merit, a gap of 11 places. Its 10K+ installs carry it up the search order; its 5.0★ average from 3 reviews, plus freshness and upkeep, place it lower on our volume-weighted scale.

Buried gem

SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search places #12 on merit, 4.9★ from 120 reviews, but shows at wp.org #20. A smaller install base keeps it further down the default search order than its quality signals alone would.

merit plugin wp.org
1 Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI 10M+ · 4.8★ (27821) wp.org #1 ↑1 2 Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings 4M+ · 4.8★ (7519) wp.org #2 ↓1 3 All in One SEO – AI SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Traffic (Schema, Local SEO, Sitemap & SEO Insights) 2M+ · 4.7★ (5231) wp.org #3 4 SEOPress – AI SEO Plugin & On-site SEO 300K+ · 4.8★ (1267) wp.org #6 ↓1 2 too low 5 The SEO Framework – Fast, Automated, Effortless. 200K+ · 4.9★ (380) wp.org #5 ↑2 6 GEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO 30K+ · 4.6★ (683) wp.org #7 ↓1 1 too low 7 ACF Content Analysis for Yoast SEO 100K+ · 4.1★ (35) wp.org #4 3 too high 8 SmartCrawl SEO checker, analyzer & optimizer 10K+ · 4.8★ (171) wp.org #10 2 too low 9 GetGenie – AI SEO Assistant & Content Writer with Keyword Research, AEO & GEO 70K+ · 4.8★ (119) wp.org #11 2 too low 10 SEO Engine – Smart SEO with AI, Schema & Redirection for WordPress 1K+ · 4.9★ (48) wp.org #12 2 too low 11 Xagio SEO & AEO – AI SEO for Google Rankings & AI Visibility 10K+ · 4.9★ (51) wp.org #9 2 too high 12 SEO WRITING – AI Writer for SEO & AI Search 20K+ · 4.9★ (120) wp.org #20 8 too low 13 SEO Booster 800+ · 4.8★ (54) wp.org #16 3 too low 14 CrawlWP SEO – Complete WordPress SEO Plugin with AI, Indexing & Search Performance 30K+ · 4.7★ (62) wp.org #18 4 too low 15 ThinkRank SEO – AI SEO Plugin for SEO & Google Search Console 20K+ · 4.9★ (36) wp.org #14 1 too high 16 SureRank SEO – Meta Tags, Social Preview, XML Sitemap, Schema & Open Graph 300K+ · 4.8★ (51) wp.org #24 8 too low 17 SOOZ – AI for SEO – Bulk Generate Focus Keyphrases, Metadata, Alt Text (SEO Autopilot) 2K+ · 4.7★ (15) wp.org #19 2 too low 18 MxChat – AI Chatbot & Content Generation for WordPress 2K+ · 5.0★ (31) wp.org #21 3 too low 19 WPGraphQL Yoast SEO Addon 10K+ · 5.0★ (3) wp.org #8 11 too high 20 DELUCKS SEO 300+ · 4.9★ (17) wp.org #23 3 too low 21 SiteSEO – SEO Simplified 400K+ · 4.0★ (8) wp.org #13 8 too high 22 SEO Repair Kit – Spam Monitor, Meta Manager, Schema Manager, Internal Linking, SEO Content Monitoring, GSC Integration 2K+ · 5.0★ (6) wp.org #22 23 Praison AI SEO 1K+ · 3.6★ (5) wp.org #17 6 too high 24 BoldGrid Easy SEO – Simple and Effective SEO 40K+ · 3.0★ (3) wp.org #15 9 too high

Merit ranking caps the install boost at 1M (wp.org leaves it uncapped), replaces the raw star average with a volume-weighted Bayesian score and a Wilson lower bound, and keeps wp.org's own freshness and compatibility decays. Method from the plugin-directory source; see Meta Trac #8298. Positions are tracked daily from the first visit to a keyword, so the small arrows show movement since tracking began.