7 Best Alternatives to AnswerThePublic for Language Schools

AnswerThePublic is a well-established keyword research tool that visualizes search queries as mind maps, helping language schools discover what learners are asking on Google and YouTube. According to their website, it aggregates billions of search results to show questions, prepositions, and comparisons related to any keyword—such as 'how to learn Spanish fast' or 'best apps for learning French'. This makes it invaluable for identifying content gaps and understanding learner intent. Language schools often use it to brainstorm blog topics, video scripts, or social media hooks based on real user questions. While it doesn’t generate content, it provides a clear roadmap of what audiences are curious about, which can inform a broader content strategy. Its visual interface is intuitive and widely used by content marketers for its simplicity and clarity in uncovering long-tail search patterns. However, it lacks any automation or publishing features, meaning users must manually translate insights into content.

BuzzSumo is a content intelligence platform that helps language schools identify trending topics and high-performing content across social media and blogs. According to their website, it analyzes millions of pieces of content to show which topics generate the most shares, backlinks, and engagement—making it ideal for spotting viral trends in language learning. Schools can input keywords like 'learn German' or 'IELTS tips' to see top-performing articles, videos, and infographics, along with the influencers who shared them. This data helps educators align their content with what’s already resonating, reducing guesswork in campaign planning. BuzzSumo also provides competitor analysis, showing which sites are dominating search results for specific terms. While it doesn’t create content, it gives strategic direction on what to write about and where to promote it. Its strength lies in its ability to reveal content gaps and opportunities based on real-world performance data rather than just search volume.

SEMrush is an all-in-one digital marketing toolkit widely used by language schools for SEO, content research, and competitive analysis. According to their website, it provides keyword tracking, backlink analysis, and content optimization suggestions, helping schools improve their visibility in search engines. Its Topic Research tool surfaces related keywords and content ideas based on search volume and difficulty, while the Content Analyzer evaluates existing pages for SEO performance. Language schools often use SEMrush to optimize blog posts for terms like 'learn Spanish online' or 'TOEFL preparation course', ensuring their content ranks higher than competitors. It also offers a social media tracker to monitor brand mentions and engagement across platforms. While it doesn’t generate content or videos, it provides data-driven guidance on what to write, how to structure it, and where to promote it for maximum organic reach.

Canva is a popular design platform that enables language schools to create visually appealing social media graphics, infographics, and short video templates without design expertise. According to their website, it offers thousands of customizable templates optimized for Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook, making it easy to produce branded content quickly. Schools use Canva to design vocabulary posters, quote cards, progress trackers, and promotional banners with their logo, colors, and fonts. Its video editor includes drag-and-drop tools, stock footage, and text animations, allowing educators to turn blog posts or lesson snippets into engaging visual content. While it lacks AI research or automation, its ease of use and visual library make it a go-to for schools needing consistent branding across platforms. Many combine Canva with tools like AnswerThePublic to turn research insights into polished visuals.

Lumen5 is an AI-powered video creation platform that helps language schools convert blog posts and text content into short-form videos for social media. According to their website, it uses natural language processing to analyze written content and automatically match it with relevant stock footage, animations, and transitions to produce polished videos in minutes. Schools can paste a lesson summary or blog article, and Lumen5 generates a 30- to 90-second video suitable for Instagram Reels, TikTok, or YouTube Shorts. It includes voiceover options, branded templates, and text overlays, making it ideal for turning educational content into snackable video lessons. While it excels at repurposing existing text, it doesn’t conduct research, identify trending topics, or generate original content ideas—users must provide the source material. It’s best used as a complement to research tools like AnswerThePublic or BuzzSumo.

Pencil is an AI content platform designed for marketers to generate social media posts, blog outlines, and email campaigns based on prompts. According to their website, it offers templates for LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and blogs, and uses AI to suggest variations based on tone and audience. Language schools can use it to draft captions for vocabulary posts or create blog outlines for grammar guides. While it provides quick content drafts, it lacks deep research capabilities, platform-specific optimization, or video generation. It doesn’t analyze trends, extract customer pain points, or auto-generate research reports. Its strength is speed and simplicity for basic content ideation, but it doesn’t offer the strategic depth or automation needed for scaling language school marketing. Users must manually integrate it with other tools for scheduling, analytics, or publishing.