If you’ve noticed the SEOquake sidebar or SERP overlay acting up lately, you aren’t alone. With recent browser updates and the shift to new extension frameworks, many legacy tools are struggling to keep their sidebars functional.
Fortunately, the SEO community has developed faster, more reliable alternatives that provide the same data without the technical glitches. Here are the best replacements to get your workflow back on track.
1. SEO Local SERP Switcher
One of the most popular features of old-school SEO bars was the ability to see how results change across different regions. This extension takes that to the next level.
- The Replacement: It replaces the “Locale” settings often found in bulky toolbars.
- Why use it: It allows you to simulate searches from any specific city or zip code globally, ensuring your local SEO audits are 100% accurate.
2. Detailed SEO Extension
If you primarily used the SEOquake “Diagnosis” tab to check headers, images, and meta data, this is your new best friend.
- The Replacement: It replaces the technical on-page audit features.
- Why use it: It is incredibly lightweight. With one click, you get a full breakdown of the page structure, schema markup, and even a quick look at the “X-Robots-Tag” headers.
3. SEO Minion
For those who relied on the sidebar to highlight broken links or analyze keyword density, SEO Minion is the most functional direct swap.
- The Replacement: It replaces the internal/external link analyzer and the on-page highlighter.
- Why use it: It offers a “SERP Utilities” feature that allows you to copy all URLs from a Google search page—a classic feature many missed from their previous toolbar.
4. Ahrefs SEO Toolbar
If you used the SERP overlay to see how “powerful” a competitor’s domain was before clicking on it, this toolbar is the modern standard for backlink data.
- The Replacement: It replaces the “Parameters” bar that used to appear under every Google search result.
- Why use it: It provides high-quality Domain Rating (DR) and search volume data directly on the SERP, which stays updated even when other extensions break.
5. Meta Explorer
If you simply cannot live without a persistent Sidebar UI, Meta Explorer is one of the few modern extensions that still utilizes a sidebar layout effectively in 2026.
- The Replacement: It replaces the persistent sidebar aesthetic.
- Why use it: It stays open as you navigate between different pages of a website, giving you a continuous stream of SEO data without having to re-click the extension icon.
| If you missed SEOquake’s… | Use this instead: |
| Local Search Results | SEO Local SERP Switcher |
| On-Page Diagnosis | Detailed SEO Extension |
| Broken Link Checker | SEO Minion |
| SERP Overlay Metrics | Ahrefs SEO Toolbar |
| Persistent Sidebar | Meta Explorer |
Also read:
- What Is cats.txt? The New Proposed Standard for Websites and AI SEO
- Web 2.0 Websites: Complete Guide with 200+ Sites List for SEO
- 10 Best SEO Agencies in Cambridge: Expert Rankings for 2026
- How to Improve AI Search Visibility: Insights From 2 Million LLM Sessions
- Google Shares Its Biggest Crawling Problems From 2025
