I used it recently but to be totally honest found it much harder to get any ranking improvements compared to a few years ago.
I hear people are still using it successfully though so its worth a go.
Is it not harder in general to get ranking improvements compared to a few years ago, regardless of the tool you use? I don't think this is an issue with GSA, but an issue in associating GSA with easy rankings and saying it fails so its no good. Ive had people tell me its no good and then they want to buy links from other services and I can show them links with GSA that look as good as the ones they are going to buy.
The tool is only as good as its master. I think the issue here is not that its not as good because its harder to rank, the issue is its harder to rank, so you must use the tool (and all tools) differently.
to be honest GSA isn't what it used to be. good for juicing up your t1 and increasing diversity with naked brand anchors only.
I think it is as good as it used to be, but its like above, ranking isn't as easy as it used to be. You can't just load in a bunch of projects and hammer away and rank over night, but then you can't do that with any tool. Take Ranker X, if you just load in a bunch of default settings and hammer away, your not going to get rankings over night. The "times" have changed and so should the ranking approach, but GSA can still be part of that approach.
Again the tool is only as good as its master. I don't mean that in a condescending way, because its true for me too. I learn and grow every single day, I still constantly listen to business books on audio, I constantly test, and I constantly learn and grow. When you stop doing that you pretty much start losing ground immediately in this game and then its only a matter of time before it all goes south.
But anyway, GSA is still very useful, but like anything when the algos change so should your methods/strategies.