YouTube Autocomplete Keywords Scraper

Find public YouTube autocomplete keyword suggestions from seed keywords, markets, languages, and expansion modifiers.

Use this actor to turn a small list of video ideas into keyword suggestions that real YouTube searchers are likely to type.

What does YouTube Autocomplete Keywords Scraper do?

YouTube Autocomplete Keywords Scraper queries the public Google suggestions endpoint for YouTube search.

It returns autocomplete suggestions for each seed keyword you provide.

It can also expand each seed with alphabet, numeric, or custom modifiers.

For example, the seed youtube seo can be checked directly and as youtube seo a, youtube seo b, youtube seo tutorial, or any custom modifier you choose.

The actor is HTTP-only and does not open a browser.

It does not need a YouTube account.

It does not scrape private YouTube data.

Who is it for?

🎬 YouTube creators use it to find video title ideas.

📈 SEO specialists use it to discover search phrases for YouTube optimization.

🧑‍💻 Content marketers use it to build keyword lists before publishing videos.

🏢 Agencies use it to research different markets and languages for clients.

🧪 Product teams use it to monitor search demand around brands, tutorials, and comparisons.

Why use this actor?

YouTube autocomplete is useful because it reflects search phrases suggested to users while they type.

This actor makes those suggestions exportable.

You can run it from the Apify Console, API, scheduler, or MCP.

You can save results as JSON, CSV, Excel, HTML, XML, or RSS through Apify datasets.

You can combine it with other Apify actors for video research, channel research, and content planning.

What data can you extract?

Field	Description
seed	Original seed keyword from your input
query	Exact query sent to the autocomplete endpoint
suggestion	YouTube autocomplete suggestion text
rank	Position in the response for that query
expansion	Direct, alphabet, alphanumeric, or custom expansion mode
modifier	Modifier appended to the seed, if any
language	Language parameter used for the request
market	Country / market parameter used for the request
sourceUrl	Exact public endpoint URL used
fetchedAt	ISO timestamp for the fetch batch

How much does it cost to scrape YouTube autocomplete keywords?

This actor uses pay-per-event pricing.

You pay a small start fee per run and a low per-suggestion fee for each saved autocomplete record.

The formula-derived BRONZE price is about $0.05 per 1,000 suggestion records after applying the platform pricing floor.

Actual billing is shown by Apify before and after each run.

Small first runs are inexpensive because the input prefill limits expansions.

Input overview

The most important input is seedKeywords.

Add one or more base keywords such as:

• youtube seo
• apify
• how to edit videos
• best microphone

Then choose language, market, and expansion mode.

Seed keywords

Seed keywords are the base terms you want to research.

The actor trims duplicate whitespace and ignores empty strings.

Duplicate seed keywords are removed before requests are made.

Each seed is processed independently.

Suggestions are deduplicated per seed so one seed does not output the same suggestion many times.

Locale options

The language input maps to the public endpoint hl parameter.

Examples:

• en for English
• es for Spanish
• de for German
• fr for French

The market input maps to the public endpoint gl parameter.

Examples:

• US
• GB
• DE
• FR

Locale settings can change suggestions.

Test a few markets if your content has an international audience.

Expansion modes

none fetches only the exact seed keyword.

alphabet fetches the seed plus a through z modifiers.

alphanumeric fetches the seed plus a through z and 0 through 9 modifiers.

custom uses the modifiers you provide.

Custom modifiers are useful for words such as:

• tutorial
• review
• price
• 2026
• vs

Limits and performance

maxSuggestionsPerSeed controls how many suggestions are kept from each endpoint response.

YouTube usually returns up to 10 suggestions for a request.

maxExpansionsPerSeed controls how many modifier requests are made for each seed.

Use a low value for first runs.

Increase it when you are ready to build a larger keyword list.

requestDelayMs adds a small delay between requests.

The actor is designed for practical keyword research, not aggressive high-volume crawling.

How to use YouTube Autocomplete Keywords Scraper

1. Open the actor on Apify.

2. Enter your seed keywords.

3. Choose language and market.

4. Choose expansion mode.

5. Keep expansion limits low for the first run.

6. Start the run.

7. Export the dataset in your preferred format.

8. Use the suggestions for titles, tags, briefs, or topic clusters.

Example input

{
  "seedKeywords": ["youtube seo", "apify"],
  "language": "en",
  "market": "US",
  "expansionMode": "alphabet",
  "maxSuggestionsPerSeed": 10,
  "maxExpansionsPerSeed": 5,
  "requestDelayMs": 100
}

Example output

{
  "seed": "youtube seo",
  "query": "youtube seo a",
  "suggestion": "youtube seo ai",
  "rank": 1,
  "expansion": "alphabet",
  "modifier": "a",
  "language": "en",
  "market": "US",
  "sourceUrl": "https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?...",
  "fetchedAt": "2026-06-03T08:00:00.000Z"
}

Tips for better YouTube keyword research

Start broad, then run again with promising suggestions as new seeds.

Use custom modifiers for commercial or tutorial intent.

Compare markets when planning multilingual content.

Export CSV for quick spreadsheet clustering.

Run the actor regularly to monitor changes around your niche.

Integrations

Use Apify schedules to refresh keyword lists weekly.

Send dataset exports to Google Sheets through Apify integrations.

Use webhooks to trigger downstream content brief generation.

Combine results with YouTube video or channel scrapers for deeper research.

Feed suggestions into your internal SEO dashboards.

API usage with Node.js

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: process.env.APIFY_TOKEN });
const run = await client.actor('automation-lab/youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper').call({
  seedKeywords: ['youtube seo'],
  language: 'en',
  market: 'US',
  expansionMode: 'alphabet',
  maxExpansionsPerSeed: 5,
});

const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
console.log(items);

API usage with Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient
import os

client = ApifyClient(os.environ['APIFY_TOKEN'])
run = client.actor('automation-lab/youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper').call(run_input={
    'seedKeywords': ['youtube seo'],
    'language': 'en',
    'market': 'US',
    'expansionMode': 'alphabet',
    'maxExpansionsPerSeed': 5,
})

items = client.dataset(run['defaultDatasetId']).list_items().items
print(items)

API usage with cURL

curl "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/automation-lab~youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper/runs?token=$APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"seedKeywords":["youtube seo"],"language":"en","market":"US","expansionMode":"alphabet","maxExpansionsPerSeed":5}'

MCP usage

You can use this actor through Apify MCP with Claude Code or Claude Desktop.

MCP URL:

https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper

Claude Code setup:

$claude mcp add apify-youtube-keywords "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper"

Claude Desktop JSON config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "apify-youtube-keywords": {
      "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=automation-lab/youtube-autocomplete-keywords-scraper"
    }
  }
}

Example prompts:

• "Run YouTube Autocomplete Keywords Scraper for video editing in the US market."
• "Find YouTube keyword suggestions for apify using alphabet expansion."
• "Export the suggestions as a table and group them by modifier."

Data quality notes

Autocomplete suggestions are returned by a public endpoint.

Results may change by time, market, language, and YouTube/Google backend behavior.

Some seeds return fewer suggestions than others.

Rank is the rank in the specific endpoint response, not a search volume metric.

The actor does not estimate monthly search volume.

Troubleshooting

If you receive few suggestions, try a broader seed keyword.

If suggestions look unexpected, verify your language and market inputs.

If a run is too large, reduce maxExpansionsPerSeed or use custom expansion.

If duplicate-looking results appear, remember that different seeds can produce similar suggestions.

Legality and responsible use

This actor fetches public autocomplete suggestion data.

It does not access private user data.

It does not require a YouTube login.

You are responsible for using the output in compliance with Apify terms, YouTube/Google terms, and applicable laws.

Use reasonable request volumes and avoid abusive automation patterns.

Related scrapers

Use these automation-lab actors with this keyword scraper:

• https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/youtube-channel-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/google-search-results-scraper
• https://apify.com/automation-lab/google-trends-scraper

FAQ

Does this actor require a YouTube account?

No. It uses a public autocomplete endpoint and does not log in.

Does it return search volume?

No. It returns autocomplete suggestions and ranks inside each endpoint response.

Can I research non-English keywords?

Yes. Set the language and market fields to match the region you want to inspect.

Can I use my own modifiers?

Yes. Select custom expansion mode and provide customModifiers.

Why are there fewer than 10 suggestions?

Some queries simply return fewer public suggestions.

Why did two seeds produce the same suggestion?

Deduplication is per seed so you can still see which seeds lead to similar phrases.

Changelog

Initial version extracts seed, query, suggestion, rank, expansion provenance, locale parameters, source URL, and fetch timestamp.