# Google Keyword Search Volume, CPC & Keyword Ideas (`hirepulse/keyword-search-volume`) Actor

Google keyword research without a subscription or Google Ads account: monthly search volume, CPC, keyword difficulty, search intent, trends and AI search volume, plus keyword ideas. 94 countries. Built for AI agents (MCP), n8n and Make. From $0.03 per lookup + $0.005 per keyword.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/hirepulse/keyword-search-volume.md
- **Developed by:** [HirePulse](https://apify.com/hirepulse) (community)
- **Categories:** SEO tools, Marketing, AI
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $5.00 / 1,000 keyword results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## Google Keyword Search Volume, CPC & Keyword Ideas

**Google keyword research in one call.** Give it keywords and get monthly search volume, CPC, advertiser competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and trend for each one. Or give it a topic and get related keyword ideas and long-tail suggestions with the same metrics.

No SEO-tool subscription, no Google Ads account, no API key. Works for 94 countries. Results come back in seconds as clean JSON, sized for AI agents and for bulk lists alike.

### What you can ask it

- "What is the monthly search volume and CPC for these 200 keywords in the US?"
- "Give me 50 keyword ideas around 'home espresso machine', with difficulty and intent."
- "Which long-tail keywords contain 'crm for startups' and have at least 100 searches a month?"
- "Compare search demand for these product names in Germany, in German."
- "Is interest in 'ai agents' growing? Show the yearly trend and 12-month history."

### Three modes

| Mode | You give | You get | Lookups |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `metrics` | Up to 5,000 exact keywords | Metrics for exactly those keywords, in the same order | 1 per 700 keywords |
| `ideas` | Up to 200 seed keywords describing a topic | Related keywords for the topic, most relevant first | 1 |
| `suggestions` | Up to 20 seed phrases | Long-tail keywords that contain each seed, highest volume first | 1 per seed |

### Input

Only `keywords` is required.

| Field | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `keywords` | array of strings | *required* | Keywords to measure, or seeds to expand. Max 80 characters and 10 words each. |
| `mode` | string | `metrics` | `metrics`, `ideas` or `suggestions`. |
| `country` | string | `US` | Two-letter country code. 94 countries supported. |
| `language` | string | country's main language | Two-letter language code, for countries with several languages (for example `CA`: `en`/`fr`). |
| `max_results` | integer | `50` | `ideas` and `suggestions` only: maximum keywords returned (per seed in `suggestions`). Max 1000. |
| `min_search_volume` | integer | `0` | Return only keywords with at least this many monthly searches. |
| `include_monthly_searches` | boolean | `false` | Add the search volume of each of the last 12 months. |
| `include_ai_search_volume` | boolean | `false` | Add `ai_search_volume`: an estimate of how often each keyword is used in AI assistants per month. |

#### Example: metrics for a keyword list

```json
{
    "keywords": ["keyword research tool", "ai agents", "web scraping api"],
    "country": "US"
}
```

#### Example: 50 keyword ideas for a topic

```json
{
    "keywords": ["home espresso machine"],
    "mode": "ideas",
    "max_results": 50,
    "min_search_volume": 100
}
```

### Output

One record per keyword:

```json
{
    "keyword": "keyword research tool",
    "search_volume": 14800,
    "cpc_usd": 6.42,
    "competition": 0.31,
    "competition_level": "LOW",
    "keyword_difficulty": 71,
    "search_intent": "commercial",
    "low_top_of_page_bid_usd": 1.85,
    "high_top_of_page_bid_usd": 9.6,
    "trend_monthly_pct": 0,
    "trend_quarterly_pct": 22,
    "trend_yearly_pct": 49,
    "country": "US",
    "language": "en",
    "source": "keyword_database",
    "seed_keyword": null,
    "metrics_available": true,
    "data_updated_at": "2026-09-20 10:00:00 +00:00",
    "note": null
}
```

| Field | Meaning |
| --- | --- |
| `search_volume` | Average monthly Google searches in the selected country over the last 12 months. |
| `cpc_usd` | Average cost per click in Google Ads, in USD. |
| `competition`, `competition_level` | Advertiser competition in Google Ads: 0 to 1, and LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH. |
| `keyword_difficulty` | How hard it is to rank in the organic top 10, from 0 (easy) to 100 (hard). |
| `search_intent` | informational, navigational, commercial or transactional. |
| `trend_*_pct` | Change in search volume versus the previous month, quarter and year. |
| `metrics_available` | `false` when the keyword has no data. Those rows are returned but **not charged**. |

A small run summary is saved to the key-value store under `OUTPUT`, with an `outcome` field: `COMPLETE`, `NO_DATA`, `PARTIAL_SPENDING_LIMIT`, `SPENDING_LIMIT_TOO_LOW`, `PARTIAL_PROVIDER_ERROR` or `FREE_PLAN_LIMITED`.

### AI search volume (optional)

People now ask AI assistants what they used to type into Google. Set `include_ai_search_volume` to `true` and every keyword also gets `ai_search_volume`, an estimate of its monthly use in AI assistants, next to its Google search volume. With `include_monthly_searches` you also get the last 12 months in `ai_monthly_searches`.

It costs one extra `keyword-lookup` per batch and one extra `keyword-result` for each keyword that has AI data. Keywords without AI data, and countries where the data is not available, are not charged for it.

### Pricing

Pay per event. You pay for what you get, and nothing else: platform usage is included.

| Event | Price | When |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `keyword-lookup` | $0.03 | Each lookup sent to the keyword database (see the "Lookups" column above). |
| `keyword-result` | $0.005 | Each returned keyword that has metrics. |
| `apify-actor-start` | $0.00005 | Once per run. |

Examples: metrics for 10 keywords cost $0.08. 50 keyword ideas cost $0.28. Metrics for 700 keywords cost $3.53.

- Keywords with no data, and keywords filtered out by `min_search_volume`, are **not charged**.
- A lookup that fails on our side is **not charged**.
- Set a maximum cost per run and the Actor requests only what that limit can pay for, then stops cleanly.

#### Free Apify plan

Try it for free. Each free run returns **real search volume, CPC and difficulty for your first 3 keywords**, marked with a `note`. The other keywords, and the ideas from `ideas` and `suggestions` modes (from Google Autocomplete), come without metrics. Paid Apify plans get metrics for everything, because every lookup has a real data cost. The free preview depends on availability and can be paused at times. Nothing is charged on the free plan.

### Use from AI agents (MCP)

Connect the [Apify MCP server](https://mcp.apify.com) with this Actor enabled:

```
https://mcp.apify.com?tools=hirepulse/keyword-search-volume
```

Tips for agents:

- For a known list of keywords use `mode: "metrics"`. One call handles up to 5,000 keywords.
- For discovery use `mode: "ideas"` with a small `max_results` (20 to 50) and a `min_search_volume` to keep the answer short.
- Leave `include_monthly_searches` off unless the user asks for history.
- Check `metrics_available` on each row, and read `OUTPUT.outcome` to know whether the run was complete.

### Works with your stack

No extra setup on our side: this Actor is available everywhere Apify is.

| Where | How |
| --- | --- |
| **Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code, GitHub Copilot** | Add the MCP URL above. The agent can then call the Actor as a tool. |
| **n8n, Make, Zapier, Gumloop** | Use the Apify app, choose "Run Actor", pick `hirepulse/keyword-search-volume` and paste the JSON input. Send the rows on to Google Sheets, Airtable, Slack or email. |
| **LangChain, OpenAI Agents SDK, Vercel AI SDK, Google ADK** | Use Apify's official integration to expose this Actor as a tool in your own agent. |
| **Any code or script** | One HTTP call, shown below. |

```bash
curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/hirepulse~keyword-search-volume/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"keywords": ["ai agents", "web scraping api"], "country": "US"}'
```

Ideas for automations:

- Weekly: check the search volume of your target keywords and append the numbers to a Google Sheet.
- Before writing an article: let your agent pull 30 keyword ideas for the topic and pick the ones with low difficulty.
- In a content pipeline: reject topics whose main keyword has fewer than 100 monthly searches.

### Data source and freshness

Metrics come from the DataForSEO keyword database, which is built on Google Ads search data and refreshed regularly. Each row carries `data_updated_at`. Search volume is a 12-month average, as in Google Keyword Planner.

### Limitations

- Google search data only. No Bing, YouTube or Amazon volumes.
- Very new or very rare keywords may have no data yet. They are returned with `metrics_available: false` and are free.
- Keywords are matched in lowercase. Punctuation variants may be treated as different keywords.
- Country-level data only. No city or region breakdown.
- Each country supports specific languages. An unsupported combination is rejected with a clear message before anything is charged.

### More tools from HirePulse

- [Domain SEO Overview](https://apify.com/hirepulse/domain-seo-overview): estimated organic traffic, ranking keywords and competitors of any website.
- [ATS Job Scraper](https://apify.com/hirepulse/ats-job-pulse): every open job from a company's own careers page (Greenhouse, Lever, Ashby, Workable and more), with full descriptions and change tracking.
- [Google Jobs Scraper](https://apify.com/hirepulse/google-jobs-scraper): job listings from Google Jobs for any role and city, with salaries and apply links, from $1 per 1,000 jobs.
- [YouTube Transcript Scraper](https://apify.com/hirepulse/youtube-transcript-scraper): transcripts of YouTube videos and Shorts in bulk, with timestamps.

# Actor input Schema

## `keywords` (type: `array`):

In "metrics" mode: the exact keywords to measure (up to 5,000). In "ideas" mode: seed keywords describing a topic (up to 200). In "suggestions" mode: seed phrases to expand into long-tail keywords (up to 20). Each keyword: max 80 characters and 10 words.

## `mode` (type: `string`):

"metrics": return metrics for exactly the keywords given (one lookup per 700 keywords). "ideas": return keywords related to the seed keywords as a group, most relevant first (one lookup). "suggestions": return long-tail keywords that contain each seed phrase, highest search volume first (one lookup per seed).

## `country` (type: `string`):

Country whose Google search data is used, as a two-letter ISO code. Default: US.

## `language` (type: `string`):

Two-letter language code. Leave empty to use the main language of the country. Countries with more than one language: US: en/es; CA: en/fr; IN: en/hi; DZ: fr/ar; BE: fr/nl/de; CY: el/en; EG: ar/en; GR: el/en; HK: en/zh-TW; ID: en/id; IL: he/ar; MY: en/ms; MA: ar/fr; PK: en/ur; PH: en/tl; SG: en/zh-CN; CH: de/fr/it; UA: uk/ru; AE: ar/en; VN: en/vi.

## `max_results` (type: `integer`):

Only for "ideas" and "suggestions": maximum number of keywords to return (per seed in "suggestions" mode). Each returned keyword with metrics is one charged result. Default 50, maximum 1000.

## `min_search_volume` (type: `integer`):

Return only keywords with at least this many monthly searches. Keywords below the threshold are not returned and not charged. 0 = no minimum.

## `include_monthly_searches` (type: `boolean`):

Add a "monthly_searches" array with the search volume of each of the last 12 months to every keyword. Off by default to keep the output small.

## `include_ai_search_volume` (type: `boolean`):

Also return "ai_search_volume": an estimate of how often each keyword is used in AI assistants per month. This is one extra lookup per batch, plus one result charge for every keyword that has AI data. If the data is not available for the selected country, the field stays null and nothing extra is charged.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "keyword research tool",
    "ai agents",
    "web scraping api"
  ],
  "mode": "metrics",
  "country": "US",
  "max_results": 50,
  "min_search_volume": 0,
  "include_monthly_searches": false,
  "include_ai_search_volume": false
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

Dataset items, one per keyword, with search volume, CPC, competition, difficulty, intent and trends.

## `runSummary` (type: `string`):

Outcome of the run (COMPLETE, NO_DATA, PARTIAL_SPENDING_LIMIT, FREE_PLAN_LIMITED, ...), number of rows and lookups.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "keywords": [
        "keyword research tool",
        "ai agents",
        "web scraping api"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("hirepulse/keyword-search-volume").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "keywords": [
        "keyword research tool",
        "ai agents",
        "web scraping api",
    ] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("hirepulse/keyword-search-volume").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "keywords": [
    "keyword research tool",
    "ai agents",
    "web scraping api"
  ]
}' |
apify call hirepulse/keyword-search-volume --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,hirepulse/keyword-search-volume"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/hJyQAfbVBoMY0OBom/builds/5e1oXegrvHe5SFwcL/openapi.json