# Google AI Overview API (`johnvc/google-ai-overview-api`) Actor Fetch Google AI Overviews for any query - get the AI-generated answer and its cited sources as structured JSON. Send one or many queries, target a country and language, and handle Google's deferred (page-token) generation automatically. Pay per retrieval. MCP-ready for Claude and AI agents. - **URL**: https://apify.com/johnvc/google-ai-overview-api.md - **Developed by:** [John](https://apify.com/johnvc) (community) - **Categories:** AI, SEO tools, MCP servers - **Stats:** 3 total users, 3 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 3 bookmarks - **User rating**: 5.00 out of 5 stars ## Pricing from $0.01 / 1,000 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/platform/actors/running/actors-in-store#pay-per-event ## What's an Apify Actor? Actors are a software tools running on the Apify platform, for all kinds of web data extraction and automation use cases. 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. Actors are written with capital "A". ## 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. The best way to integrate Actors is as follows. In JavaScript/TypeScript projects, use official [JavaScript/TypeScript client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js.md): ```bash npm install apify-client ``` In Python projects, use official [Python client library](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python.md): ```bash pip install apify-client ``` In shell scripts, use [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): ````bash # MacOS / Linux curl -fsSL https://apify.com/install-cli.sh | bash # Windows irm https://apify.com/install-cli.ps1 | iex ```bash In AI frameworks, you might use the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp.md). If your project is in a different language, use the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md). For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below. For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt). # README ## 🔎 Google AI Overview API API for Google's AI Overview. Send any search query and get back the AI-generated answer (its text blocks) plus the cited source links, as structured JSON. When Google defers generation, this API resolves the answer for you automatically. MCP-ready so Claude and other AI agents can call it as a tool. --- ### 📋 What this API returns | Field | Description | |---|---| | `query` | The search query this row answers. | | `ai_overview_present` | `true` if Google showed an AI Overview, `false` if none was available. | | `text_blocks` | The AI Overview content as ordered blocks: paragraphs, headings, lists, and tables. | | `references` | The cited sources behind the overview, each with `title`, `link`, `snippet`, and `source`. | | `used_dedicated_api` | `true` when Google deferred generation and a follow-up fetch was needed to resolve the answer. | | `retrievals_used` | `1` for an inline answer, `2` when a follow-up fetch was required. | | `thumbnail`, `header_images` | Imagery shown with the overview, when present. | | `gl`, `hl`, `location` | The country, language, and location used for the search. | | `note` | A short explanation when no overview was returned. | --- ### 🎯 Use cases - **GEO / AEO monitoring.** Track whether your brand or domain is cited in Google's AI Overview for the queries you care about. - **SEO research.** See which sources Google's AI cites for a topic, and how the answer is phrased. - **Content strategy.** Compare AI Overview answers across queries, countries, or over time. - **AI agent workflows.** Drive this API over MCP from Claude (see below) to pull AI Overview answers in-conversation. - **Datasets for analysis.** Batch hundreds of queries into one run and export the answers and citations as JSON. --- ### ⚙️ Input examples #### Single query ```json { "query": "what is the Siliconimist podcast?" } ```` #### Many queries at once ```json { "queries": [ "best practices for prompt engineering", "how does vector search work", "what is a transformer model" ] } ``` #### Country and language targeting ```json { "query": "electric vehicle tax credit", "gl": "us", "hl": "en", "location": "Austin, Texas, United States" } ``` Provide a single `query`, a list of `queries`, or both. At least one is required. The API returns one row per query. > Note: Google's AI Overview is currently shown for English searches (`hl=en`) in a limited set of countries. For some queries Google declines to show an overview at all; those rows come back with `ai_overview_present: false` and a short `note`. *** ### 💰 Pricing (pay-per-event) | Event | Price | When it fires | |---|---|---| | `setup` | $0.01 | Once per Actor run, at startup. | | `overview-retrieval` | $0.015 | Per retrieval. One for a standard answer; two when Google defers generation and a follow-up fetch is required. | Examples: - A query whose answer is returned inline costs $0.01 + $0.015 = **$0.025**. - A query where Google defers generation costs $0.01 + 2 x $0.015 = **$0.04**. - A batch of 10 inline answers costs $0.01 + 10 x $0.015 = **$0.16**. You are billed per retrieval the API actually performs, so deferred queries (which require a second fetch) are the only ones that cost two retrievals. *** ### 🔌 Use this API from Claude (MCP) This Actor is MCP-server-compatible, so Claude Code, Claude (desktop and web), Cursor, and other MCP clients can call it as a tool through Apify's hosted MCP server. Add it with this Actor-specific URL: https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=actors,docs,johnvc/google-ai-overview-api Setup walkthrough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jREWahDGhJM Apify MCP integration docs: https://docs.apify.com/platform/integrations/mcp **New to Claude Code or Claude Cowork?** Start a free trial here: https://claude.ai/referral/uIlpa7nPLg Then ask Claude: > *"Use the Google AI Overview API to get the AI Overview for 'what is the Siliconimist podcast?', and list the cited sources."* *** ### 🚀 How to get started 1. Open the Actor and enter a `query` (or a list of `queries`). 2. Optionally set the country (`gl`), language (`hl`), and `location`. 3. Run it and read the results from the dataset (JSON, CSV, Excel, or API). [View on Apify Store](https://apify.com/johnvc/google-ai-overview-api?fpr=9n7kx3) *** ### ❓ FAQ **Why does a query come back with `ai_overview_present: false`?** Google does not show an AI Overview for every query. It is more likely for question-style, informational searches, and is currently limited to English searches in certain countries. When none is shown, the row includes a short `note`. **What is `used_dedicated_api` / why do some queries cost two retrievals?** Google sometimes returns the AI Overview immediately and sometimes defers it, returning only a short-lived token. When that happens, this API makes a second call to resolve the full answer. That second call is the second retrieval. **Can I pass a token directly?** No. The deferral token expires within about a minute, so it is resolved automatically inside a single run rather than exposed as an input. *** Last Updated: 2026.05.30 # Actor input Schema ## `query` (type: `string`): Enter a single search query to fetch the Google AI Overview for (e.g. 'what is the Siliconimist podcast?'). Provide this, `queries`, or both. AI Overviews appear most often for question-style searches. ## `queries` (type: `array`): Provide a list of search queries to fetch AI Overviews for in one run. Merged with `query` and de-duplicated. Use this for batch lookups. ## `gl` (type: `string`): Set the two-letter country code for the search (ISO 3166-1, e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'ca'). Defaults to 'us'. AI Overviews are available in a limited set of countries. ## `hl` (type: `string`): Set the two-letter interface language code (ISO 639-1, e.g. 'en'). Defaults to 'en'. AI Overviews are currently shown for English searches only, so leaving this as 'en' is recommended. ## `location` (type: `string`): Optionally narrow results to a specific location by name (e.g. 'Austin, Texas, United States'). Leave empty to use country-level targeting from the country code. ## Actor input object example ```json { "query": "what is the Siliconimist podcast?", "gl": "us", "hl": "en" } ``` # Actor output Schema ## `allResults` (type: `string`): Every dataset item from this run: resolved AI Overview rows (result\_type='ai\_overview') and any error rows. ## `overview` (type: `string`): Tabular overview of every dataset item using the dataset schema's default view. Columns: type, query, overview present, follow-up fetch, retrievals, sources, note, fetched-at. # 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 '' with your token const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '', }); // Prepare Actor input const input = { "query": "what is the Siliconimist podcast?", "gl": "us", "hl": "en" }; // Run the Actor and wait for it to finish const run = await client.actor("johnvc/google-ai-overview-api").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 '' with your token. client = ApifyClient("") # Prepare the Actor input run_input = { "query": "what is the Siliconimist podcast?", "gl": "us", "hl": "en", } # Run the Actor and wait for it to finish run = client.actor("johnvc/google-ai-overview-api").call(run_input=run_input) # Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any) print("💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/" + run["defaultDatasetId"]) for item in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items(): print(item) # 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start ``` ## CLI example ```bash echo '{ "query": "what is the Siliconimist podcast?", "gl": "us", "hl": "en" }' | apify call johnvc/google-ai-overview-api --silent --output-dataset ``` ## MCP server setup ```json { "mcpServers": { "apify": { "command": "npx", "args": [ "mcp-remote", "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=johnvc/google-ai-overview-api", "--header", "Authorization: Bearer " ] } } } ``` ## OpenAPI specification ```json { "openapi": "3.0.1", "info": { "title": "Google AI Overview API", "description": "Fetch Google AI Overviews for any query - get the AI-generated answer and its cited sources as structured JSON. Send one or many queries, target a country and language, and handle Google's deferred (page-token) generation automatically. Pay per retrieval. MCP-ready for Claude and AI agents.", "version": "0.0", "x-build-id": "7bsX9RAQkttwX6i4b" }, "servers": [ { "url": "https://api.apify.com/v2" } ], "paths": { "/acts/johnvc~google-ai-overview-api/run-sync-get-dataset-items": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-get-dataset-items-johnvc-google-ai-overview-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for its completion, and returns Actor's dataset items in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } }, "/acts/johnvc~google-ai-overview-api/runs": { "post": { "operationId": "runs-sync-johnvc-google-ai-overview-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor and returns information about the initiated run in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK", "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/runsResponseSchema" } } } } } } }, "/acts/johnvc~google-ai-overview-api/run-sync": { "post": { "operationId": "run-sync-johnvc-google-ai-overview-api", "x-openai-isConsequential": false, "summary": "Executes an Actor, waits for completion, and returns the OUTPUT from Key-value store in response.", "tags": [ "Run Actor" ], "requestBody": { "required": true, "content": { "application/json": { "schema": { "$ref": "#/components/schemas/inputSchema" } } } }, "parameters": [ { "name": "token", "in": "query", "required": true, "schema": { "type": "string" }, "description": "Enter your Apify token here" } ], "responses": { "200": { "description": "OK" } } } } }, "components": { "schemas": { "inputSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "query": { "title": "Search Query", "type": "string", "description": "Enter a single search query to fetch the Google AI Overview for (e.g. 'what is the Siliconimist podcast?'). Provide this, `queries`, or both. AI Overviews appear most often for question-style searches." }, "queries": { "title": "Search Queries", "type": "array", "description": "Provide a list of search queries to fetch AI Overviews for in one run. Merged with `query` and de-duplicated. Use this for batch lookups.", "items": { "type": "string" } }, "gl": { "title": "Country Code", "type": "string", "description": "Set the two-letter country code for the search (ISO 3166-1, e.g. 'us', 'gb', 'ca'). Defaults to 'us'. AI Overviews are available in a limited set of countries.", "default": "us" }, "hl": { "title": "Language Code", "type": "string", "description": "Set the two-letter interface language code (ISO 639-1, e.g. 'en'). Defaults to 'en'. AI Overviews are currently shown for English searches only, so leaving this as 'en' is recommended.", "default": "en" }, "location": { "title": "Location", "type": "string", "description": "Optionally narrow results to a specific location by name (e.g. 'Austin, Texas, United States'). Leave empty to use country-level targeting from the country code." } } }, "runsResponseSchema": { "type": "object", "properties": { "data": { "type": "object", "properties": { "id": { "type": "string" }, "actId": { "type": "string" }, "userId": { "type": "string" }, "startedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "finishedAt": { "type": "string", "format": "date-time", "example": "2025-01-08T00:00:00.000Z" }, "status": { "type": "string", "example": "READY" }, "meta": { "type": "object", "properties": { "origin": { "type": "string", "example": "API" }, "userAgent": { "type": "string" } } }, "stats": { "type": "object", "properties": { "inputBodyLen": { "type": "integer", "example": 2000 }, "rebootCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "restartCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "resurrectCount": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "computeUnits": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "options": { "type": "object", "properties": { "build": { "type": "string", "example": "latest" }, "timeoutSecs": { "type": "integer", "example": 300 }, "memoryMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 1024 }, "diskMbytes": { "type": "integer", "example": 2048 } } }, "buildId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultKeyValueStoreId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultDatasetId": { "type": "string" }, "defaultRequestQueueId": { "type": "string" }, "buildNumber": { "type": "string", "example": "1.0.0" }, "containerUrl": { "type": "string" }, "usage": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 1 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } }, "usageTotalUsd": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "usageUsd": { "type": "object", "properties": { "ACTOR_COMPUTE_UNITS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATASET_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_WRITES": { "type": "number", "example": 0.00005 }, "KEY_VALUE_STORE_LISTS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_READS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "REQUEST_QUEUE_WRITES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_INTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "DATA_TRANSFER_EXTERNAL_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_RESIDENTIAL_TRANSFER_GBYTES": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 }, "PROXY_SERPS": { "type": "integer", "example": 0 } } } } } } } } } } ```