Keyword Question Finder — AnswerThePublic Alternative

What is Keyword Question Finder?

Get up to 15 Google autocomplete keyword suggestions, SEO questions and long-tail keywords for every lookup, as a clean table. From $0.90 per 1,000 lookups (usage included), no login, and you are charged only for lookups that complete.

Keyword Question Finder shows you the SEO questions, keyword suggestions and long-tail keywords people type into Google for any topic. Give it seed phrases, a country and a language. It asks Google autocomplete with question words, comparison words, prepositions, A-Z and 0-9, and can dig up to three rounds deeper. From 21 November 2026 it can also add the also asked questions ("People also ask") and related searches from Google's results page. You get a clean dataset you can export to CSV, Excel or JSON, or hand straight to an AI agent.

You pay per Google lookup, not per keyword: $0.001 on the Free and Bronze plans, $0.0009 on Silver and above, plus a tiny $0.00005 start fee. Platform usage is included in those prices.

It is an independent AnswerThePublic alternative for teams who want the same kind of question research as an API, on a schedule, or inside an agent workflow, paying per lookup instead of a monthly plan.

You give	You get
1-100 seed phrases	Up to 15 Google suggestions per lookup, in Google's order, with Google's ranking score
Up to 5 countries and a language	Question, comparison, preposition, A-Z, number and related keyword ideas
Optional deeper rounds (up to 3)	Deeper long-tail keywords (a keyword tree)
Your own patterns	Any custom phrase around the seed, such as best {seed} for beginners
Optional entity details	Entity name, short description and thumbnail for brands, people and products
Optional also asked questions	Questions Google shows for the seed, plus related searches (from 21 November 2026)

Who it is for

• Content and SEO writers: find the questions to answer in articles, FAQ sections and briefs.
• Keyword researchers: build long-tail keyword lists and keyword suggestions for topic clusters in a niche.
• Marketers and product teams: see how buyers phrase comparisons ("x vs y") and problems.
• AI agents: one call returns structured, source-linked keyword and question rows.

Quick start

{
  "seedKeywords": ["content marketing"],
  "researchTypes": ["questions", "comparisons", "prepositions", "alphabeticals", "numbers", "related"],
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US",
  "maxSourceQueries": 60,
  "outputFormat": "keywords"
}

The six pattern groups make up to 58 Google lookups for one seed and country. Use fewer groups or a lower maxSourceQueries for a smaller, cheaper run.

What the Actor asks Google

Group	Lookups	Why it is useful
Related	seed	What Google suggests for the seed itself.
Questions	how seed, what seed, why seed and 9 more	Question keywords for FAQ and article ideas.
Comparisons	seed vs, seed or, seed and	Comparison and alternative searches.
Prepositions	seed for, seed with, seed near and more	Use cases and intent modifiers.
Alphabeticals	seed a to seed z	Broad long-tail keyword discovery.
Numbers	seed 0 to seed 9	Number-led keywords (years, sizes, lists).
Custom patterns (optional)	your own phrases around the seed	Lookups for your niche, such as {seed} near me or best {seed} for beginners.
Deeper rounds (optional)	each suggestion from the round before	Deeper long-tail keywords, up to 200 per seed per round, up to 3 rounds.
People also ask (optional)	the seed's Google results page	Questions Google shows, plus related searches.

Input options

Field	What it does
seedKeywords	1-100 starting phrases (required).
researchTypes	Pattern groups to use. Default: all six.
language	Language hint, such as en, es, pt-BR.
country / countries	One country, or up to 5 countries in one run.
maxSourceQueries	Hard cap on Google lookups per run, 1-2,000. Default 60.
maxSuggestionsPerQuery	Suggestions kept per lookup, 1-15. Default 15.
customPatterns	Up to 50 of your own patterns; use {seed} to place the seed.
deeperLookupsPerSeed	Deeper lookups per seed and country in each round, 0-200. Default 0 (off).
deeperRounds	How many rounds deep to go, 1-3. Default 1.
includeEntityDetails	Add entity name, description and thumbnail when Google has them (about 10 suggestions per lookup, no ranking score).
outputFormat	lookups: one row per Google lookup with its suggestion list. keywords: one row per unique keyword.
mustContainSeedWords	Keep only suggestions that contain every seed word.
includePeopleAlsoAsk	Add People also ask questions and related searches for each seed and country.

Output

With outputFormat: "keywords" each row is one unique keyword, de-duplicated across the whole run:

{
  "recordType": "keyword",
  "seedKeyword": "content marketing",
  "keyword": "how content marketing works",
  "isQuestion": true,
  "wordCount": 4,
  "researchType": "questions",
  "variant": "how",
  "query": "how content marketing",
  "position": 1,
  "relevance": 1250,
  "suggestionType": "QUERY",
  "entityName": null,
  "entityDescription": null,
  "thumbnailUrl": null,
  "depth": 1,
  "language": "en",
  "country": "US",
  "route": "direct",
  "sourceUrl": "https://suggestqueries.google.com/complete/search?client=firefox&hl=en&gl=US&q=how+content+marketing",
  "collectedAt": "2026-11-07T10:00:00.000Z"
}

relevance is Google's own score for the suggestion; higher means Google ranks it higher. It is not search volume.

With outputFormat: "lookups" (the original format) each row is one Google lookup with its ordered suggestions list, suggestionCount, suggestionDetails, queryOrder and sourceEndpoint.

People also ask adds peopleAlsoAskQuestion and relatedSearch rows in keyword format, or one peopleAlsoAsk row per seed and country (with questions and relatedSearches lists) in lookup format. Each question has parentQuestion when Google revealed it by opening another question, and answer / answerSourceUrl when Google shows a short answer.

Every run also writes OUTPUT and RUN_SUMMARY with the outcome: COMPLETE, PARTIAL, VALID_EMPTY, INVALID_INPUT, UPSTREAM_FAILED or CONFIG_ERROR.

{
  "outcome": "COMPLETE",
  "outputFormat": "keywords",
  "sourceQueriesRequested": 58,
  "sourceQueriesCompleted": 58,
  "uniqueKeywords": 412,
  "peopleAlsoAsk": { "requested": 1, "completed": 1, "questions": 6, "relatedSearches": 8 },
  "chargedEventCounts": { "question-research-query": 58, "people-also-ask-lookup": 1 }
}

Reliable by design

Each lookup goes to Google directly first. If Google refuses, the Actor retries through a second network in the same country, and as a last resort uses a backup data source for a small share of the run. The route field shows which path each row took. A lookup that fails on every path is listed in RUN_SUMMARY and is not charged.

Need search volume?

This Actor shows what people type, not how often. To add monthly Google search volume and CPC, paste the keywords into Keyword Search Volume API. For raw autocomplete suggestions of a list of phrases, without the question patterns, use Google Autocomplete Suggestions API.

API example

curl -X POST "https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/khadinakbar~answerthepublic-alternative/runs" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $APIFY_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "seedKeywords": ["shopify seo"],
    "researchTypes": ["questions", "comparisons", "related"],
    "countries": ["US", "GB"],
    "maxSourceQueries": 40,
    "outputFormat": "keywords"
  }'

Read the run's default dataset for the rows, then read OUTPUT from its key-value store before using the results.

How this compares with AnswerThePublic

Decision	This Actor	AnswerThePublic
Workflow	Google autocomplete SEO questions, comparisons, prepositions, A-Z, numbers, deeper rounds and also asked questions, returned as a dataset.	A web dashboard with visual question wheels, saved searches and more research features.
Input	Up to 100 seeds and 5 countries per run, from the API, a schedule or an AI agent.	Searches typed into the web app.
Output	Flat keyword rows or one row per lookup, with source links; CSV, Excel or JSON.	Visual wheels and lists, exports according to the plan.
Billing	Pay per Google lookup, no subscription (see Pricing).	Subscription plans with search allowances.

This compares one workflow, question and keyword discovery. It is not a claim of full feature parity.

AI agent and MCP use

Run Keyword Question Finder for shopify seo in US English with outputFormat: "keywords", keep rows where isQuestion is true, confirm OUTPUT.outcome, then group the questions into article ideas.

Connect through the Apify MCP server. The Actor only reads public Google suggestions; it does not post, publish or change any account.

FAQ

What do I need to provide?

Only seedKeywords: 1 to 100 phrases of up to 80 characters. Everything else has a default. No login, cookie or API key is needed.

Is it billed per keyword?

No. You pay per Google lookup, however many keyword suggestions come back (up to 15). That keeps the price predictable.

What does it cost?

Pay per event, with Apify platform usage included in the price and no subscription. Each completed Google lookup is one question-research-query event, including a lookup where Google returned no suggestions. A People also ask lookup is a separate people-also-ask-lookup event per seed and country. A failed lookup is not charged. maxSourceQueries and your maximum cost per run both stop the run safely. See the Pricing tab for current rates.

When can I use People also ask?

From 21 November 2026, after the standard 14-day price notice. Until then the option is skipped, no People also ask charge is made, and RUN_SUMMARY says so.

Does it give search volume, CPC or keyword difficulty?

No. It shows what people type into Google, in Google's order, with Google's own ranking score. Use Keyword Search Volume API to add volume and CPC.

Why is a run PARTIAL?

Some lookups failed on every route, or your maximum cost per run stopped it early. RUN_SUMMARY lists what is missing; run the same input again or raise the cost limit.

Why is a run VALID_EMPTY?

Google returned nothing for that seed, country and language. Try a more natural phrase or another locale.

Responsible use

Use the results for research you are allowed to do, in line with applicable laws and site terms. Autocomplete and People also ask are live, changing observations, not measures of search demand.

Pricing and run costs

This Actor uses pay per event with Apify platform usage included. The Pricing tab is always the final word on rates.

Event	Price	When it applies
apify-actor-start	$0.00005	Once when the Actor starts (one event per GB of memory, minimum one).
question-research-query	$0.001 (Free and Bronze plans), $0.0009 (Silver and above)	One completed Google autocomplete lookup, including one with an empty suggestion list.
people-also-ask-lookup	$0.012, from 21 November 2026	One completed People also ask and related searches lookup for one seed and country.

Example: one seed in one country with all six pattern groups is 58 lookups, about $0.06 on the Free plan. You pay only for these events; platform usage is already included.

Independent alternative

This independent Actor is not affiliated with, associated with, or endorsed by AnswerThePublic or Google. Named products and trademarks belong to their owners.