# Google Keyword Research - Search Volume, CPC & Difficulty (`seemuapps/google-keyword-research`) Actor

Find keyword ideas with Google monthly search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and 12-month trends for any country.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/seemuapps/google-keyword-research.md
- **Developed by:** [Seemu Scraping](https://apify.com/seemuapps) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $2.00 / 1,000 keywords

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 Research - Search Volume, CPC & Difficulty

Find hundreds of keyword ideas from a single seed and get the numbers you need to pick winners: Google monthly search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty, search intent and a 12-month trend for 90+ countries. It's a fast, pay-as-you-go alternative to Ahrefs Keywords Explorer, Semrush Keyword Magic Tool and Google Keyword Planner, with no subscription.

### What you get

One row per keyword with:

- **keyword** and **seedKeyword**, the seed it came from
- **searchVolume**: average monthly Google searches
- **monthlySearches**: search volume for each of the last 12 months, e.g. `[{"month": "2026-08", "searchVolume": 90500}, …]`
- **trendMonthlyPct**, **trendQuarterlyPct** and **trendYearlyPct**: percentage change in search volume
- **cpc**, **lowTopOfPageBid** and **highTopOfPageBid**: what advertisers pay per click in USD
- **competition** (0-1) and **competitionLevel** (LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH): advertiser competition
- **keywordDifficulty**: 0-100 score for how hard it is to reach Google's top 10 organically
- **searchIntent** and **secondaryIntents**: informational, navigational, commercial or transactional
- **serpFeatures**: what shows up on the results page (AI overview, people also ask, video, shopping, local pack…)
- **location**, **locationCode**, **languageCode** and **metricsUpdatedAt**

Export to JSON, CSV, Excel or Google Sheets from the **Dataset** tab, or use the API.

### Three modes

- **Keyword suggestions**: long-tail keywords that contain your seed phrase. "coffee grinder" gives "best coffee grinder for espresso", "manual coffee grinder" and more. Best for finding long-tail content ideas.
- **Keyword ideas**: related keywords from the same topic, even if they don't share your words. "coffee grinder" also gives "espresso machine" and "burr grinder". Best for mapping out a whole niche.
- **Metrics only**: volume, CPC, difficulty and intent for exactly the keywords you enter (up to 700 per search). Best for scoring an existing keyword list.

### Use cases

- **SEO content planning**: find long-tail keywords with real search volume and low difficulty to write about
- **PPC and Google Ads research**: compare CPC and top-of-page bids before you build campaigns
- **Niche and product research**: measure demand and seasonality for a market before you enter it
- **Keyword list scoring**: bulk-check search volume and difficulty for thousands of keywords at once
- **Agency reporting**: pull keyword data for any country and language, ready for Google Sheets

### How to use

1. Enter one or more **Keywords** (seed keywords).
2. Pick a **Mode**: Keyword suggestions, Keyword ideas or Metrics only.
3. Pick a **Country & language**. The default is United States (English).
4. Set **Max results per seed keyword** (default 50, up to 1000). Results are sorted by search volume, highest first.
5. Optional: set a **Minimum monthly search volume** to skip tiny keywords.
6. Run the actor. Results appear in the **Dataset** tab.

### Output example

```json
{
  "keyword": "coffee grinder",
  "seedKeyword": "coffee grinder",
  "searchVolume": 90500,
  "cpc": 0.7,
  "competition": 1,
  "competitionLevel": "HIGH",
  "keywordDifficulty": 24,
  "searchIntent": "transactional",
  "trendYearlyPct": 0,
  "monthlySearches": [{ "month": "2025-09", "searchVolume": 90500 }, { "month": "2025-12", "searchVolume": 165000 }],
  "serpFeatures": ["ai_overview", "popular_products", "organic", "people_also_ask"],
  "location": "United States (English)"
}
```

### Pricing

Pay per event, no subscription:

- **Keyword search**: charged once per search. Suggestions and ideas cost one search per request; Metrics only costs one search per 700 keywords.
- **Keyword**: charged for each keyword row returned. Keywords with no data in Metrics only mode are returned free.

See the **Pricing** tab for current prices. Failed searches are not charged.

### Free plan limits

Free Apify plans can research 1 seed keyword with up to 20 results per run, 3 runs per day, with 30 minutes between runs. Upgrade to any paid Apify plan to remove these limits.

### FAQ

**Where does the data come from?** Search volume and CPC come from Google Ads data. Keyword difficulty, intent and SERP features are calculated from live Google results. Metrics are refreshed monthly.

**Why do some keywords show the same search volume?** Google groups close variants (plurals, word order, "and") and reports one volume for the group.

**Can I research keywords for another country?** Yes. Pick any of the 90+ markets in **Country & language**.

# Actor input Schema

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

Seed keywords to research, one per line. In Keyword suggestions mode each seed is researched separately. In Keyword ideas mode all seeds are combined into one search. In Metrics mode each keyword gets its own row.

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

Keyword suggestions: long-tail keywords that contain your seed phrase. Keyword ideas: related keywords from the same topic, even without your words. Metrics only: volume, CPC and difficulty for exactly the keywords you enter.

## `market` (type: `string`):

Which Google market to pull search volume, CPC and difficulty for.

## `maxResultsPerKeyword` (type: `integer`):

Maximum keywords to return per seed (Keyword suggestions) or per search (Keyword ideas), sorted by search volume, highest first. Up to 1000. Ignored in Metrics mode.

## `minSearchVolume` (type: `integer`):

Only return keywords with at least this many monthly searches. 0 returns everything.

## `includeSeedKeyword` (type: `boolean`):

In Keyword suggestions mode, add a row for the seed keyword itself at the top of its results.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "keywords": [
    "coffee grinder"
  ],
  "mode": "suggestions",
  "market": "2840:en",
  "maxResultsPerKeyword": 50,
  "minSearchVolume": 0,
  "includeSeedKeyword": true
}
```

# Actor output Schema

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

One keyword per record: keyword, seedKeyword, searchVolume, cpc, competition, competitionLevel, top-of-page bids, keywordDifficulty (0-100), searchIntent, trend percentages, monthlySearches, serpFeatures, location.

# 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": [
        "coffee grinder"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("seemuapps/google-keyword-research").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": ["coffee grinder"] }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("seemuapps/google-keyword-research").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": [
    "coffee grinder"
  ]
}' |
apify call seemuapps/google-keyword-research --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

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

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/NjI1kvMclBdvXykRv/builds/hiFi02uwyje523bnz/openapi.json