AI Search Volume: how often people use your keywords in ChatGPT and AI search

Get the AI search volume of any keyword: an estimate of how many times a month it is used in ChatGPT, Google's AI answers and other AI tools, with 12 months of AI history, the monthly, 3-month and 12-month AI trend, and Google's own numbers in the same row: search volume, CPC, competition, keyword difficulty and intent. 94 countries, 46 languages, any number of keywords.

Switch to questions and get the real questions people ask AI that contain your keyword: recorded ChatGPT prompts and the Google searches that show an AI Overview, highest AI search volume first, each with the sites the AI cited, the brands it named and, for ChatGPT, the searches it ran to answer. That is your GEO content plan, from what people actually asked.

Every run also writes a one-page report (open it from the run's Output tab): your keywords ranked by AI demand, with a 12-month line for each, what is rising, what is falling and which keywords lean most towards AI. Built for SEO and GEO/AEO teams, content strategists, agencies and AI agents. No API key, no subscription: you pay per keyword.

What you get

Field	What it holds
AI numbers	aiSearchVolume (latest month), aiSearchVolumeAvg (12-month average), aiTrend (monthly, quarterly, yearly % change), aiTrendDirection (rising, stable, falling, new), aiPeakMonth, aiMonthlySearches (12 months), dataMonth
Google numbers (on by default)	googleSearchVolume, cpc (USD), competition, keywordDifficulty (0-100), intent, googleTrend, googleMonthlySearches (the same 12 months)
AI against Google	aiToGoogleRatio: AI searches for every Google search, to see which keywords lean towards AI
Question rows (questions mode)	question, platform (ChatGPT or Google AI Overview), aiSearchVolume, aiMonthlySearches, citedDomains, topSources (title, site, link), brandsMentioned, fanOutQueries (the searches ChatGPT ran), answerPreview, alsoAskedAs (variants given the same answer, with their volume), firstSeen, lastSeen, seed
Every row	country, countryName, language, scrapedAt
SUMMARY and REPORT.html	top keywords by AI volume; rising and falling fastest; the most AI-heavy keywords; per country totals. Questions: the sites AI cites most and the brands it names most

What people use it for

• GEO and AEO planning: find the topics people take to AI and write the pages AI cites
• Content briefs: the real questions people ask ChatGPT about your topic, with the sites cited for each
• Keyword priorities: AI demand next to Google demand, CPC and difficulty, in one row
• Trend spotting: keywords rising in AI search month by month, before they show in Google
• Market sizing: AI demand for a category in 94 countries
• Client reporting: a one-page report for every run, ready to send
• AI agents: AI search volume inside any workflow, paid per keyword

How to use it

1. Enter your keywords, one per line, and pick the countries.
2. Keep What to get on AI search volume, or switch to questions to see what people ask AI.
3. Click Start. Open the Report from the Output tab, or download the table (JSON, CSV, Excel).

Input

Field	Example	Notes
Keywords	best crm software	One per line; up to 20 seeds in questions mode
What to get	AI search volume	Or questions people ask AI
Countries	US, GB, DE	94 countries; each keyword is measured in each
Language	en	Optional; empty = each country's main language
Add Google metrics	on	Google volume, CPC, competition, difficulty, intent; same price
Minimum AI searches a month	0	Keywords below it are left out and not charged
AI platform (questions)	both	ChatGPT prompts (US) and Google AI Overview searches, each searched on its own
Questions per keyword	100	Per platform, up to 1,000, highest AI volume first

Output

Each result is one row in the run's dataset (download it as JSON, CSV, Excel, XML or HTML, or read it through the API). An example row (values shortened):

{
  "keyword": "best crm software",
  "aiSearchVolume": 928,
  "aiSearchVolumeAvg": 290,
  "aiTrend": {
    "monthly": 120.4,
    "quarterly": 1327.7,
    "yearly": 144.2
  },
  "aiTrendDirection": "rising",
  "aiPeakMonth": "2026-09",
  "dataMonth": "2026-09",
  "aiMonthlySearches": [
    {
      "year": 2025,
      "month": 10,
      "aiSearchVolume": 380
    },
    {
      "year": 2026,
      "month": 6,
      "aiSearchVolume": 65
    },
    {
      "year": 2026,
      "month": 9,
      "aiSearchVolume": 928
    }
  ],
  "googleSearchVolume": 9900,
  "cpc": 41.47,
  "competition": "LOW",
  "keywordDifficulty": 25,
  "intent": "commercial",
  "aiToGoogleRatio": 0.094,
  "country": "US",
  "countryName": "United States",
  "language": "en"
}

The run's key-value store also holds SUMMARY (the top keywords by AI search volume, the ones rising and falling fastest, the most AI-heavy ones and totals per country; in questions mode the sites AI cites most and the brands it names most, plus notes and what was charged) and REPORT.html, the same as a web page (the Report link in the Output tab). The example row is from a run on 13 October 2026: AI searches for "best crm software" went from 65 in June to 928 in September, while Google counted 9,900 searches a month.

Pricing

• $0.005 per keyword row ($5 per 1,000), with its AI numbers and, by default, Google's numbers
• $0.08 per lookup: one lookup covers up to 700 keywords in one country
• Questions mode: $0.006 per question and $0.40 per question search (one keyword, one platform, one country)
• Keywords with no AI and no Google searches recorded, keywords below your minimum and failed lookups cost nothing

What typical jobs cost at the list price:

Job	Cost
10 keywords, one country	$0.13
100 keywords, one country	$0.58
1,000 keywords, one country	$5.16
100 keywords in 3 countries	$1.74
50 ChatGPT prompts and 50 Google AI Overview searches for one keyword	$1.40

On Apify's Scale and Business plans the per-event prices are lower (Store discounts). Set Maximum cost per run and the Actor stops cleanly when it is reached: you never pay more than that.

Tips

• Put up to 700 keywords per country in one run: the lookup fee is shared by all of them.
• AI search volume and Google volume are counted differently: compare keywords with each other (which ones lean towards AI) rather than reading the ratio as an exact share.
• Run questions mode on your main topic, then measure the questions' own wording as keywords.
• Schedule a monthly run: the AI figures are monthly, and the trend shows what is moving.

Use it through the API

Python

from apify_client import ApifyClient

client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>")
run = client.actor("zaiq/ai-search-volume").call(run_input={"keywords": ["what is a crm", "best crm software"], "countries": ["US"]})
for row in client.dataset(run["defaultDatasetId"]).iterate_items():
    print(row)

JavaScript

import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

const client = new ApifyClient({ token: '<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' });
const run = await client.actor('zaiq/ai-search-volume').call({"keywords": ["what is a crm", "best crm software"], "countries": ["US"]});
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();

HTTP (one call, results back)

curl -X POST 'https://api.apify.com/v2/acts/zaiq~ai-search-volume/run-sync-get-dataset-items?token=<YOUR_APIFY_TOKEN>' \
  -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  -d '{"keywords": ["what is a crm", "best crm software"], "countries": ["US"]}'

Integrations and schedules

• Schedules: run it every hour, day or week from the Apify Console (Schedules) and keep a history of results.
• Make, Zapier, n8n, Google Sheets, Slack, Airtable: connect it through Apify's integrations, or send each finished run to a webhook.
• Datasets: results stay in the run's dataset; export them or read them by API whenever you need them.

Use it with AI agents (MCP)

Add Apify's MCP server (https://mcp.apify.com) to Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor, VS Code or any MCP client. The agent can find this Actor and run it for you: ask it for "the AI search volume and Google search volume of these 50 keywords in the UK". AI agents can also pay for runs directly through Apify's agentic payments.

Limits

• AI search volume is a search-data provider's estimate. For ChatGPT and for keywords it is modelled from the People Also Ask questions that contain the keyword; for Google AI Overview searches it is the search's Google volume.
• ChatGPT prompts are recorded for the United States in English; Google AI Overview searches cover all 94 countries.
• The AI figures are monthly with 12 months of history; the latest month is the last full month.
• Google figures need keywords of up to 80 characters and 10 words; longer keywords get AI figures only.
• Apify's free plan: 10 keywords in one country, or 10 questions for one keyword.

FAQ

What is AI search volume?

An estimate of how many times a month a keyword is used in AI tools such as ChatGPT and Google's AI answers. Keyword tools have counted Google searches; this counts the questions people take to AI.

Where does the data come from?

From a search-data provider's AI keyword database and its database of recorded ChatGPT and Google AI Overview answers (416.8 million answers in 94 countries in October 2026).

Do I need a ChatGPT, Semrush or Ahrefs account?

No. No account, no API key and no subscription: you pay per keyword.

Why can a keyword have more AI searches than Google searches?

The two are counted in different ways (see Limits). "what is a crm" had 29,350 AI searches and 22,200 Google searches in September 2026: explainer questions lean towards AI, buying searches such as "best crm software" (928 against 9,900) still lean towards Google.

How fresh are the numbers?

Monthly. On 13 October 2026 the latest month was September 2026.

Which countries?

94, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, France, Spain, Brazil, Japan and South Africa.

Related Actors from Zaiq

• llm-mentions-tracker: which brands those AI answers name, and your share of voice
• keyword-research: Google keyword ideas with volume, CPC and difficulty
• google-ai-mode-tracker: Google AI Mode's answers for your questions
• ai-answer-tracker: your brand in ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Claude and Grok answers

Support

Questions, a site that changed, or a field you need? Open an issue on this Actor's Issues tab: we answer there, usually within a day.

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