Use it when you need data from outside your own site: search volume for a keyword, who ranks for it, or what a competitor ranks for. You need a key from DataForSEO or Ahrefs, and each request uses your credits with them. For the hosted MCP, the API keys guide shows how to add one. For the CLI, connect a provider once:
seo providers dataforseo connect
seo providers ahrefs connect
What you can ask for
| Action | Give it | What comes back |
|---|---|---|
keyword_metrics | Up to 100 keywords | Search volume, keyword difficulty and cost per click |
ranked_keywords | A domain or URL | The keywords it ranks for |
serp | Up to 5 keywords | The pages that rank for each one |
competitors | A domain or URL | Domains that rank for the same keywords |
backlinks | A domain or URL | Referring domains |
ai_answers | Your site (DataForSEO only) | Whether AI answers to your site’s own AI-style questions cite or mention it |
Each request also takes a two-letter country code. The default is us. Every DataForSEO result says what the request cost, from DataForSEO’s own numbers.
Run research
Ask your agent and name the provider you have a key for:
Use Ahrefs to show the keywords competitor.com ranks for in the UK
The hosted MCP runs seo_research. In a terminal, put the action first:
seo research keyword_metrics --keywords "seo audit,seo report" --country us
seo research ranked_keywords --provider ahrefs --target competitor.com --country gb
Without --provider, the CLI uses the first provider with a saved key.
Check whether AI answers cite your site
ai_answers starts from questions people already ask about your site. It takes the top 10 chat-style and long questions from the AI queries section of your Search Console data, so you need Google connected as well as a DataForSEO key. You cannot give it your own list.
seo research ai_answers --target example.com --country gb
Each question goes to ChatGPT search, Google AI Mode and Google AI Overviews. Every row says whether the answer cited a page on your site, mentioned it by name, did neither, or showed no AI answer at all. ChatGPT rows also name the model DataForSEO reports for the answer. A full run costs about 12 cents of DataForSEO credit, and the result shows what it actually cost.
Treat each row as one sample. Ask the same question tomorrow and the answer can change, so a “neither” today is not proof you will never be cited.
Domain Rating column
Rows with a domain, and the target itself, get a free Domain Rating column. It is Domain Rating by Ahrefs, and you do not need an Ahrefs key for it.
Estimates, not your data
Provider numbers are estimates from their own index. They are kept apart from your Search Console data and never mixed into it. When you need to know what your own pages actually get, use the SEO report or seo data.