Buy credits once and use them when you need them. There are no monthly tiers, and credits do not expire.
Google API Google Search API for backlink and market research
Use SocialListeningAPI to find pages that mention your brand, competitors, or market. Turn Google results into backlink prospect lists, review queues, and research feeds with normalized titles, descriptions, and source URLs.
- Find unlinked mentions and backlink prospects
- Track reviews, alternatives, and category pages
- Keep result titles, descriptions, and URLs in JSON
{
"success": true,
"platform": "google",
"endpoint": "/api/v1/google/search",
"data": {
"items": [
{
"id": "https://example.com/social-listening-guide",
"platform": "google",
"url": "https://example.com/social-listening-guide",
"title": "A practical guide to social listening",
"description": "Learn how to find and review public conversations about your brand.",
"published_at": null
}
]
},
"pagination": {
"next_cursor": null,
"has_more": false,
"page_size": 1
},
"raw": {
"results": []
},
"request_id": "req_example123",
"credits_used": 1,
"credits_remaining": 99
}What does the Google Search API return?
Send a keyword or search phrase and receive one page of Google web results as JSON. Each normalized item contains a title, description, URL, and stable ID based on that URL. A successful request costs 1 credit.
The endpoint accepts query and optional raw parameters. It does not expose
pagination, country, language, device, location, date, or result-count controls. Normalized results
do not include rank positions, ads, maps, shopping results, knowledge panels, or featured snippets.
This is a focused Google results API, not a full SERP API or backlink index. It finds pages worth reviewing. It does not prove that a page links to you, calculate authority, or report every page Google knows about.
Search patterns for backlink prospecting
Use "Your Brand" -site:yourdomain.com to find brand mentions away from your own site.
Use "your topic" resources to find curated pages, or "Competitor" alternatives
to find comparison pages. Google's
search help
documents quoted phrases, site:, exclusions, and date operators.
Treat each result as a prospect, not a backlink. Open the page, check its topic and quality, and confirm whether a link exists. Ask for a link only when your page gives the publisher something useful, such as a better explanation, original data, a working tool, or a current source.
Google says links help it discover pages and understand relevance. Its link best-practices guide also recommends descriptive anchor text and clear context around links.
Try the Google Search API
Choose cURL, Axios, or fetch. Add your API key, change the query, and send the request.
curl --get 'https://api.sociallisteningapi.com/api/v1/google/search' \
--data-urlencode 'query=social listening' \
--data-urlencode 'exact=true' \
--data-urlencode 'raw=true' \
--header 'x-api-key: YOUR_API_KEY'Why use SocialListeningAPI for Google research?
Search Google with the same API key and credit balance used for public social posts, videos, profiles, and Discourse forums.
Each API returns the same core response shape, so you do not need separate parsing code for every source.
Search public social posts, videos, profiles, Google results, and Discourse forums with one API key.
Failed requests do not use credits. A successful response uses the endpoint's listed credit cost.
Keep available post URLs beside results for review, citations, and follow-up work.
Use normalized fields in your app and inspect the raw provider response when you need more detail.
Playbooks
Use Google results in a practical workflow
Follow a playbook to find SEO content gaps, track reputation sources, or build a reviewed list of competitor comparison pages.
Choose the right route
SocialListeningAPI vs Google Custom Search JSON API
SocialListeningAPI fits focused web-result searches inside a wider social listening product. Google's official API offers more search controls, but it is closed to new customers and scheduled to end on January 1, 2027.
SocialListeningAPI
Search Google web results with one server-side API key and a simple response.
- Send one keyword or search phrase
- Get normalized title, description, and URL fields
- Use Google beside public social and forum sources
- Pay 1 credit for each successful request
Google Custom Search JSON API
Google's official JSON API searches a configured Programmable Search Engine with more controls.
- Configure a Programmable Search Engine and Google Cloud credentials
- Use filters for language, country, date, file type, and site
- Available only to existing customers
- Scheduled for discontinuation on January 1, 2027
MCP integration
Give social listening powers to your chat app
Connect SocialListeningAPI to Claude or ChatGPT. Ask a question in plain language, get actual, realtime results from social media platforms, forums and serps - with source links.
Use it to get brand mentions, scope out competitors, find leads and more - all from within your chat app.
See how the MCP worksClaude · SocialListeningAPI connected
MCP toolsearch_social_posts
reddit · "social listening API cost"Public posts returned with source URLs · 1 credit
1 credit per successful Google search
Buy a one-time credit pack and use it across every API. Credits do not expire.
Starter
$20one time
5,000 credits A simple pack for testing the API and smaller projects.
- $0.0040 per credit
- Use credits across every API endpoint
- Credits never expire
Growth Best value
$100one time
40,000 credits More credits at a lower cost for apps making regular calls.
- $0.0025 per credit
- Use credits across every API endpoint
- Credits never expire
Build your first Google research list
Create an account, copy your API key, and use 100 free credits to test focused Google searches.