Rank Tracking API
Point our Google web search endpoint at a keyword and location, then read back the exact positions, people-also-ask, and related searches as JSON. One credit per check that returns results, empties free.
See a rank check
A rank tracking API is just a loop over keywords that reads Google's organic results and records where each URL sits. On CrustAPI you hit one endpoint, pass the keyword and a location, and get the ranked results back as JSON in about 1 to 1.5 seconds.
One curl call checks one keyword:
The organic array comes back position-ordered. Flatten it to one row per result and you have a rank log you can diff day over day:
To read a single site's rank, find its row and take the position. To watch a whole set, store the rows with a timestamp and compare pulls. That loop is the entire tracker.
What each check returns
Every web search returns the full organic list plus the SERP features you track alongside a ranking. All of it is clean JSON, so there is no HTML parsing on your side.
People-also-ask and related searches are the content-gap signal SEO teams want next to a position. You get both in the same response, so a rank tracking API on CrustAPI doubles as a keyword-idea feed without a second call.
Versus rolling your own scraper
You can scrape Google yourself. The cost shows up later, in proxies that get blocked and parsers that break every time the SERP layout shifts.
| DIY scraper | CrustAPI | |
|---|---|---|
| Proxies and blocks | Your problem | Handled for you |
| Output | Raw HTML to parse | Position-ordered JSON |
| Billing | Pay for every request | 1 credit per check, empties free |
| PAA and related | Parse them separately | In the same response |
| Location targeting | Build it yourself | Pass a location string |
What it costs
One successful rank check costs 1 credit. A check that returns zero results costs nothing, so a keyword that falls off page one never bills you for an empty pull.
Credits are prepaid and never expire. The free tier gives you 3,000 checks a month with no card. Paid packs start at 25,000 credits for $49, about $1.96 per 1,000 checks, and the rate drops to $0.40 per 1,000 on the 250M pack.
Track 500 keywords once a day and that is roughly 15,000 checks a month, well inside the 25k pack with room left over.
When another tool wins
We give you the raw ranked data. We do not draw the charts or send the "you dropped to page two" email.
You want a finished dashboard: if you need share-of-voice graphs, alerting, and a client-facing report out of the box, a packaged tracker like Ahrefs or Semrush is the faster path. CrustAPI is the data layer you build one of those on, not the UI.
The fit is SEO SaaS builders and agencies who want to own the tracking stack and pay per successful check instead of per seat.
Related: Google Search API · SERP API · Scrape Google search results
Common questions
Clay
Own the data, build the tracker
CrustAPI hands you Google's ranked results as clean JSON by keyword and location, at 1 credit per successful check with empties free. Start on the free 3,000 checks a month and put a rank tracker on top of data you control, not a per-seat tool you rent.
Get 3,000 free credits