FAQ
Answers to common questions about SearchMCP — from credits & rate limits to integrations, reliability, and our roadmap.
How quickly will I receive a result?
Results are fetched in real time. Typical end-to-end latency is ~200–600ms depending on query complexity, location targeting, and network conditions.
Are the queries made in real time or served from cache?
Queries are executed live against Google at request time to keep results fresh and reliable.
Can I customize the search query location or country?
Yes. Use location and/or country (ISO-3166-1 alpha-2). See REST Overview for allowed values.
What search types are supported?
Web search today. Upcoming features include web scraping, structured extraction, and additional agent tooling (see Roadmap).
How are credits deducted?
Credits are billed by results count: 1–10 results = 1 credit, 11–20 = 2 credits, … up to 91–100 = 10 credits. Max numberOfResults is 100. See Pricing & Credits.
Do credits expire?
No. Purchased credits remain available until used.
What payment methods do you accept?
Major credit/debit cards and common wallet methods. For enterprise, we can arrange invoicing.
Can I get a refund?
If you run into issues or purchased credits in error, please contact us. We’ll review and issue a refund where appropriate.
How many queries per second (QPS) can I send?
Rate limits are enforced at the team level (shared across all API keys):
- Starter — up to 10 QPS
- Standard — up to 100 QPS
- Scale — up to 500 QPS (expandable)
Limits exist primarily to protect infrastructure; as we scale, we continually improve them. Need more? Get in touch.
What is your uptime SLA and error rate?
We target a 99.99% uptime SLA with a competitive error rate of < 0.05% failed requests across tiers.
Are rate limits applied per key or per team?
Per team. A team may use multiple API keys for different apps/environments, but all keys share the same team-level limits.
Do you support REST?
Yes. Base URL: https://api.searchmcp.io. Endpoint: POST /v1/search. Auth with X-API-Key. See REST Overview.
Do you support MCP?
Yes — modern /mcp (StreamableHTTP) and legacy /sse. See MCP Overview.
How do I integrate with Claude, ChatGPT, AI SDKs, or LangChain?
Use our targeted guides: Claude Desktop, ChatGPT, AI SDK (Node.js), LangChain, and mcp-remote CLI.
What response fields are available?
See Response Fields and the schemas in REST Overview.
What is on the roadmap?
- Web scraping — programmatic capture of HTML, text, and metadata.
- Structured extraction — entities, tables, and key fields from pages.
- AI/LLM agent tooling — MCP tools for fetching, reasoning, and acting on live data.
- Analytics dashboards — usage insights and team reporting.
- Enterprise capabilities — higher QPS, bulk imports, dedicated infra.
How do I get in touch?
Use our contact page for support, refunds, higher limits, or enterprise inquiries.
Do you offer enterprise or custom plans?
Yes. If you need more credits, higher QPS, or specific SLAs, contact us for a tailored plan.