SerpApi

Use SerpApi via direct curl calls to scrape search engine results from Google, Bing, YouTube, and more.

Official docs: https://serpapi.com/search-api

When to Use

Use this skill when you need to:

• Scrape Google search results (organic, ads, knowledge graph)
• Search Google Images, News, Videos, Shopping
• Get local business results from Google Maps
• Scrape other search engines (Bing, YouTube, DuckDuckGo, etc.)
• Monitor SERP rankings for SEO analysis

Prerequisites

1. Sign up at SerpApi
2. Go to Dashboard and copy your API key
3. Store it in the environment variable SERPAPI_TOKEN

export SERPAPI_TOKEN="your-api-key"

Pricing

• Free tier: 100 searches/month
• API key is passed as a query parameter api_key

How to Use

All examples below assume you have SERPAPI_TOKEN set.

Base URL: https://serpapi.com/search

1. Basic Google Search

Search Google and get structured JSON results:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=artificial+intelligence&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.organic_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, snippet}'

2. Search with Location

Search from a specific location:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=best+coffee+shops&location=San+Francisco,+California&gl=us&hl=en&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.organic_results[:3]'

Parameters:

• location: City, state, or address
• gl: Country code (us, uk, de, etc.)
• hl: Language code (en, de, fr, etc.)

3. Google Image Search

Search for images:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_images&q=sunset+beach&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.images_results[:3] | .[] | {title, original, thumbnail}'

4. Google News Search

Search news articles:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_news&q=technology&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.news_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, source, date}'

5. Google Shopping Search

Search products:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_shopping&q=wireless+headphones&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.shopping_results[:3] | .[] | {title, price, source}'

6. YouTube Search

Search YouTube videos:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=youtube&search_query=python+tutorial&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.video_results[:3] | .[] | {title, link, channel, views}'

7. Google Maps / Local Results

Search local businesses:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_maps&q=restaurants&ll=@40.7128,-74.0060,15z&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.local_results[:3] | .[] | {title, rating, address}'

If using location with Google Maps, include z or m:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_maps&q=3PL&location=Dallas-Fort+Worth,+Texas&z=14&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)"

Defensive local-results extraction:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google_maps&q=3PL&ll=@32.7767,-96.7970,14z&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" \
  | jq 'if has("error") then .error else (.local_results[:5] | map({title,address,phone,website,link,type})) end'

Parameters:

• ll: Latitude, longitude, and zoom level (e.g., @40.7128,-74.0060,15z)

8. Pagination

Get more results using the start parameter:

# First page (results 1-10)
curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=0&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.organic_results | length'

# Second page (results 11-20)
curl -s "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=machine+learning&start=10&api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '.organic_results | length'

9. Check Account Info

Check your API usage and credits:

curl -s "https://serpapi.com/account?api_key=$(printenv SERPAPI_TOKEN)" | jq '{plan_name, searches_per_month, this_month_usage}'

Supported Engines

Common Parameters

Guidelines

1. Use specific engines: Use google_images, google_news etc. instead of tbm parameter for cleaner results
2. Add location for local searches: Use location and gl for geo-targeted results
3. Cache results: SerpApi caches results by default; use no_cache=true for fresh data
4. Monitor usage: Check /account endpoint to track API credits
5. Use jq filters: Filter large JSON responses to extract only needed data