For developers building AI-visibility tools

MentionsAPI vs DataForSEO: raw SEO data or a finished AI-visibility signal

DataForSEO and MentionsAPI are both developer APIs a builder might shortlist, but they sit at different layers of the stack. DataForSEO is general-purpose SEO data infrastructure: SERP APIs, keyword data, backlinks, on-page crawling, and merchant APIs, sold pay-as-you-go per request to teams building SEO tools. MentionsAPI is a purpose-built AI-visibility API: one call returns whether a brand was mentioned, where it ranked, and what was cited, per AI surface.

The difference is raw material versus finished signal. With broad SERP infrastructure you assemble the pipeline yourself: pick endpoints, fetch data, parse the elements you care about, and write the extraction logic. With MentionsAPI the extraction is the product. The question 'is my brand visible in AI answers?' comes back answered, not as pages of data to mine.

Neither layer replaces the other, which is why plenty of builders use both. This page lays out where each one earns its slot.

Get your API keyRead the docs

300 free credits · Plans from $5/mo · Calls debit credits

Credit-based·300 free credits · $5/mo → 1,000 credits · $54/yr → 12,000

Two different layers of the stack

DataForSEO's job is breadth: give tool builders raw SERP and SEO data at scale, across dozens of endpoints, and let them build whatever they want on top. That's infrastructure. The value is coverage and volume, and the integration cost is that assembly, parsing, and interpretation are your code.

MentionsAPI's job is depth on one question: how visible is a brand across AI surfaces? We run the query against the surface, extract mentions, compute rank, and parse citations before the response leaves our side. The value is that the hard part ships pre-done; the tradeoff is that we only answer visibility questions. If you ask us for keyword volumes, we have nothing for you.

What DataForSEO covers

DataForSEO's catalog is wide: SERP APIs for the major search engines, keyword research data (volumes, difficulty, suggestions), backlink indexes, on-page audit crawling, business listings, and merchant/e-commerce APIs. If you're building a rank tracker, a keyword tool, a backlink analyzer, or a full SEO suite, that breadth is exactly what you need and there aren't many alternatives at its scale.

Pricing is pay-as-you-go per request, with costs varying by endpoint and priority level. For high-volume SERP pulls, that model works well: you pay for what you fetch and nothing else.

What MentionsAPI covers

AI surfaces only, but all of them. API modes query ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, and Perplexity (a quick check across all four is 130 credits fresh, 5 cached). Live modes check what real UI surfaces render: Google AI Overviews (15 credits), Google AI Mode (35), Bing Copilot (15), and the live ChatGPT (35), Gemini (35), and Perplexity (85) UIs. `mode: all_live` sweeps every live surface for 165 credits.

Every response comes back in one schema: mentioned or not, rank within the answer, and cited URLs, per surface. There is no parsing step on your side. There is also a discover mode (165 credits) that generates the queries worth tracking for a brand, and a compare mode (500 credits) for head-to-head runs between two brands or queries.

Pricing models compared

DataForSEO bills pay-as-you-go per request. Rates depend on the endpoint, and at SERP-data volume the economics are the point: fetch millions of rows, pay per fetch.

MentionsAPI bills from a credit wallet: 300 free credits one-time on signup, then $5/mo for 1,000 credits or $54/yr for 12,000, with top-ups at $4 per 1,000 (monthly) or $3 per 1,000 (annual). Credits never expire. Each mode has a posted cost, so a monitoring workload prices out on a napkin: 100 AI Overview checks a day is 1,500 credits a day, no endpoint-rate matrix required.

Which should you pick

Pick DataForSEO when the product you're building needs raw SEO data: keyword volumes, backlink graphs, on-page audits, classic SERP positions at scale. It's infrastructure built for exactly that, and MentionsAPI doesn't offer any of it.

Pick MentionsAPI when the question is AI visibility and you want the answer in one call instead of building an extraction pipeline. If your deliverable is "is the brand mentioned, where does it rank, what got cited" across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, and the rest, that's the entire product.

Pick both when your tool spans both worlds. A common shape: classic keyword and rank data from DataForSEO powering the SEO half of a dashboard, MentionsAPI powering the AI-visibility half. Two independent vendors, two clean integrations, one product.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

Answer-first, dev-to-dev. Each one is also embedded as FAQPage schema for AI engines.

Which should I use: MentionsAPI or DataForSEO?
Match the tool to the data. If you need keyword volumes, backlinks, on-page audits, or classic SERP positions at scale, DataForSEO is the right infrastructure and MentionsAPI doesn't offer any of that. If you need to know whether a brand is mentioned, ranked, and cited across AI surfaces, MentionsAPI returns that in one call. Different layers, different jobs.
Is MentionsAPI an alternative to DataForSEO?
Only for the AI-visibility slice. They're independent products with different scopes: DataForSEO is broad raw SEO-data infrastructure; MentionsAPI is a narrow, finished AI-visibility signal. For a builder deciding where AI-visibility data comes from, we're the purpose-built option. For everything else in the SEO-data catalog, we're not in the running.
Does DataForSEO track AI visibility?
DataForSEO's SERP endpoints return raw result-page data, and which page elements they parse evolves over time, so check their docs for the current coverage. The structural difference holds either way: raw SERP data leaves extraction, brand matching, and rank computation as your code. MentionsAPI returns the finished signal (mentioned, rank, citations) per AI surface, including surfaces that aren't classic SERPs, like the live ChatGPT and Perplexity UIs.
Does MentionsAPI provide keyword or backlink data?
No. No keyword volumes, no difficulty scores, no backlink index, no on-page crawls. MentionsAPI answers one question: how visible is a brand across AI surfaces. If your product needs classic SEO data, DataForSEO or a comparable data provider belongs in your stack alongside us, not instead of us.
Can I use both DataForSEO and MentionsAPI?
Yes, and tools that span classic SEO and AI visibility usually do. A typical split: DataForSEO powers keyword research and rank tracking; MentionsAPI powers the AI-visibility tab (mention rate, answer rank, citation tracking across ChatGPT, AI Overviews, Bing Copilot, and the rest). Two independent APIs, one dashboard.
How do the pricing models differ?
DataForSEO is pay-as-you-go per request, with rates that vary by endpoint and priority. MentionsAPI is a credit wallet: 300 free credits one-time, $5/mo for 1,000 or $54/yr for 12,000, top-ups at $4/$3 per 1,000, credits never expire. Every MentionsAPI mode has one posted cost, so forecasting a monitoring workload is multiplication, not a rate card.
How does integration effort compare?
DataForSEO integrations are as big as your ambition: pick endpoints, fetch, parse, and build the interpretation layer. That's appropriate for infrastructure. A MentionsAPI integration is one POST with a query and a brand, returning a fixed schema. If AI visibility is a feature in your product rather than the whole product, the one-call shape is weeks of pipeline you don't build.
Does MentionsAPI cover Google AI Overviews?
Yes, as a live surface: `mode: ai_overview` checks the actual AI Overviews block Google renders and costs 15 credits. Google AI Mode is a separate mode at 35 credits, Bing Copilot is 15, and `mode: all_live` runs every live UI surface (including the ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity UIs) in one 165-credit call.
Code example

The finished signal, no parsing step

Drop in your API key and you're live. Same response shape across every provider.

 ask.mjs
const res = await fetch("https://api.mentionsapi.com/v1/ask", {
  method: "POST",
  headers: {
    Authorization: "Bearer lvk_live_xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx",
    "Content-Type": "application/json",
  },
  body: JSON.stringify({
    providers: ["openai", "anthropic", "gemini", "perplexity"],
    prompt: "Best invoicing software for freelancers?",
    track_brands: ["FreshBooks", "Wave", "Bonsai"],
  }),
});
const data = await res.json();
// Each result already has mentions[] (with position) and
// citations[] (canonical URLs). Nothing left to extract.
Compare

DataForSEO vs MentionsAPI at a glance

 The other wayMentionsAPI
DataForSEORaw SERP/SEO data; you assembleOne call returns mentioned, rank, citations
DataForSEODozens of endpoints across SEOOne endpoint, AI surfaces only
DataForSEOExtraction and parsing are your codeBrand extraction built in
DataForSEOPer-request rates vary by endpointPosted credit cost per mode
Pricing

Start free. Subscribe for $5/mo. Calls debit credits.

Credit wallet, posted costs. 300 free credits one-time on signup; $5/mo for 1,000 credits, $54/yr for 12,000; top-ups $4 per 1,000 monthly, $3 per 1,000 annual; credits never expire. AI Overviews check 15 credits, Bing Copilot 15, quick check 130 fresh / 5 cached, all_live 165.

Get startedSee pricing

Stop wiring up four SDKs.

One API key, four answer engines, structured responses. 300 free credits on signup, plans from $5/mo.

Get your API keyRead the quickstart