# Semrush API + MCP (slim)

> Semrush is a search marketing data platform, owned by Adobe since April 2026. Agents reach its keyword, backlink, ranking and traffic data through REST APIs with API keys or a hosted MCP server that spends the same API units.

- Full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/semrush.md (~7,800 tokens) · this version ~2,030 tokens · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/semrush.json · canonical https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/semrush
- Index: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt · API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json · Updated: 2026-10-08

**D · 53.1/100 · rank #487 of 629 · #3 in SEO & search visibility · not agent-ready · confidence medium**


Assessment: The hosted MCP server exposes 14 tools that load a report's parameters on demand, and version 4 API keys can be read-only, time-limited and revoked. Most reports still sit in version 3, whose single key travels in the URL and can't be revoked. No status page, OpenAPI file or API unit price was found.

## Facts

- Kind: HTTP API · vendor: Semrush Inc. (an Adobe company) · category: SEO & search visibility · legal entity: Semrush Inc. · provenance 75/100
- Endpoint: `https://api.semrush.com` (HTTP, Streamable HTTP)
- Auth: OAuth or key · pricing: Paid · x402: no · licence: Proprietary service under the Semrush terms of service
- Probe metrics: not measured yet (probes haven't run)
- Surfaces graded: The public REST APIs at api.semrush.com (version 3 and version 4) and the official hosted MCP server, which the vendor's llms.txt recommends for agents
- APIs: SEO API (version 4 Backlinks and Keyword reports; version 3 Domain, Overview, URL, subdomain and subfolder reports), Trends API (version 3), Projects API (folders in version 4; Position Tracking and Site Audit in version 3), Local API (version 4)
- MCP server: Hosted, streamable HTTP, https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp. 12 discovery tools (domain_overview, organic_research, keyword_research, competitors_research, backlinks_research, audience_research, traffic_overview, paid_search_research, shopping_research, position_tracking, site_audit, projects) plus get_report_schema and execute_report
- Credentials: Version 4 API key in `Authorization: Apikey <key>` or `?key=`; version 3 key in `?key=` only; MCP by OAuth 2.1 (scope mcp.access, dynamic client registration, PKCE) or the API key header. OAuth 2.0 device flow remains for deprecated methods
- Access: Standard API needs the SEO Business plan plus an API unit package, per the API access page. The MCP page lists Semrush One Starter and Pro+ and SEO Classic Pro and Guru with 50,000 units included. Trends API is a separate subscription, Premium through sales
- Unit costs: Keyword metrics 20 units a request; backlinks overview 45 a request; backlinks and referring domains 40 to 45 a line; domain organic keywords 10 a line, 50 for historical data. Empty responses cost nothing. Local API calls use no units
- Unit packages: 2, 5, 10 or 20 million units, renewed with the subscription, unused units expire. Package prices are shown in the account, not on a public page
- Rate limits: 10 requests a second and 10 simultaneous requests per account. Trends API 10,000 requests a month by default. Listing Management Get Categories 10 a minute
- Errors: Version 4 returns JSON with meta.request_id, error.code, error.message and error.retryable, and lists 400, 401, 403, 404, 409, 429, 499, 500, 501, 503 and 504. Version 3 returns text codes such as `ERROR 132 :: API UNITS BALANCE IS ZERO`
- Response control: Version 4 has `fields`, `limit`, `offset`, `order_by`, `direction`, a `filter` expression language and JSON or CSV. Version 3 has `export_columns`, `display_limit`, `display_offset`, `display_filter`, `display_sort` and CSV
- Audit: API Query log in the profile with query, time, IP address, database, report type, rows, cost and remaining balance, exportable to CSV up to 50,000 rows. SEO API and Projects v4 only
- Security programme: PCI DSS Level 1, annual penetration tests, a bug bounty on HackerOne, SAML SSO and two-factor sign-in per the security page. No SOC 2 or ISO 27001 statement on that page. No security.txt
- Data locations: Data centres in the United States on Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform and Digital Realty, per the security page. Sub-processor list last updated November 2025
- Ownership: Semrush Inc., Boston, is the contracting entity in the terms of 25 August 2026. Adobe completed the acquisition of Semrush Holdings, Inc. on 28 April 2026

- Scores: Reliability 34, Performance pending, Schema & documentation 70, Agent ergonomics 77, Security & auth 54, Payments & pricing 17, Task success pending, Maintenance & community 57, Transparency & trust 67 · total over the 7 assessed categories
- Why: Reliability, Graded on the hosted lines for the REST APIs and the MCP server. · Schema & documentation, No OpenAPI or similar file was found on the developer site, and the guessed paths return 404. The MCP server's `get_report_schema` tool retu… · Agent ergonomics, The MCP server names 14 tools, 12 for discovery plus `get_report_schema` and `execute_report`, so a report's parameters load only when asked… · Security & auth, Version 4 keys can be read-only or read and write, expire, and be revoked, up to 100 an account, and the MCP server uses OAuth 2.1 with PKCE… · Payments & pricing, No x402, MPP or L402 (0). · Maintenance & community, The newest dated release note is 4 September 2026, 34 days before the check, for the Review Management reply endpoints (20). · Transparency & trust, Closed service with terms updated on 25 August 2026 that include API clauses on rate, caching and AI use (15).
- Sources: 25, open questions: 8, both in the full twin
- Capabilities: seo.keywords, seo.backlinks, seo.rankings, seo.traffic, seo.serp
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/semrush.json
- Verify (for the vendor): the badge `https://www.anchorterminal.com/badges/semrush.svg` or a link to https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/semrush from a page on semrush.com or one of its subdomains, then `POST https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/verify` `{"slug", "url"}` or `verify_listing` at /mcp; re-checked weekly, no effect on the grade. Snippets in the full twin.

## Before you call it

1. Use the MCP server at https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp where the host supports it. Call a discovery tool, then `get_report_schema`, then `execute_report`
2. Set `limit` or `display_limit` on every per-line report. A backlinks row costs 40 to 45 units and a historical keyword row 50
3. Check the unit balance before large pulls. A per-line report returns only the lines the balance covers, with no error
4. Send the version 4 key as `Authorization: Apikey <key>`, never as `?key=`. Version 3 accepts only the query parameter, so keep those URLs out of logs
5. Stay under 10 requests a second and 10 concurrent requests per account, and retry only when `error.retryable` is true

## Connect

```bash
curl -H 'Authorization: Apikey YOUR_API_KEY' "https://api.semrush.com/apis/v4/keywords/v1/metrics?keyword=seo%20tools&country=US"
```

```bash
claude mcp add semrush https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp -t http
```
Full config and headless snippets are in the full page. Through letme (picks today, calling later): https://letme.dev/semrush

## Similar tools

| Tool | Grade | Score | Shared capabilities | Slim |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| DataForSEO | B | 64.9 | seo.keywords, seo.backlinks, seo.serp, seo.rankings, seo.traffic | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/dataforseo.min.md |
| Manifold | C | 56.2 | seo.keywords, seo.backlinks, seo.serp, seo.rankings, seo.traffic | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/manifold-mcp.min.md |
| Ahrefs | D | 49.8 | seo.keywords, seo.backlinks, seo.serp, seo.rankings, seo.traffic | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/ahrefs.min.md |
| Similarweb | D | 46 | seo.traffic, seo.keywords, seo.serp, seo.rankings | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/similarweb.min.md |
| Moz API | E | 45.3 | seo.keywords, seo.backlinks, seo.serp, seo.rankings | https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/moz-api.min.md |


## Panel reviews (0, desk reviews from public material, no calls made)