Without data, volumes are guesses
A language model has no live search data. The numbers it offers for search volume or CPC come from patterns in its training text, not from what people searched last month.
Claude + KWScanner
Claude for SEO, with real search volume
Claude can plan content, cluster keywords and write briefs. What it cannot do alone is know how many people search for something. Connect KWScanner and it looks that up: volume, CPC, competition and trend for every keyword it suggests.
- Real monthly search volume
- CPC & competition
- 12-month trends
- No API key
Works in Claude and Claude Code · Sign in and click Allow · Pay as you go · Credits never expire
The gap
Claude is a strong SEO assistant with one blind spot
Ask Claude for keywords and you get sensible ideas. Ask how often they are searched and you get a confident number it has no way of knowing.
With KWScanner, it looks them up
Claude calls KWScanner for each keyword it is weighing and gets the monthly volume, cost per click, competition and the last 12 months of trend, then reasons from those.
One batch, not one at a time
Up to 200 keywords are checked in a single call, so sizing a whole topic cluster is one step in the conversation and costs a few cents.
Seasonality included
Every keyword comes back with its monthly trend, so Claude can tell a rising topic from a fading one and time content for when people actually search.
Ideas with numbers attached
Give it a seed term and it pulls up to 50 related keywords, each already carrying volume, CPC and competition, ready to sort and group.
Cheap enough to check everything
At one credit per keyword, checking every idea in a brief costs less than the time it takes to wonder whether to.
Setup
Connect Claude in under a minute
The same address works everywhere. Pick how you use Claude.
Claude (desktop and web)
Open Claude's settings, go to Connectors, choose Add custom connector and paste this address:
https://api.kwscanner.com/mcp
Claude Code
Run this in your terminal, then type /mcp inside Claude Code and choose kwscanner to sign in:
claude mcp add --transport http kwscanner https://api.kwscanner.com/mcp
-
01
Add the address
Paste the address into Claude's connector settings, or run the Claude Code command above.
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02
Sign in and click Allow
Your browser opens KWScanner. Sign in, check the name of the app that is asking, and choose Allow. There is no API key to create, copy or store.
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03
Ask for keywords
The assistant now sees the keyword tools and uses them when a question needs real numbers. You can disconnect the app from your dashboard at any time.
Connecting an AI assistant is open to accounts that have bought at least $10 of credits in total. That is a one-time threshold, not a fee: the credits are yours to spend on lookups and never expire. See pricing.
What Claude gets
Five tools, two of them paid
Claude reads these descriptions itself and picks the right tool, so there is nothing to configure.
| Tool | What the assistant gets | Cost |
|---|---|---|
get_keyword_metrics | Monthly search volume, cost per click, competition and a 12-month trend for up to 200 keywords in one call. | 1 credit per keyword |
get_related_keywords | Up to 50 keyword ideas for a seed term, highest volume first, each with volume, CPC and competition. | 10 credits per lookup |
get_keyword_history | Dated monthly volumes for keywords you have already looked up, for seasonality. | Free |
estimate_cost | What a batch would cost and whether your balance covers it, before anything is charged. | Free |
get_account_usage | Your credit balance and what is left of today's limits. | Free |
Give Claude real keyword data
Create a free account, connect Claude with one click and size your next topic with numbers instead of guesses.
In practice
What to ask once it is connected
These work as written. Change the topic and the country.
Size a topic before you write
I'm planning an article about cold brew coffee for a US audience. Find related keywords, look up their search volume and CPC, and tell me which one should be the main keyword and which belong in subheadings.
Check a list you already have
Here are 60 keywords from our content backlog. Estimate the cost first, then look them all up for the UK and give me a table sorted by volume, with anything under 50 searches a month removed.
Find what is rising
Look up these 30 keywords and use the 12-month trend to split them into rising, steady and falling. Suggest which rising ones we could publish on this month.
Plan pages inside a codebase (Claude Code)
Read the pages in /content/guides. For each one, work out the keyword it targets, look up its volume, and list the pages whose target keyword has no search demand so we can retarget them.
A real example: the keywords behind this page
We chose what this page should be about by asking through the same connection. These are the numbers that came back for the United States:
| Keyword | Monthly searches | CPC | Competition | 12-month trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| claude seo | 720 | $12.47 | 0.37 | Rising: 70 a year ago, 1,300 in recent months |
| claude seo skills | 480 | $8.80 | 0.19 | Rising: near zero a year ago, 880 recently |
| claude code for seo | 210 | $7.55 | 0.02 | Rising, with a spike to 1,000 |
| claude for seo | 110 | $12.36 | 0.55 | Rising: 10 a year ago, 140 recently |
| claude keyword research | 10 | - | 0.29 | New |
The trend column is what changed the plan. The yearly average for "claude seo" is 720, but the recent months sit at 1,300, and "claude seo skills" barely existed a year ago. A list of keyword ideas without those numbers would have ranked them the other way round. The whole check, 140 keywords and four related-keyword lookups, used 180 credits, which is about nine cents.
A Claude SEO skill for keyword research
A skill is a short instruction file Claude Code loads when a task matches it. This one makes keyword research repeatable: the same steps, the same table, and no invented numbers. Save it as .claude/skills/keyword-research/SKILL.md in your project, or in your home folder to use it everywhere.
--- name: keyword-research description: Research keywords with real search volume using the KWScanner tools. Use when asked to find, size or prioritise keywords for a page, article or campaign. --- # Keyword research 1. If they were not given, ask for the topic, the country and what the page is for. 2. Call get_related_keywords for one or two seed terms to collect candidates. 3. Add any obvious variants the user would expect, then remove duplicates. 4. Call estimate_cost with the full list and say what it will cost. 5. Call get_keyword_metrics once with every candidate (up to 200 per call), using the user's country. 6. Drop keywords with no data or below the volume the user cares about. 7. Group what is left by search intent. Pick one primary keyword per page and list the others as supporting terms. 8. Report a table: keyword, monthly volume, CPC, competition, and whether the 12-month trend is rising, steady or falling. Rules: - Never state a search volume, CPC or competition figure the tools did not return. - Prefer the recent months of the trend over the yearly average when they disagree, and say so. - A keyword with status "unavailable" was not charged; offer to try it again later.
Then ask for what you need in plain words, such as "research keywords for a guide to standing desks, UK". Claude picks up the skill, runs the steps and shows its working.
Why KWScanner
Built to be the data layer, not another subscription
Pay for lookups, nothing else
One credit per keyword, from $5 for 10,000 credits. There is no monthly plan, and unused credits are still there next quarter.
Sign in, not an API key
You approve the connection in your browser. There is no key to paste into a config file, leak in a commit or rotate later.
It can only look things up
A connected assistant can run keyword lookups with your credits. It cannot buy credits, see payment details or change account settings.
Pricing
Affordable, pay-as-you-go pricing
One credit covers one keyword, whether you look it up in the dashboard, the browser extension or through Claude. No subscription, and credits never expire.
New accounts get 2× credits on their first purchase
| Buy | Per credit | Discount | You pay |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10,000 – 99,999 credits | $0.0005 | - | from $5 |
| 100,000 – 299,999 credits | $0.00041 | 18% off | from $41 |
| 300,000 – 599,999 credits | $0.00032 | 36% off | from $96 |
| 600,000 – 999,999 credits | $0.00026 | 48% off | from $156 |
| 1,000,000+ credits | $0.0002 | 60% off | from $200 |
Buy any amount from 10,000 credits up. The volume tier is applied automatically. Connecting an AI assistant is open to accounts that have bought at least $10 of credits in total. That is a one-time threshold, not a fee: the credits are yours to spend on lookups and never expire.
FAQ
Claude for SEO - FAQ
Can Claude do keyword research?
Claude is good at the thinking part of keyword research: grouping terms by intent, spotting gaps and drafting briefs. On its own it has no search data, so any volume it states is a guess. Connected to KWScanner, it looks up monthly search volume, cost per click, competition and a 12-month trend for the keywords it is considering, and works from those numbers.
How do I connect KWScanner to Claude?
Add
https://api.kwscanner.com/mcp as a custom connector in Claude's settings, or run the one-line command on this page in Claude Code. Your browser opens KWScanner, you sign in and click Allow, and the keyword tools appear in Claude. No API key is involved.Does it work with Claude Code?
Yes. Add the server with one command, run
/mcp and choose kwscanner to sign in. Claude Code can then check keywords while it writes or edits pages in your project, which is useful for content sites and programmatic SEO.What does it cost?
One credit per keyword and ten credits for a list of up to 50 related keywords. Credits start at $5 for 10,000 and never expire, so checking 200 keywords costs about ten cents. Estimating a cost, reading history and checking your balance are free. Connecting an AI assistant is open to accounts that have bought at least $10 of credits in total. That is a one-time threshold, not a fee: the credits are yours to spend on lookups and never expire.
Which countries are supported?
Worldwide totals, or one of the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Tell Claude which market you are planning for and it passes that to the lookup.
Is there a Claude SEO skill for keyword research?
There is one on this page that you can copy. It is a short instruction file that tells Claude Code how to run keyword research with the KWScanner tools: expand a seed term, check the cost, look up the candidates in one batch, and report a table without inventing numbers.
Can Claude spend my credits without asking?
Claude asks before it uses a tool unless you have told it not to, and it can call a free tool to estimate the cost first. It can only run lookups: it cannot buy credits, see payment details or change your account. Daily limits apply to connected apps as they do to the rest of your account.
Do I need a subscription?
No. KWScanner has no monthly plan. You buy credits when you need them and they stay on your account until you use them.
Ready to give Claude real numbers?
Sign up free, connect Claude with one click and research your first topic today.