Search trend API for AI agents

A search trend API returns search interest for a keyword as structured data rather than a web page. Trends MCP returns a weekly 0-100 index with about 5 years of history, an absolute volume estimate where available, and live breakout feeds. As of August 15, 2026, artificial intelligence had an index value of 46 and an estimated weekly volume of 717,000. The free plan includes 100 requests per month. Starter is $19 per month.

What the data showed in August 2026

Artificial intelligence had an index value of 46 on August 15, 2026, down 49.45% from 91 on May 16, 2026 and down 17.86% from 56 on August 16, 2025. Estimated weekly volume moved from 1,420,000 on May 16, 2026 to 717,000 on August 15, 2026, against 873,000 a year earlier.

Electric vehicles had an index value of 39, down 60.61% over 3M and down 41.79% over 1Y, with estimated volume at 555,000 against 1,410,000 on May 16, 2026. Model context protocol had an index value of 7, down 88.89% over 3M and down 93.0% over 1Y from a peak of 100. OpenAI had an index value of 16, down 79.75% over 3M and down 78.67% over 1Y. AI agents had an index value of 31, down 68.04% over 3M and down 31.11% over 1Y.

What the live breakout feed showed on August 19, 2026

get_top_trends with type Google Trends returned a breakout list led by hayden panettiere at rank 1, inde navarrette at 2, powerball winner at 3, natalie harp at 4, and egg recall at 5. Hurricane lala took 6, rebel creamery ice cream lawsuit 7, karoline leavitt 8, what time is the solar eclipse on august 12 at 9, and frank beard at 10.

The live feed takes no keyword. It answers what is spiking right now, while get_trends and get_growth answer how a known phrase has moved over 5 years.

The exact calls

get_trends returns the history. get_growth returns period percentages plus volume. get_top_trends returns the live breakout list.

get_trends(keyword='electric vehicles', source='google search', data_mode='weekly')

get_growth(keyword='artificial intelligence', source='google search', percent_growth=['3M', '1Y'])

Which search sources one connection covers

Google Search, Google Images, Google News, Google Shopping, and YouTube search volume all share the same 0-100 index and call pattern. The source parameter selects which one a query reads. A single get_growth call can compare sources by passing a comma-separated list, which is how ecommerce teams separate research intent from shopping intent on the same phrase.

The Google Search data page covers the web search source in more depth, and the real-time trends API page covers the live feed catalog.

Who uses a search trend API

Content teams batch a keyword list every Monday and keep phrases with positive 3M and 1Y growth. Equity researchers watch issuer names into events, then confirm on news sentiment. Developers pipe growth scores into alerting with daily cron jobs.

A practical batch looks like this. Store 30 phrases. Once a week, call get_growth with 3M and 1Y. Keep phrases where both windows are positive. For the keepers, call get_trends weekly and archive the JSON. That pattern stays inside 100 requests per month for a small desk and scales on Starter at $19 per month when the list grows.

Limits and caveats

Low-volume phrases return weak quality scores or misses. The 0-100 index is relative to that keyword's own peak in the window, which is why two keywords at 80 are not equal in absolute searches. Volume estimates should not be pasted into a media plan as if they were Keyword Planner.

Quota is 100 requests per month on the free plan, Starter $19 per month. A crawl of 10,000 keywords overnight is a different product. Deduplicating the list and caching weekly snapshots is how research teams stay inside the month.

Getting started

Sign up on the free tier, copy the API key, and make the first call with any HTTP client. The setup guide covers Claude, Cursor, and plain REST in 4 copy-paste blocks. The Google Trends API page covers the API contract in more depth.