Google SEO APIs
Direct access to Google's own SEO data. Bridges the gap between crawl-based
analysis (existing codex-seo skills) and Google's real-time field data: actual
Chrome user metrics, real indexation status, search performance, and organic traffic.
All APIs are free. Setup requires a Google Cloud project with API key and/or
service account -- run /seo google setup for step-by-step instructions.
Prerequisites
Before executing any command, check credentials:
python scripts/google_auth.py --check --json
Config file: ~/.config/codex-seo/google-api.json
{
"service_account_path": "/path/to/service_account.json",
"api_key": "AIzaSy...",
"default_property": "sc-domain:example.com",
"ga4_property_id": "properties/123456789"
}
If missing, read references/auth-setup.md and walk the user through setup.
Credential Tiers
| Tier | Detection | Available Commands |
|---|
| 0 (API Key) | api_key present | pagespeed, crux, crux-history, youtube, nlp |
| 1 (OAuth/SA) | + OAuth token or service account | Tier 0 + gsc, inspect, sitemaps, index |
| 2 (Full) | + ga4_property_id configured | Tier 1 + ga4, ga4-pages |
| 3 (Ads) | + ads_developer_token + ads_customer_id | Tier 2 + keywords, volume |
Always communicate the detected tier before running commands.
Quick Reference
| Command | What it does | Tier |
|---|
/seo google setup | Check/configure API credentials | -- |
/seo google pagespeed <url> | PSI Lighthouse + CrUX field data | 0 |
/seo google crux <url> | CrUX field data only (p75 metrics) | 0 |
/seo google crux-history <url> | 25-week CWV trend analysis | 0 |
/seo google gsc <property> | Search Console: clicks, impressions, CTR, position | 1 |
/seo google inspect <url> | URL Inspection: index status, canonical, crawl info | 1 |
/seo google inspect-batch <file> | Batch URL Inspection from file | 1 |
/seo google sitemaps <property> | GSC sitemap status | 1 |
/seo google index <url> | Submit URL to Indexing API | 1 |
/seo google index-batch <file> | Batch submit up to 200 URLs | 1 |
/seo google ga4 [property-id] | GA4 organic traffic report | 2 |
/seo google ga4-pages [property-id] | Top organic landing pages | 2 |
/seo google youtube <query> | YouTube video search (views, likes, duration) | 0 |
/seo google youtube-video <id> | YouTube video details + top comments | 0 |
/seo google nlp <url-or-text> | NLP entity extraction + sentiment + classification | 0 |
/seo google entities <url-or-text> | Entity analysis only (for E-E-A-T) | 0 |
/seo google keywords <seed> | Keyword ideas from Google Ads Keyword Planner | 3 |
/seo google volume <keywords> | Search volume lookup from Keyword Planner | 3 |
/seo google entity <query> | Knowledge Graph entity check | 0 |
/seo google safety <url> | Web Risk URL safety check | 0 |
/seo google quotas | Show rate limits for all APIs | -- |
PageSpeed + CrUX
/seo google pagespeed <url>
Combined Lighthouse lab data + CrUX field data.
Script: python scripts/pagespeed_check.py <url> --json
Reference: references/pagespeed-crux-api.md
Default: Both mobile + desktop strategies, all Lighthouse categories.
Output merges lab scores (point-in-time Lighthouse) with field data (28-day
Chrome user metrics). CrUX tries URL-level first, falls back to origin-level.
/seo google crux <url>
CrUX field data only (no Lighthouse run). Faster.
Script: python scripts/pagespeed_check.py <url> --crux-only --json
/seo google crux-history <url>
25-week CrUX History trends. Shows whether CWV metrics are improving, stable, or degrading.
Script: python scripts/crux_history.py <url> --json
Reference: references/pagespeed-crux-api.md
Output includes per-metric trend direction, percentage change, and weekly p75 values.
Search Console
/seo google gsc <property>
Search Analytics: clicks, impressions, CTR, position for last 28 days.
Script: python scripts/gsc_query.py --property <property> --json
Reference: references/search-console-api.md
Default: 28 days, dimensions=query,page, type=web, limit=1000.
Includes quick-win detection: queries at position 4-10 with high impressions.
/seo google inspect <url>
URL Inspection: real indexation status from Google.
Script: python scripts/gsc_inspect.py <url> --json
Returns: verdict (PASS/FAIL), coverage state, robots.txt status, indexing state,
page fetch state, canonical selection, mobile usability, rich results.
/seo google inspect-batch <file>
Batch inspection from a file (one URL per line). Rate limited to 2,000/day per site.
Script: python scripts/gsc_inspect.py --batch <file> --json
/seo google sitemaps <property>
List submitted sitemaps with status, errors, warnings.
Script: python scripts/gsc_query.py sitemaps --property <property> --json
Indexing API
/seo google index <url>
Notify Google of a URL update.
Script: python scripts/indexing_notify.py <url> --json
Reference: references/indexing-api.md
The Indexing API is officially for JobPosting and BroadcastEvent/VideoObject pages.
Always inform the user of this restriction. Daily quota: 200 publish requests.
/seo google index-batch <file>
Batch submit URLs from a file. Tracks quota usage.
Script: python scripts/indexing_notify.py --batch <file> --json
GA4 Traffic
/seo google ga4 [property-id]
Organic traffic report: daily sessions, users, pageviews, bounce rate, engagement.
Script: python scripts/ga4_report.py --property <id> --json
Reference: references/ga4-data-api.md
Default: 28 days, filtered to Organic Search channel group.
/seo google ga4-pages [property-id]
Top organic landing pages ranked by sessions.
Script: python scripts/ga4_report.py --property <id> --report top-pages --json
YouTube (Video SEO)
YouTube mentions have the strongest AI visibility correlation (0.737). Free, API key only.
/seo google youtube <query>
Search YouTube for videos. Returns title, channel, views, likes, duration.
Script: python scripts/youtube_search.py search "<query>" --json
Reference: references/youtube-api.md
Quota: 100 units per search (10,000 units/day free).
/seo google youtube-video <video_id>
Detailed video info + tags + top 10 comments.
Script: python scripts/youtube_search.py video <video_id> --json
Quota: 2 units (video details + comments).
NLP Content Analysis
Google's own entity/sentiment analysis. Enhances E-E-A-T scoring.
/seo google nlp <url-or-text>
Full NLP analysis: entities, sentiment, content classification.
Script: python scripts/nlp_analyze.py --url <url> --json or --text "..."
Reference: references/nlp-api.md
Free tier: 5,000 units/month. Requires billing enabled on GCP project.
/seo google entities <url-or-text>
Entity extraction only (faster, less quota).
Script: python scripts/nlp_analyze.py --url <url> --features entities --json
Keyword Research (Google Ads)
Gold-standard keyword volume data. Requires Google Ads account.
/seo google keywords <seed>
Generate keyword ideas from seed terms.
Script: python scripts/keyword_planner.py ideas "<seed>" --json
Reference: references/keyword-planner-api.md
Requires: Ads developer token + customer ID in config (Tier 3).
/seo google volume <keywords>
Search volume for specific keywords (comma-separated).
Script: python scripts/keyword_planner.py volume "<kw1>,<kw2>" --json
Supplementary
/seo google entity <query>
Knowledge Graph entity check. Verifies brand presence.
Reference: references/supplementary-apis.md
Uses Knowledge Graph Search API with API key.
/seo google safety <url>
Web Risk API check for malware/social engineering flags.
Reference: references/supplementary-apis.md
/seo google quotas
Display rate limits table. Read references/rate-limits-quotas.md.
Reports
After any analysis command, offer to generate a PDF/HTML report.
/seo google report <type>
Generate a professional PDF report with charts and analytics.
Script: python scripts/google_report.py --type <type> --data <json> --domain <domain> --format pdf
| Type | Input | Output |
|---|
cwv-audit | PSI + CrUX + CrUX History data | Core Web Vitals audit with gauges, timelines, distributions |
gsc-performance | GSC query data | Search Console report with query tables, quick wins |
indexation | Batch inspection data | Indexation status with coverage donut chart |
full | All data combined | Comprehensive Google SEO report (all sections) |
Workflow:
- Run data collection commands (pagespeed, gsc, inspect-batch, etc.)
- Save JSON output to file:
python scripts/pagespeed_check.py <url> --json > data.json
- Generate report:
python scripts/google_report.py --type cwv-audit --data data.json --domain <domain>
Convention: After completing analysis, suggest: "Generate a report? Use /seo google report <type>"
Rate Limits
| API | Per-Minute | Per-Day | Auth |
|---|
| PSI v5 | 240 QPM | 25,000 QPD | API Key |
| CrUX + History | 150 QPM (shared) | Unlimited | API Key |
| GSC Search Analytics | 1,200 QPM/site | 30M QPD | Service Account |
| GSC URL Inspection | 600 QPM | 2,000 QPD/site | Service Account |
| Indexing API | 380 RPM | 200 publish/day | Service Account |
| GA4 Data API | 10 concurrent | ~25K tokens/day | Service Account |
Cross-Skill Integration
- seo-audit: Spawns
seo-google agent for live CWV + indexation data (conditional)
- seo-technical: Uses pagespeed_check.py for real CWV field data
- seo-performance: CrUX field data supplements Lighthouse lab data
- seo-sitemap: GSC sitemap status shows real crawl/index coverage
- seo-content: GSC query data informs keyword targeting
- seo-geo: GSC search appearance data includes AI Overview references
Output Format
- CWV metrics: traffic-light rating (Good / Needs Improvement / Poor)
- Performance reports: tables with sortable columns
- Always include data freshness note
- Save reports as
GOOGLE-API-REPORT-{domain}.md
- Use templates from
assets/templates/ for structured output
Technical Notes
- INP replaced FID on March 12, 2024. Never reference FID.
- CLS values from CrUX are string-encoded (e.g., "0.05"). Scripts handle parsing.
- CrUX 404 = insufficient traffic, not an auth error.
- Search Analytics data has 2-3 day lag.
round_trip_time replaced effectiveConnectionType in CrUX (Feb 2025).- Custom Search JSON API is closed to new customers (2025).
Error Handling
| Scenario | Action |
|---|
| No credentials configured | Run /seo google setup. List Tier 0 commands that work with just an API key. |
| Service account lacks GSC access | Report error. Instruct: add client_email to GSC > Settings > Users > Add. |
| CrUX data unavailable (404) | Report insufficient Chrome traffic. Suggest PSI lab data as fallback. |
| GA4 property not found | Report error. Show how to find property ID in GA4 Admin > Property Details. |
| Indexing API quota exceeded | Report 200/day limit. Suggest prioritizing most important URLs. |
| Rate limit (429) | Wait and retry with exponential backoff. Report which API hit the limit. |