Semrush MCP Server: How to Set It Up in Claude and ChatGPT, and Use It Across Client Domains (2026)

The Semrush MCP server is Semrush's own hosted server that lets Claude, ChatGPT and other AI assistants pull Semrush data (domain, keyword, backlink, traffic and project reports) straight into a chat. Setting it up takes a Semrush plan that includes API units and one click on the Semrush app inside Claude or ChatGPT, and every question you ask is paid for from those API units.

Below is the setup as of October 2026, checked against Semrush's developer docs and knowledge base, then what changes when the domains belong to a list of clients.

What is the Semrush MCP server?

An MCP server is an address you add to Claude or ChatGPT so it can read another system. Semrush runs its own at https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp, so there's nothing to install for the chat apps. According to the developer docs, it gives the AI:

• All SEO API endpoints: domain, keyword, backlink and competitor reports for any domain, including competitors'.
• Trends API endpoints: traffic and market data, but only if you also have a Trends API Basic or Premium plan.
• Read-only Projects API methods: data from your own Semrush projects, such as Position Tracking and Site Audit. It can't create projects or change settings.

Rather than one tool per report, the server offers tools by area (domain_overview, organic_research, keyword_research, backlinks_research, position_tracking, site_audit and more), then get_report_schema to look up a report's parameters and execute_report to run it.

Semrush's knowledge base says the connection uses read-only access: the assistant can retrieve Semrush data but can't modify or delete it. Semrush also warns that AI answers may be incomplete or inaccurate, so check the numbers before they go into a client report.

Which Semrush plan you need, and what it costs in API units

As of October 2026, Semrush lists these plans for MCP access to SEO data. Each includes 50,000 API units, which refresh on your subscription renewal date:

• Semrush One Starter
• Semrush One Pro+
• SEO Classic Pro
• SEO Classic Guru

Semrush One Advanced and SEO Classic Business need an API units package added; packages come in 2, 5, 10 or 20 million units. Traffic and market data needs a Trends API plan. Claude and ChatGPT charge nothing extra, and Semrush says requests through the MCP use the same API units as direct API requests.

Units are charged by report and by the number of rows returned. A few prices from Semrush's API reference:

• Domain overview: 10 units per line, 50 for historical data.
• A domain's organic keywords: 10 units per keyword row; paid keywords 20 per row; organic competitors 40 per row.
• Site Audit: 100 units for most requests, 1,000 for one page's details and 10,000 for one snapshot's details.

So "show me the top 100 organic keywords for this domain" costs about 1,000 units, and one Site Audit snapshot detail costs a fifth of the 50,000 included. Semrush recommends asking for a set number of rows, one country database and filters.

How to set up the Semrush MCP server, step by step

You need a Semrush login on one of the plans above, and Claude or ChatGPT. Both use the official Semrush app and sign you in with OAuth, so there's no key to paste: the app sends you to the Semrush login page and you approve access.

Step 1 (Claude): connect the Semrush app

1. Open Semrush in Claude's connector directory, or go to Customize, then Connectors, and browse for Semrush.
2. Click Connect.
3. Sign in to Semrush, review the access details and click Approve.
4. In a chat, tag @Semrush to make sure Claude uses it.

On Claude Team and Enterprise, an Owner first adds the connector for the organization (Organization settings, Connectors, Add to your team), then each person connects their own login, per Anthropic's connector guide.

Step 1 (ChatGPT): connect the Semrush app

1. Open the Semrush app in ChatGPT, or go to Settings, then Apps, and search for Semrush.
2. Click Connect, then Continue.
3. Sign in to Semrush, review the access details and click Approve.
4. Tag @Semrush in a prompt.

App availability depends on your ChatGPT plan, region and workspace; in a managed workspace an admin may need to turn the app on first (see Apps in ChatGPT).

Step 1 (Claude Code): add the server

Run the command from Semrush's docs:

claude mcp add semrush https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp -t http

Then open Claude Code, type /mcp, select the Semrush server and choose Authenticate to sign in. The server only accepts streamable HTTP.

For a tool that can't do OAuth, Semrush accepts an API key in a header, in the form Authorization: Apikey YOUR_API_KEY. Your key is on the API Units tab of Subscription info. With Claude Code's header option, that looks like this:

claude mcp add --transport http semrush https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp \
  --header "Authorization: Apikey YOUR_API_KEY"

Cursor and VS Code take the same URL in their MCP settings; the getting-started article has the config for each.

Step 2: Try it

"Using Semrush, US database, give me the domain overview for clientsite.com and its top 20 organic keywords by traffic." Naming the database and the number of rows keeps the unit cost predictable.

Using the Semrush MCP across many client domains

Semrush works by domain, not by client account, so the official server already handles a client list in one useful way: any client's domain is one prompt away, and so are their competitors'. You don't need the client's login to see estimated organic keywords, traffic or backlinks. Position Tracking and Site Audit are different: they read your Semrush projects, so each client needs a project in your account for Claude to read them.

Say you look after 14 clients' SEO. Every Monday you ask Claude for each client's top 100 organic keywords with position changes. That's about 1,000 units per client, 14,000 a week and 56,000 a month: more than the 50,000 a Pro or Guru plan includes, before anyone asks a second question.

What to plan for:

• One balance for everything. Every chat draws from the same API units. We found no way in Semrush's docs, as of October 2026, to cap units per client or per connection, so one broad question ("all keywords, all countries") can spend what the month's reports needed.
• Who connects. Semrush says team members with Semrush seats can query the same data, each connecting their own assistant. For anyone else, Semrush's v4 API lets you create up to 100 keys, each with its own permission and expiry, so a freelancer or script gets a key you can revoke alone. Every key still spends the same balance and reaches every domain.
• Clients wanting their own access need their own Semrush plan; your login or key would show them every domain and project you have.
• Semrush is one source. Its traffic figures are estimates. A client's real Google clicks and impressions come from Search Console, a separate connection (see the Google Search Console MCP guide), and ads and analytics need their own servers (Google Ads MCP, Google Analytics MCP).

Where ExpertRelay fits

ExpertRelay gives an agency its own hosted MCP server for the team, plus one per client if you want it. You add the address in Claude (Customize, Connectors, Add custom connector) or ChatGPT (Settings, Connectors, Create, where the plan allows), and each person signs in with their own login.

Semrush support is in beta. The agency pastes its own Semrush API key and names each client's domain and country database. ExpertRelay then reads, per day: organic keywords, organic traffic and its value, paid keywords and paid traffic, and Authority Score. For the period it reads keywords in the top 3, 4–10 and 11–20; keywords gained, lost, improved and declined; keywords with an AI Overview and positions in it; and backlinks gained and lost. These are domain-level figures, never one row per keyword, because that would spend the agency's units. It does use the agency's own Semrush API units, about 350 a day per domain. That's around 10,500 a month per domain, so the 50,000 included in the plans above covers four domains, and more clients need a units package.

Search Console sits next to it (real clicks, impressions, click-through rate and position per query; the client adds the agency's Google service-account email as a user, with no Google sign-in), along with Google Ads, Meta Ads and GA4. compare_clients puts every client side by side, last 14 days against the 14 before, biggest drops first, and run_for_client runs one of the agency's playbooks on one client's data. Team members' AI reaches only the clients they work with; owners and admins see all. It's read only, and every call is logged.

Official Semrush MCP vs. other servers vs. ExpertRelay

• Semrush's official MCP server: hosted by Semrush, one click in Claude or ChatGPT, read only, and it reaches every SEO API report for any domain, plus your projects' Position Tracking and Site Audit. Limitation: every question spends units from one balance with no per-client cap, each person needs a seat or a key that sees every domain, and it only knows Semrush's data.
• A third-party or self-built server on the Semrush API: open-source projects you run yourself, or hosted services, that call Semrush's API with your key. Limitation: your API key sits in software you maintain or with another company, it spends the same units, and the tools and limits vary.
• ExpertRelay (Semrush in beta): the agency's own server with each client's Semrush figures next to Search Console, ads and analytics, and access per teammate. $99 a month for the agency (whole team, up to 25 clients), $49 a month per client who gets their own AI, 14 days free. Limitation: Semrush is in beta and domain-level only (no keyword rows, keyword research, competitor domains or Site Audit), it uses your API units (about 350 a day per domain), it can't change anything, you can't add your own code or other MCP servers, and ChatGPT custom connectors depend on the ChatGPT plan.

When the official server is enough

• One site, or a few you check yourself. One click to connect, and you only pay in units for what you ask.
• You need keyword-level work. Keyword research, competitor gaps, backlink lists and Site Audit issues all need the official server's full reports.
• Your team already has Semrush seats and someone watches the unit balance.

FAQ

Does Semrush have an official MCP server?

Yes. Semrush hosts it at https://mcp.semrush.com/v2/mcp and offers it as an official app in Claude and ChatGPT. It also works in Claude Code, Cursor, VS Code and other assistants.

Is the Semrush MCP free?

There's no separate fee, but you need an eligible Semrush plan, and every request spends API units. Semrush One Starter, Semrush One Pro+, SEO Classic Pro and SEO Classic Guru include 50,000 units.

Can the Semrush MCP change my projects or settings?

No. Semrush says the connection is read only, and only the read methods of the Projects API are available.

How many API units does a Semrush MCP question use?

It depends on the report and rows returned: about 10 units per row for domain and organic keyword reports, up to 10,000 for one Site Audit snapshot detail.

Can I use one Semrush MCP connection for all my clients?

Yes, any domain can be queried from one connection. Everyone using it spends the same units and sees every project.

If you want every client's Search Console and Semrush figures side by side in Claude or ChatGPT, with each teammate seeing only their clients, see ExpertRelay for SEO agencies or the agency's own MCP server.