| Keyword | Volume | CPC | Competition | 12-month trend |
|---|
How it works
The Google Keyword Tool harvests real autocomplete suggestions from Google's public suggest API. That is the same API that powers the dropdown in the google.com search box, so every suggestion is something real people search for. We then enrich every keyword with monthly volume, CPC, competition and a 12-month trend from the Keywords Everywhere API.
How the harvest works. The harvest runs in your browser, so the requests come from your IP address, not ours. It combines your seed term with every letter and digit, plus about 70 modifier words. Those cover questions, comparisons, prepositions, buying phrases, product details, tutorials and customizations. Google returns up to 10 suggestions per prefix, and we keep every unique one. A typical 5-seed harvest produces 200 to 500 or more keywords.
Volume enrichment. As keywords arrive, we send them to the Keywords Everywhere API in batches of 100 for volume, CPC, competition and the 12-month trend. Results stream back into the table as they arrive. There is no need to wait for the whole harvest to finish.
Country targeting. The Country dropdown sets both the suggest API's region hint and the country for the volume lookup. Suggestions reflect that market's real searches, and volume and CPC are specific to it. Your last-picked country is remembered for next time.
Careful pacing. The harvest sends about one request every 1.5 seconds to stay under Google's per-IP rate limit. A full 5-seed harvest takes about 15 minutes. You can stop at any time and keep the keywords found so far.
Plan caps. On the Free plan you can run 500 keyword lookups per day across all our keyword tools combined.
What the columns mean
- Keyword
- The exact suggestion Google's autosuggest returned for one prefix of your seed term. Click the link icon to open the keyword in SERP Checker for a live look at the results page.
- Volume
- Google's average monthly searches over the past 12 months, from Google Keyword Planner via the Keywords Everywhere API. A zero-volume row is usually a newer suggestion Google has no data on yet, or a very rare long-tail term.
- CPC
- The average cost per click advertisers pay in Google Ads for that keyword, in the country's currency. A high CPC usually marks a keyword with buying intent, where advertisers compete hard.
- Competition
- Google Ads' competition score: Low, Medium or High. It shows how many advertisers bid on the keyword. It is a rough guide to SEO difficulty too, since heavy ad competition usually comes with heavy organic competition.
- 12-Month Trend
- A small chart of monthly search volume over the past year. Use it to spot seasonal patterns or rising and falling interest. Hover over any point for that month's exact value.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Google Keyword Tool?
A free keyword research tool with no signup. It runs in your browser and asks Google's public autosuggest for real suggestions around your seed term. Every keyword it finds is then enriched with monthly search volume, cost per click (CPC), competition and a 12-month trend from the Keywords Everywhere API.
How does Google's autosuggest keyword research work?
Google's suggest API powers the dropdown in the google.com search box. Each prefix you type returns suggestions that real people have searched for. We combine your seed term with every letter and digit, plus about 70 modifier words. Those cover questions, comparisons, prepositions and buying phrases. We collect every unique suggestion Google returns. The result is hundreds of long-tail keywords that real searchers use, far more than typing by hand would find.
Is this a free Google Keyword Planner alternative?
Yes, with two differences. Keyword Planner needs a Google Ads account, and it hides exact volumes unless you run ads. This tool is free, needs no signup and shows exact monthly volumes through the Keywords Everywhere API. The trade-off is coverage. Keyword Planner draws on Google's own ad data, so it surfaces some commercial keywords that never appear in autosuggest. For content marketing and SEO, this tool finds more long-tail variations. For paid-ad targeting, Keyword Planner has data this tool does not.
How do I find low-competition keywords?
After a harvest, click the Competition column header to sort it. Low rows (green badges) are easier to rank for. Pair Low competition with real volume, say 100 or more searches a month, and a flat or rising trend. That gives you a solid starter list. Avoid high-volume, high-competition terms unless your site already has strong authority.
Why does the harvest take a few minutes?
To stay under Google's per-IP rate limit, we send about one request every 1.5 seconds. A 5-seed harvest makes about 530 calls (5 seeds times 106 prefixes), so it takes about 15 minutes. Any faster and Google would block your IP. Leave the tab open. Results stream into the table as they arrive, and you can stop early and keep what has been found so far.
Does this tool work for keyword research in other countries?
Yes. Use the Country dropdown above the seed input to pick a market. The suggest API takes a region hint (gl=us, gl=in and so on), so the suggestions reflect that country's real searches. Volume and CPC are pulled for that country too. We support Global plus seven countries: US, UK, Canada, Australia, India, New Zealand and South Africa. Your last-picked country is remembered for next time.
How accurate is the keyword volume data?
Volume comes from Google's Keyword Planner via the Keywords Everywhere API, the same source most professional SEO tools use. Numbers are Google's average monthly searches over the past 12 months. A seasonal keyword such as "halloween costumes" shows its yearly average, not its peak, so check the trend chart for the peaks. CPC and competition come from Google Ads bidding data. For keywords with 1,000 or more searches a month the data is very reliable. For long-tail terms under 100 a month, Google rounds into coarse buckets, so a 10 can mean anything from 1 to 50.
Can I export the harvested keywords?
Yes. After a harvest, the results table has an Export CSV button and a Copy button in the header. The export includes every harvested keyword with its volume, CPC, competition and the 12 monthly trend values, ready for a spreadsheet. It follows your current sort and filter. Signed-in visitors can also star keywords to save them to their Keywords Everywhere favourites.