HarborRank

An SEO MCP server is a connector that lets an AI agent such as Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor or Codex call SEO data tools in the middle of a conversation: keyword volumes, live Google results, competitor domains, backlinks and your own Search Console numbers. Without one, the agent guesses those numbers from its training data. With one, it looks them up, and each figure comes from a tool call you can inspect.

HarborRank is an SEO platform built around its MCP server: 41 tools at https://app.harborrank.com/mcp, plans from $29 a month. This page compares it with the five servers people most often weigh it against, using prices from each vendor's own page, and shows what a real research session cost in credits.

The short version:

• If you already pay for Ahrefs, Semrush or SE Ranking, use their server. Your agent then quotes the same database your reports come from.
• If you only need Search Console, want it free, and can set up a Google Cloud OAuth client, use the open-source mcp-gsc.
• If you want keyword, SERP, competitor, local and Search Console data in one hosted server for less than $129 a month, that's the case for HarborRank.

What a session actually costs

Most comparison pages quote plan prices. Prices tell you little until you know what one piece of work uses, so we measured one. The research for this page went through HarborRank's own server, and we read the credit balance before and after each call:

Call	What it asked for	Credits
get_search_console_performance	Which queries bring this page impressions	0
research_keywords	Ideas around "seo mcp" (32 keywords returned)	21
get_serp_results	Live top 20 for 3 keywords	18
get_keyword_metrics	Volume, difficulty and intent for 10 keywords	17
Total		56

At the Basic plan's rate ($29 for 15,000 credits), 56 credits cost about 11 cents. Basic covers about 270 sessions like this a month. The trial's 1,000 credits cover 17 full sessions.

Search Console reads cost nothing, so an agent that starts from your own data spends nothing until it reaches for market data. Live results cost about 6 credits per keyword (about 1.2 cents on Basic), which is cheap per call and adds up when an agent decides to check 40 keywords "to be thorough".

Live results are also where accounts run out. In the 28 days to October 28, these were the tools HarborRank workspaces were calling when they ran out of credits or reached a plan limit:

Tool	Workspaces	What it does
get_serp_results	74	Live Google results
create_project	40	A second project on a one-project plan
research_keywords	32	Keyword ideas
get_keyword_metrics	25	Volume and difficulty for a list
get_domain_overview	23	A competitor's organic footprint
get_ranked_keywords	15	What a domain ranks for
search_local_businesses	11	Google Maps listings

Separately, 59 workspaces on the Free plan asked for full backlink data and got the preview instead. If you budget an SEO MCP server, budget for results-page checks first. Tell your agent to ask before any batch of more than about 20 keywords.

SEO MCP servers compared

	HarborRank	Ahrefs MCP	Semrush MCP	SE Ranking MCP	Serpstat MCP	mcp-gsc (open source)
Cheapest way in	Basic $29/month, after a 7-day trial	Lite $129/month	SEO Classic Pro, or Semrush One Starter $199/month	Core $129/month	Team $100/month	Free
Not included	Full backlinks during the trial (preview only)	Starter ($29) has no MCP	The new $139 SEO plan	n/a	Individual ($50) has no MCP	n/a
How calls are metered	Credits; 15,000 a month on Basic	API units, at least 50 per call; 200,000 on Lite	API units; 50,000 a month on eligible plans	API credits; 25,000 on Core	API credits; per method; credit, rank-tracker and audit reads free per its GitHub	Google's API quotas
Hosting	Hosted, OAuth sign-in	Hosted only, OAuth	Hosted, OAuth or API key	Hosted, OAuth or API key	Hosted (OAuth) or local (token)	Local (own OAuth client or service account); limited hosted beta
Your Search Console	Yes, no credits	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Not listed	Yes, the whole point
Keywords and SERPs	Yes	Yes, Ahrefs database	Yes, Semrush database	Yes	Yes	No
Backlinks	Paid plans	Yes, Ahrefs' index	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Site audit	Starts a crawl; crawls use no credits	Not listed	Reads existing project data	Via its Project API	Starts and stops audits	No
Local and Maps	Maps listings and local pack checks	Not listed	Not listed	Local rankings, GBP, reviews	Not listed	No
Writes anything	Projects, saved keywords, audits, leads, share reports	None mentioned	No, read-only	Not stated	Creates and deletes projects and audits	Can submit sitemaps out of the box

Vendor figures come from each vendor's MCP docs and pricing page, read on October 28, 2026. Prices are monthly billing unless noted. Plans change often in this category, so check before you buy.

How to choose

Pick by whose data you trust first. Price comes last.

The database matters more than the connector

Each server returns its vendor's data. If your client reports come from Ahrefs, an agent that quotes Semrush numbers will start arguments about which figure is right. Ahrefs' backlink index and Semrush's traffic and market data (through its Trends API) are strengths no hosted competitor at $29 a month matches.

Hosted beats local unless you're a developer

Hosted servers (HarborRank, Ahrefs, Semrush, SE Ranking, Serpstat's HTTP version) take one URL and a sign-in. Local servers (such as mcp-gsc) run on your machine and need API credentials or a Google Cloud project. They also don't work in claude.ai on the web unless you host them yourself.

Check what it can change before you connect it

Semrush's server is read-only by design. Serpstat's can create and delete projects. HarborRank's can create projects, save keywords, start crawls, update leads and publish share reports. It can also delete a share report, or a project after you give its exact name; a project delete is permanent and removes its trackers, audits and leads.

An agent told to "be thorough" may run 40 results-page checks. Before you hand it a long task:

1. Keep your client's approval prompt on for tools that write or spend. Most clients ask before a tool runs until you allow it permanently.
2. Read the tool list once (/mcp in Claude Code shows it) and note which tools write, delete or cost money.
3. Give the agent a budget in the prompt: "ask before any call over 100 credits" or "no more than 20 keywords".
4. Start with your own data. Reading Search Console performance changes nothing on your property; sitemap and site-management tools, where a server has them, do.

Count metering, not plan price

Ahrefs charges at least 50 units per call, so Lite's 200,000 monthly units cover at most 4,000 calls and fewer for big reports. Semrush's 50,000 units have no per-tool table, so you learn the cost by watching the balance; our Semrush MCP comparison covers that server in more detail. HarborRank publishes typical credits per tool in the MCP docs, and you can measure a session the way we did above.

Where HarborRank loses

• Keyword, SERP, domain and backlink figures are estimates from licensed third-party search data, not an index we crawl ourselves. Ahrefs' backlink index and Semrush's traffic estimates are their own and larger.
• Full backlinks need a paid plan. Trial and Free accounts get a preview: totals and the top three referring domains.
• The agent reads your rank trackers but can't schedule or trigger a check. Checks run from the app.
• Tracking your brand's mentions inside AI answers is an app feature on paid plans, not an MCP tool.
• Basic has one project. Agencies need Pro (15 projects, $79) or Agency (50 projects, $199).
• The trial needs a card at signup. Serpstat's 7-day trial doesn't.
• We're a small company. Ahrefs and Semrush will be around in five years; weigh that if you're building client workflows on any tool.

Where HarborRank wins

• Your own data and market data sit in one server. The agent can read your Search Console queries for free, then spend credits only on the keywords worth checking. Most vendor servers don't list Search Console at all.
• The way in costs $29 a month for keyword, SERP, competitor, backlink, local and Search Console data, against $129 or more for the big vendors' MCP tiers.
• Local SEO is covered: Maps listings, local pack checks from any coordinate, and Google Business questions, for agencies that sell to roofers, dentists and electricians.
• HarborRank skills are 18 SKILL.md playbooks (keyword research, site audit, competitor teardown) that tell the agent which tools to call and in what order.

What the server can do

The tools fall into groups. Each group's typical credit cost is in the docs.

• Keywords: research_keywords, get_keyword_metrics (up to 700 keywords a call), get_domain_keyword_suggestions, save_keywords, list_saved_keywords.
• Google results: get_serp_results (up to 10 keywords a call), find_serp_competitors.
• Competitors: get_domain_overview, get_ranked_keywords, get_backlinks_overview, get_backlinks_profile.
• Your Search Console and Analytics: get_search_console_performance, inspect_urls (index status for up to 10 URLs a call), get_landing_page_performance, get_ai_referral_traffic, get_analytics_report. See the Google Search Console MCP page for how that compares with Google-only servers.
• Site audit: run_site_audit, get_audit_status, get_audit_issues, get_audit_pages.
• Local: search_local_businesses, get_local_serp_results, get_google_business_questions, list_business_categories.
• Rank tracking: get_rank_tracker reads your trackers' latest positions.
• Lead Finder, for agencies: prospect_leads, research_lead, get_lead_teardown and the tools that attach evidence to a lead.
• Sharing: create_share_report publishes the agent's findings as a read-only page you can send a client.

Prompts that work

• "Pull my Search Console queries from the last 90 days at positions 5 to 20, then get difficulty for the 15 with the most impressions." Free until the difficulty step, and it lists the queries closest to page one.
• "Compare example.com and competitor.com: domain overview for both, then the keywords they rank for that we don't." About 160 credits for the two overviews, plus the keyword lists.
• "Crawl my site up to 200 pages and list the issues that affect the most pages first." The crawl uses no credits.
• "Check who ranks in the Google Maps pack for 'electrician' from downtown Springfield, MA and from three miles south."

Connect it

In Claude Code:

claude mcp add --transport http --scope user harborrank https://app.harborrank.com/mcp

Then run /mcp, pick harborrank, and sign in. In claude.ai and Claude Desktop, add it under Settings, Connectors, Add custom connector. ChatGPT, Cursor and Codex take the same URL; the setup guide has each client's steps. New accounts start with a 7-day free trial and 1,000 credits; a card is needed at signup, and Basic ($29 a month, 15,000 credits) begins when the trial ends unless you cancel.

FAQ

What is an SEO MCP server?

A server that exposes SEO data as tools an AI agent can call through the Model Context Protocol, the standard Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Codex use for external tools. You add its URL to your client once. After that the agent can look up keyword volumes, live Google results, competitor domains and your Search Console data instead of guessing them.

Is there a free SEO MCP server?

For Search Console alone, yes: mcp-gsc is open source under the MIT license and runs on your machine with your own Google Cloud OAuth client. Market data (volumes, results pages, backlinks) costs money everywhere because the vendors pay for it. HarborRank has a 7-day free trial with 1,000 credits, and its Search Console tools use no credits on any plan.

Does the Ahrefs MCP work on the $29 Starter plan?

No. Ahrefs' pricing page lists "API and MCP access" on Lite ($129 a month) and above, and every call uses at least 50 API units from the plan's monthly allowance.

Is there an official Google Search Console MCP server?

Not from Google. Google's list of supported MCP products had no Search Console server when we checked on October 25, 2026. The Search Console servers people use are open-source projects or part of SEO platforms like HarborRank.

Do I need an Ahrefs or Semrush subscription to use their MCP server?

Yes. Ahrefs' server needs Lite ($129 a month) or higher, and Semrush's MCP docs list SEO Classic Pro and Semrush One Starter ($199 a month) among the eligible plans. SE Ranking's starts with Core at $129. HarborRank's starts with Basic at $29, after the 7-day trial.

Which SEO MCP server is cheapest for live Google results?

Among hosted servers, HarborRank: a results page costs about 6 credits, roughly 1.2 cents on Basic, with no minimum per call. Ahrefs charges at least 50 API units a call, and Semrush meters by report without a per-tool table.

Can ChatGPT and Cursor use an SEO MCP server?

Yes, if the server is hosted and supports OAuth: you add its URL in ChatGPT's settings or Cursor's mcp.json. HarborRank, Ahrefs, Semrush, SE Ranking and Serpstat's HTTP version all document ChatGPT. Local servers need a public URL before ChatGPT can reach them; Cursor can run them on your machine. The setup guide has HarborRank's steps for both.

Can an SEO MCP server check Core Web Vitals or AI visibility?

HarborRank's site audit can run Lighthouse on up to 10 sample pages on paid plans and returns performance scores with LCP, CLS, INP and TTFB per page. Those are lab measurements; for field data from real Chrome users, use Google's PageSpeed Insights or the Chrome UX Report. For AI search, get_ai_referral_traffic reports visits from ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini and other assistants through your Google Analytics; for mentions inside AI answers, SE Ranking's server reaches its SE Visible data and Ahrefs' reaches Brand Radar, a paid add-on.

What's the difference between an SEO MCP server and an SEO API?

The data is often the same. An API is for code you write: you pick endpoints, handle authentication and parse the response. An MCP server wraps the API in tools with descriptions an agent can read, so you ask in plain language and the agent picks the calls. Use the API for scheduled pipelines and the MCP server for questions you'd otherwise answer by clicking through a tool.

Can I connect more than one SEO MCP server?

Yes. Clients like Claude and Cursor load several servers at once, and the agent chooses between them by tool description. If two servers have similar tools, name the one you want in the prompt ("use HarborRank's Search Console tool").

Connect HarborRank to Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor

Connect the server, sign in, and ask your agent for keyword, SERP, competitor and Search Console data in one conversation. Search Console reads never use credits.