# AI Search API (aisearchapi.dev)

> A developer API that captures what a real person sees on consumer AI surfaces — ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, Gemini, Copilot and Google AI Overview/Mode — and returns the answer plus structured evidence (sources, citations, fan-out queries, shopping, ads) as one stable, versioned Envelope.

AI Search API is built for AI-SEO / GEO teams, competitive-intelligence teams, and developers who need one normalized JSON contract instead of N per-provider integrations, plus a durable, provable audit trail of what an AI said on a given day.

Key facts (honest by design — see /llms-full.txt for the full contract):

- Base URL: `https://api.aisearchapi.dev` · Auth: `Authorization: Bearer <API_KEY>`.
- Async by default (`202` + poll `GET /v1/jobs/:id`), or `?mode=sync` for an inline Envelope.
- Captures run browser-first on our own stealth-browser fleet. Guest (logged-out) browser sessions run today; an authenticated account pool for login-walled surfaces is on the phase-2 roadmap, not live.
- Live surfaces: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Google AI Overview, Google AI Mode, Google Search and Google News via own-fleet browser capture; Claude via the official model API (api_surrogate).
- Roadmap (phase-2, not live): Gemini (no v1 path today — requests are honestly rejected), Meta AI, DeepSeek, Amazon Rufus, Grok, and the authenticated-browser lane.
- Honesty contract: absence-is-data (an empty surface still completes, flagged, never fabricated), fail-loud (`DRIVER_UNAVAILABLE` instead of a fake mock), observed-vs-inferred provenance, one canonical Envelope across every surface.
- Durable artifacts: raw capture + screenshot + proof-of-page HTML retained (not expired at 24h).

## Docs

- [Documentation](https://docs.aisearchapi.dev): Full developer docs.
- [API reference](https://docs.aisearchapi.dev/api-reference): Endpoints, the Envelope schema, error codes.

## Product

- [Surfaces](https://aisearchapi.dev/surfaces): Which AI surfaces are live vs on the roadmap, the acquisition method/fidelity/geo each supports, with per-surface credit costs.
- [AI Search API vs cloro](https://aisearchapi.dev/vs-cloro): Honest comparison — login-walled surfaces, durable vs 24h-expiring artifacts, provenance depth, pricing.
- [Pricing](https://aisearchapi.dev/pricing): Credit-based plans; every Envelope field included; charged only on success. Machine-readable: /pricing.md.
- [FAQ](https://aisearchapi.dev/faq): Credits, capture speed, async/sync, concurrency, regions, SDK.

## Glossary

Precise, citable definitions of the terms the product is built on (hub: https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary):

- [Envelope](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/envelope): The one versioned response contract — job header, provenance, answer, evidence, raw.
- [Fan-out](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/fan-out): The background search queries an AI surface runs for one prompt, with observed/inferred provenance.
- [Provenance](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/provenance): How a capture was acquired and how each claim is known — observed vs inferred, with confidence.
- [Absence-is-data](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/absence-is-data): An empty surface still completes, flagged — never fabricated, never coerced to zero.
- [API surrogate](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/api-surrogate): The official model API standing in for the consumer UI (labeled api_surrogate).
- [Consumer-UI fidelity](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/consumer-ui-fidelity): Capturing the real interface a person sees, in a real browser session.
- [Own-fleet](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/own-fleet): Captures on our own stealth-browser fleet vs a scraping vendor or model API.
- [Login-walled surface](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/login-walled-surface): AI products behind a sign-in that anonymous scraping cannot reach.
- [Proof-of-page](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/proof-of-page): The retained page HTML + screenshot + raw payload forming a durable audit trail.
- [Generative engine optimization (GEO)](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/generative-engine-optimization): Getting cited, mentioned and recommended by generative AI answers.
- [Answer engine optimization (AEO)](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/answer-engine-optimization): Being selected as the answer by answer engines; cited vs retrieved.
- [AI visibility](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/ai-visibility): How often and how a brand appears in AI answers across surfaces and regions.
- [AI share of voice](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/ai-share-of-voice): A brand's proportion of mentions/citations in AI answers vs competitors.
- [AI Overview](https://aisearchapi.dev/glossary/ai-overview): Google's AI-generated answer block above the results — no official API exists.

## Company

- [Blog](https://aisearchapi.dev/blog)
- [Changelog](https://aisearchapi.dev/changelog)
- [Contact](https://aisearchapi.dev/contact)

## Optional

- [Full contract summary](https://aisearchapi.dev/llms-full.txt): The Envelope, request/response shapes and honesty guarantees inlined.
- [Terms of Service](https://aisearchapi.dev/terms-of-service)
- [Privacy Policy](https://aisearchapi.dev/privacy-policy)