Connect a Google Search API to Claude & ChatGPT with MCP (2026)

Large language models are frozen at their training cutoff. The Model Context Protocol (MCP) fixes that by letting an AI app call tools — and the serp.cheap MCP server gives Claude, Cursor, ChatGPT and any MCP client live Google results. Two tools: google_search (with optional page scrape) and seo_rank.

Option A — hosted, one-click OAuth (easiest)

Point your client at the hosted server and authorise with one click — no key handling:

https://mcp.serp.cheap

In Claude Desktop or the web app, add it as a custom connector; you’ll be sent through a one-click OAuth screen and back. That’s it — no key to copy or rotate.

Option B — local server with an API key

Prefer stdio (Cursor, Claude Desktop, Windsurf, VS Code)? Add the server to your MCP config:

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "serp-cheap": {
      "command": "npx",
      "args": ["-y", "serpcheap-mcp"],
      "env": { "SERPCHEAP_API_KEY": "YOUR_KEY" }
    }
  }
}

Restart the client and the tools appear. Grab a key — with 100 free searches — from the dashboard.

Using it

Once connected, just ask:

Search Google for “best project management tools 2026” and summarise the top 5 with links.

The model calls google_search, gets structured organic results as JSON, and answers with real, cited sources. Ask it to scrape a result and it pulls the page text too. For SEO work, seo_rank reports where a domain ranks for a query.

Why an MCP server beats “browsing”

Structured data — the model gets clean JSON (title, link, snippet, position), not a rendered page it has to parse.
Country & language control — pass gl and hl for local results.
Cheap and cached — repeat queries hit the cache at $0.0003.
Same API everywhere — the MCP server is a thin client over the public /v1/search endpoint, so behaviour matches your scripts.

Try serp.cheap

Give your AI assistant live Google in about two minutes. 100 free searches on signup — no card required; pay-as-you-go from $0.75/1k after that, and credits stay valid for 12 months.

Get your free API key →
Prefer paying by card? serp.cheap is also on RapidAPI (~~$0.90/1k) and Apify (~~$1.50/1k).

Frequently asked questions

What is an MCP server for search?+

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is an open standard that lets AI apps like Claude, Cursor and ChatGPT call external tools. An MCP search server exposes Google search as a tool the model can invoke, so the assistant gets live, real web results instead of relying on stale training data.

How do I add serp.cheap to Claude?+

Add the serp.cheap MCP server to your client config with npx serpcheap-mcp and your API key, or use the hosted server at mcp.serp.cheap with one-click OAuth. The assistant then gets google_search and seo_rank tools.

Does it cost extra to use the MCP server?+

No — the MCP server is free and open source. You only pay per search at the normal serp.cheap rate ($0.0003 cached / $0.0006 fresh), and new accounts get 100 free searches.