Setting up DataForSEO

DataForSEO is the data provider GeckoGrid calls when you run API scans. You bring your own account and API credentials: you create the account, you add the credit, and billing runs at DataForSEO’s published rates with no GeckoGrid markup. Nothing is billed through us.

API scanning is included on the Agency and Lifetime plans. On Solo, the DataForSEO settings stay locked and scans run locally through Chrome.

Create an account and add credit

1. Create an account at dataforseo.com. It is pay-as-you-go, with no subscription to manage.
2. Add a little credit to the account. API scans cost between $0.0006 and $0.002 per grid point depending on the delivery mode, so a few dollars covers many scans. The full math is on the costs page.
3. In your DataForSEO account, note your API login and API password. These are separate from the password you use to sign in to the website.

Connect your credentials

1. Open Settings > DataForSEO in GeckoGrid.
2. Paste your DataForSEO login into Login and your API password into API Password.
3. Click Save & Test. This one button stores the credentials and immediately runs a connection test against DataForSEO; the result, including your account balance, appears right below.

The API password is stored in your operating system’s keychain, never in plain settings, and it is never displayed again after saving. You can re-enter it at any time to replace it.

Enable API scans and pick a mode

Still in Settings > DataForSEO:

1. Turn on Enable DataForSEO, then save with the main Save Settings button.
2. Pick a delivery mode under API Mode. Standard costs $0.0006 per point and often returns in 5 to 45 minutes, sometimes longer on big grids. Priority costs $0.0012 per point and returns in about a minute. Live costs $0.002 per point and fires the whole grid at once, finishing in around 10 seconds.

The next scan you start runs through DataForSEO instead of your browser. If something blocks the API path, like a locked tier, missing credentials, or a failed connection test, the scan falls back to a local scan with a notice explaining why.

What to expect from API results

Two honest limitations are worth knowing up front:

• Each grid point tracks the top 20 listings, the same ceiling as local scans. A business outside a point’s top 20 is not tracked there.
• API scans and local scans observe Google from different vantage points: DataForSEO requests come from its infrastructure, local scans from your own IP and location. Numbers can differ between the two engines even for the same keyword. Compare like for like: track API scans against API scans and local scans against local scans when you follow a trend.