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DataForSEO powers the live Google SERP data behind Synscribe — the search tool that feeds keyword exploration and SERP-cliff analysis. Out of the box it runs on Synscribe’s shared DataForSEO account, so everything works with no setup. To run SERP data on your own account instead, connect your DataForSEO API Login and API Password; from then on those SERP calls are billed to your DataForSEO account, not Synscribe’s shared one. This is a one-time credential — nothing about how keyword exploration, SERP cliff, or seo-debug work changes.
❓ [needs Raymond: confirm the exact UI surface for entering your DataForSEO login/password. The connector mechanism is in code (packages/connectors/src/core-connectors.ts), but the current Settings → Features page has no DataForSEO field and there’s no connectors settings page in synscribe yet — so the BYOK entry point may not be shipped in the UI. Bless the surface before we tell users where to click.]

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How it works under the hood

DataForSEO is a core connector (packages/connectors/src/core-connectors.ts). Two things about it matter here:
  • It defaults to Synscribe’s shared credentials. New connectors of this kind start at defaultCredentialSource: 'platform' — they use Synscribe’s DataForSEO login/password from the platform environment, so SERP data works immediately with no setup.
  • Your key flips it to your own account. DataForSEO authenticates with HTTP Basic login:password, so the connector collects two fields — API Login and API Password (the password is the secret half). Supply your pair and the connector builds the auth header from your credentials instead of the shared ones. The SERP endpoint itself is a fixed code constant, so the shared platform key is never sent to a customer-controlled host, and your key is only ever used for your own account’s calls.
Same header shape either way — the only thing that changes is whose DataForSEO account the SERP call runs on.

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What it changes (and what it doesn’t)

  • Changes: the DataForSEO account that live SERP lookups are billed against, for your org.
  • Doesn’t change: the tools. search, keyword exploration, SERP-cliff analysis, and the seo-debug SERP reads all behave identically — they just resolve your credentials at call time. You don’t re-run anything or re-tag keywords.

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When to do it

Bring your own key when you want your SERP research to run on — and be billed to — your own DataForSEO account (e.g. you already hold a DataForSEO subscription, or you want the usage on your own statement). It’s optional: leave it on the shared default and everything still works.

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Steps

  1. Get your DataForSEO API Login and API Password (from your DataForSEO dashboard).
  2. Connect them to your org so the DataForSEO connector’s credential source flips from the shared platform account to your own. (Exact surface pending the ❓ above.)
  3. Confirm SERP data still returns — run a keyword exploration or a SERP-cliff check (2.2.1 / 2.2.5). A clean result means your key is authenticating.
Feeds: 2.2.1 Keyword exploration · 2.2.2 Evaluate + SERP-cliff a batch · Sibling setup: 2.1.3 Connect Google Search Console · Sibling how-tos: 2.8.1 Fix a page that won’t rank · 2.8.2 Get cited by AI