# SERP API glossary > SERP API glossary: SERP features, AI Overviews, gl and hl, num=100, rank tracking, LLM grounding, MCP, rate limits, KYC and stablecoins, in plain English. - URL: https://serpcrypto.com/glossary/ - Last updated: 2026-10-22 - Publisher: SerpCrypto (https://serpcrypto.com) Short definitions of the words that come up when you buy or use a SERP API, with a link to the page that shows the term in practice. **Quick answer — What does SERP API mean?** A SERP API is a web service that runs a search on an engine such as Google or Bing and returns the search engine results page (SERP) as structured data, usually JSON. **SerpCrypto** is one: $7.50 buys 10,000 searches on 6 engines, paid in crypto with no KYC, as of October 2026. The terms below cover the rest of the vocabulary. ## Search results pages **SERP** — Search engine results page: the page an engine shows for a query. It mixes organic results, ads and SERP features, and it changes with location, language, device and time. **SERP API** — An API that returns a SERP as structured data. You send the query and settings; the provider runs the search and parses the page. See [what is a SERP API](https://serpcrypto.com/guides/what-is-a-serp-api/). **Organic result** — A regular, unpaid result: a title, a link, a displayed URL and a snippet. In SerpCrypto JSON they are in `organic_results`, each with its `position`. **SERP feature** — Any block on a results page other than a plain organic result: ads, People Also Ask, local pack, knowledge panel, top stories, videos, shopping results, AI Overview. **AI Overview** — A generated summary that Google shows above the results for some queries, with links to the pages it draws on. SerpCrypto returns its text and sources in `ai_overview` when the page shows one. See the [Google Search API](https://serpcrypto.com/google-search-api/). **AI Mode** — A separate Google Search mode that answers with a generated response and lets the user ask follow-up questions. It is distinct from the AI Overview shown on the regular results page. **People Also Ask** — A box of related questions with short answers that expand on click. Content teams use it to find the questions an audience asks. Returned in `people_also_ask`. **Local pack** — The block of nearby businesses with a small map that appears for local queries. It depends strongly on the searcher's city. Returned in `local_results`; see [local SEO](https://serpcrypto.com/use-cases/local-seo/). **Knowledge panel** — The fact box about an entity (a company, a person, a place) shown beside or above the results. Returned in `knowledge_graph` with its title, type, description and source. **Featured snippet** — A highlighted answer quoted from one page, shown above the other organic results. It earns attention because it answers the query directly on the results page. **Top stories** — A carousel of recent news articles shown for newsworthy queries. Returned in `top_stories`; the [Google News API](https://serpcrypto.com/google-news-api/) gives a fuller news list. ## Search parameters **gl** — The country of the search, as a two-letter code such as `us`, `gb` or `de`. It changes which results and ads appear. See [locations and languages](https://serpcrypto.com/docs/locations/). **hl** — The interface language of the results page, such as `en`, `fr` or `pt-BR`. It affects labels, some features and which pages rank. **uule** — An encoded location value that Google search URLs can carry to set a precise place. With SerpCrypto you send a readable `location` string instead, such as `Denver, Colorado, United States`. **google_domain** — The Google site the search runs on, such as `google.com`, `google.co.uk` or `google.de`. SerpCrypto picks it from `gl` unless you set it. **num=100** — A Google URL parameter that used to return 100 results on one page. Google stopped honouring it in September 2025, so 100 results now take 10 page requests. **Pagination** — Fetching results beyond the first page with the `page` parameter. About 10 organic results per page, as Google has served since it stopped honouring num=100 in September 2025; each extra page is one more credit. ## SEO and research **Rank tracking** — Recording the position of a page for a set of keywords over time, by country, city and device. See [rank tracking with a SERP API](https://serpcrypto.com/use-cases/rank-tracking/). **Share of voice** — The part of the visible results, clicks or impressions that a brand holds across a set of keywords, compared with its competitors. **Keyword difficulty** — A score that estimates how hard it is to rank for a keyword. Each SEO tool computes it differently, often from the authority of the pages already ranking. **robots.txt** — A file at the root of a site that tells automated clients which paths they may fetch, standardised as RFC 9309. Its role for search results is discussed in [is a SERP API legal?](https://serpcrypto.com/guides/is-a-serp-api-legal/). ## APIs and AI agents **LLM grounding** — Giving a language model current, citable sources at answer time so it relies less on its training data. A search tool is the usual way. See [AI agents and LLM grounding](https://serpcrypto.com/use-cases/ai-agents/). **RAG** — Retrieval-augmented generation: the app retrieves documents or search results first, then passes them to the model with the question. Web search is one retrieval source among others. **Tool calling** — A model feature that lets the model ask the application to run a named function, such as `web_search`, with arguments it chooses. See [OpenAI function calling](https://serpcrypto.com/docs/openai/). **MCP** — Model Context Protocol: an open protocol that lets AI apps such as Claude Desktop or Cursor use external tools through small servers. See [the SerpCrypto MCP guide](https://serpcrypto.com/docs/mcp/). **API key** — A secret string that identifies your account on each request. SerpCrypto reads it from the `Authorization: Bearer` header or the `api_key` parameter. API keys you can create and revoke at any time from your dashboard. **Credit** — The unit SerpCrypto bills in. 1 credit = 1 successful search request, which returns one page of results on any supported engine. A request that fails is not charged. **Concurrency** — The number of requests running at the same time. Each account can run a set number of searches at the same time; the limit is shown in your dashboard and raised on request. **Rate limit** — A cap on how many requests a client may send in a period or at once. Exceeding it returns an error instead of a result. **HTTP 429** — The status code for too many requests. At SerpCrypto it means the account's concurrency limit was reached; the request is not charged. See [errors and retries](https://serpcrypto.com/docs/errors/). **Exponential backoff** — A retry strategy that waits longer after each failure, for example 1, 2, then 4 seconds, often with a little randomness, so retries do not pile up. **JSON** — JavaScript Object Notation, the text format of SerpCrypto responses: objects, arrays, strings and numbers that every programming language can parse. See the [response format](https://serpcrypto.com/docs/response/). ## Accounts and payments **KYC** — Know your customer: identity checks such as an ID scan or a selfie before you can buy. SerpCrypto asks for none. See the [no-KYC SERP API page](https://serpcrypto.com/no-kyc-serp-api/). **Top-up** — A payment that adds money to your account balance, from which you then buy credit packs. The minimum top-up is $25. **Stablecoin** — A cryptocurrency designed to keep a steady value against a currency, usually the US dollar. USDT and USDC are the two largest by market value. **USDT TRC-20** — Tether's dollar stablecoin on the Tron network. Fees are usually low, which makes it a common choice for top-ups. Send it only to a Tron address, never on another network. See [crypto payments](https://serpcrypto.com/crypto-payments/). --- SerpCrypto: SerpCrypto is a SERP API for developers and AI agents that returns Google and Bing results as JSON, paid in crypto with no ID upload. Prepaid search credits from $0.30/1K searches never expire. No KYC — no ID, no selfie, no documents. Pay in crypto.