With the rise of AI-driven search features and chat-bots, traditional search volume is no longer the only keyword metric worth paying attention to. That is why at DataForSEO, we have developed a new one, AI Search Volume, that reflects estimated keyword usage in AI tools. This data is available via our AI Optimization API.
Let’s explore what stands behind this new metric and how to use it.
What is AI Search Volume?
AI Search Volume (ai_search_volume) is the estimated frequency with which a specific keyword is used in questions that people may ask AI tools. In the API responses, you will get values for the current month as well as a 12-month trend showing how the target keyword’s popularity has changed over time.
How is AI Search Volume calculated?
The ai_search_volume metric is calculated based on our proprietary algorithm that considers multiple signals, including data on the PAA section of Google search results from our extensive SERP index.
Google’s PAA boxes expand dynamically, suggesting related queries in a question-and-answer format. They surface questions that Google consistently associates with a target topic. Since these questions often reflect long-tail intent and conversational phrasing, they are increasingly important for AI assistants, voice search, and semantic SEO strategies.
Things to note when using AI Search Volume
When using AI Search Volume endpoint in our AI Keyword Data API, it is important to understand a few nuances of how it works.
1 Our algorithm treats different grammatical forms of the same word as one word, so, for instance, ai_search_volume for “tie” and “ties” will be the same.
2 For keyword phrases that consist of multiple words, our algorithm will only consider data on AI questions that contain all the specified words.
AI Search Volume vs traditional SV
| Metric | Based on | What it measures | Best use cases |
| Traditional SV | Google Ads (keyword data) | Average monthly searches for a keyword | PPC planning, broad keyword popularity |
| AI Search Volume | DataForSEO algorithm (question-based data) | Popularity of a specific keyword in questions to AI | AI content optimization, semantic SEO |
Overall, unlike traditional keyword search volume, which is inherently query-based, ai_search_volume is question-based as it tells you how popular a keyword may be in AI searches. Given that search engines and AI assistants like Google’s AI Mode, ChatGPT, and Perplexity rely more on question-answer format, this DataForSEO metric represents a step toward more AI-aligned analysis and optimization.