Best Google AI Overview and AI Mode APIs: 3 Tested and Compared

Is There an Official Google AI Overview API?

No. Google's developer docs offer two related products, and neither returns the AI Overview or AI Mode answer people see in Search:

• Custom Search JSON API: Google's overview page says it "is closed to new customers", and existing customers have until January 1, 2027 to move to an alternative. Its documented response is a list of results (title, link, snippet and similar fields) with no AI Overview field.
• Grounding with Google Search: the Gemini API docs say it "connects the Gemini model to real-time web content". You get Gemini's own answer with source citations, not Google Search's AI Overview.

Google's own AI Overview, asked in November 2026, says the same. To get these answers as data, developers use a SERP API, and the three below are the ones we ran live.

Quick Answer: Google AI Overview and AI Mode APIs at a Glance

OpenWeb Ninja, SerpApi and SearchApi all return Google's AI Overview and AI Mode answers as JSON. All 18 of our November 2026 test requests returned an answer. SerpApi was fastest for AI Overviews (median 0.73 s), OpenWeb Ninja for AI Mode (2.02 s). Lowest entry price: OpenWeb Ninja for AI Overviews ($2.50 per 1,000), SearchApi for AI Mode ($4.00).

Blocks are the text blocks each API parsed the answer into; sources are the cited links. Every request in our run cost 1 request or search on each account. The order follows the combined median time for one AI Overview plus one AI Mode answer (4.63 s, 5.33 s, 8.64 s). All three were tested live with our own keys. We build OpenWeb Ninja (#1), so read its row with that in mind.

Best for: the fastest AI Mode answers in our run, follow-up questions, and the lowest entry price per AI Overview

OpenWeb Ninja has two GET APIs on one key: the AI Overviews API takes a search query as q, and the Google AI Mode API takes a prompt. The code below asks for an AI Overview, an AI Mode answer, and a follow-up question in the same AI Mode conversation.

const headers = { "x-api-key": "YOUR_API_KEY" };
const q = "how does a heat pump work";

// AI Overview for a Google search
const aio = await fetch(
  `https://api.openwebninja.com/ai-overviews/ai-overviews?${new URLSearchParams({ q })}`,
  { headers }
).then((r) => r.json());
console.log(aio.data.search_returned_ai_overviews, aio.data.text_parts.length, aio.data.reference_links.length);

// AI Mode answer, then a follow-up in the same conversation
const mode = await fetch(
  `https://api.openwebninja.com/google-ai-mode/ai-mode?${new URLSearchParams({ prompt: q })}`,
  { headers }
).then((r) => r.json());
console.log(mode.data.reply_parts[0].text);

const followUp = await fetch(
  `https://api.openwebninja.com/google-ai-mode/ai-mode?${new URLSearchParams({
    prompt: "Which one is cheaper to run?",
    session_token: mode.data.session_token,
  })}`,
  { headers }
).then((r) => r.json());
console.log(followUp.data.reply_parts[0].text);

Output of this code

true 6 9
A heat pump doesn't actually "create" heat. Instead, it works like a refrigerator in reverse, using electricity to transfer heat from one place to another.
When it comes to running costs, a heat pump is almost always cheaper to run for heating than traditional systems like oil, propane, or standard electric resistance heaters (like baseboard heat).

The first line is the AI Overview flag, the number of text parts and the number of reference links. The responses below are from the same run of this code, a separate call from the tables above: this time the AI Overview had 6 text parts and 9 links, and the AI Mode answer had 8 reply parts and no sources.

AI Overview response from this code run, trimmed

{
  "status": "OK",
  "request_id": "7460ba0b-75c1-4e4d-9c9c-5e16d7f975e5",
  "parameters": {
    "q": "how does a heat pump work",
    "nfpr": "0",
    "gl": "us",
    "hl": "en",
    "device": "desktop"
  },
  "data": {
    "text_parts": [
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "text": "A heat pump works by moving heat from one place to another rather than creating it by burning fuel or using pure resistance, functioning essentially like a two-way refrigerator or air conditioner."
      },
      ... 5 more
    ],
    "reference_links": [
      {
        "title": null,
        "link": "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QykwWs3L1W8&t=4",
        "snippet": null,
        "source": "Carrier",
        "date": null
      },
      ... 8 more
    ],
    "search_returned_ai_overviews": true
  }
}

AI Mode response from this code run, trimmed

{
  "status": "OK",
  "request_id": "cd2ebd3d-e330-4c75-9d04-1c40490e86d2",
  "parameters": {
    "prompt": "how does a heat pump work",
    "gl": "us",
    "hl": "en"
  },
  "data": {
    "reply_parts": [
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "text": "A heat pump doesn't actually \"create\" heat. Instead, it works like a refrigerator in reverse, using electricity to transfer heat from one place to another."
      },
      ... 7 more
    ],
    "reference_links": [],
    "session_token": "Q21vd1lUWkpSVEl5Y2pkdlIyODNOWGxK..."
  }
}

• Parameters: AI Overviews: q, location, gl, hl. AI Mode: prompt, session_token, location or uule, gl, hl, and PDF attachments.
• Free tier: 50 requests a month on each API, no credit card.
• Paid plans: AI Overviews: Pro $25 for 10,000 requests, Ultra $75 for 50,000, Mega $150 for 200,000 ($0.75 per 1,000), Pay As You Go $0.005 per request. AI Mode: Pro $25 for 5,000, Ultra $75 for 25,000, Mega $150 for 75,000 ($2.00 per 1,000), Pay As You Go $0.008 per request.
• Our run: all 6 requests returned an answer, 1 request each on our usage meter. AI Overview median 2.61 s, AI Mode median 2.02 s, responses 3 to 6 KB. Our first follow-up request returned a 503 "Temporary error"; it was not counted on the meter, and a re-run worked.
• AI Mode sources: our AI Mode answers cited fewer sources than the other two. For "what is retrieval augmented generation" we returned 3 sources, against 7 on both SerpApi and SearchApi. Across the 3 queries: 6 sources on OpenWeb Ninja, 7 on SerpApi, 15 on SearchApi.
• Sources: 28 of the 31 AI Overview links were direct page URLs. The other 3 were Google redirect links (google.com/goto).
• For agents: both APIs have an llms.txt (AI Overviews, AI Mode), and the MCP server exposes the APIs as tools.

Best for: the lowest entry price per AI Mode answer, with markdown and a conversation token

SearchApi works like SerpApi: the AI Overview comes inside its Google search response (engine=google), and its AI Overview docs describe a google_ai_overview request with a page_token that expires "in less than 1 minute". AI Mode is engine=google_ai_mode, with the key in an Authorization header. The code below is the code from our test, plus the check for a missing ai_overview, which we added afterwards and have not run on SearchApi: our trial credits ran out.

const headers = { Authorization: "Bearer YOUR_API_KEY" };
const q = "how does a heat pump work";
const search = (params) =>
  fetch(`https://www.searchapi.io/api/v1/search?${new URLSearchParams(params)}`, { headers }).then((r) => r.json());

// AI Overview: inline in the Google results, or one more call with page_token
let { ai_overview } = await search({ engine: "google", q });
if (ai_overview?.page_token && !ai_overview.text_blocks) {
  ai_overview = await search({ engine: "google_ai_overview", page_token: ai_overview.page_token });
}
if (!ai_overview) {
  console.log("No AI Overview for this query");
} else {
  console.log(ai_overview.text_blocks.length, ai_overview.reference_links.length);
}

// AI Mode answer
const mode = await search({ engine: "google_ai_mode", q });
console.log(mode.text_blocks[0].answer);

Output of this code

9 12
A heat pump works a bit like a refrigerator in reverse. Instead of creating heat, it simply moves heat from one place to another.

AI Overview part of the Google response, trimmed

{
  "ai_overview": {
    "text_blocks": [
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "answer": "A heat pump works by moving heat from one place to another instead of burning fuel to create it, acting like a two-way air conditioner that can both heat and cool your home.",
        "reference_indexes": [0, 1, 2]
      },
      ... 8 more
    ],
    "markdown": "A heat pump works by moving heat from one place to another instead of ...",
    "reference_links": [
      {
        "index": 0,
        "title": "What Is A Heat Pump And How Does It Work? - Carrier",
        "link": "https://www.google.com/goto?url=CAESpgEBxCJF1-zqiKeZqJB5MbEn...",
        "snippet": "What Is a Heat Pump And How Does a Heat Pump Work?...",
        "source": "Carrier",
        "favicon": "https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/favic...",
        "thumbnail": "https://encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com/image..."
      },
      ... 11 more
    ]
  }
}

AI Mode response, trimmed

{
  "search_parameters": {
    "engine": "google_ai_mode",
    "q": "how does a heat pump work",
    "gl": "us",
    "hl": "en"
  },
  "text_blocks": [
    {
      "type": "paragraph",
      "answer": "A heat pump works a bit like a refrigerator in reverse. Instead of creating heat, it simply moves heat from one place to another."
    },
    ... 7 more
  ],
  "markdown": "A heat pump works a bit like a refrigerator in reverse. Instead of cre...",
  "pagination": {
    "conversation_token": "eyJtc3RrIjoiQVV0RXhmRDBUbDQ5eDhv..."
  }
}

• Parameters: AI Mode: q, location or uule, gl, hl, and conversation_token for follow-ups, per its AI Mode docs. The docs say a conversation "cannot be continued forever" and returns a 400 error once it ends.
• Free tier: 100 free requests on sign-up, no credit card.
• Paid plans: Developer $40 for 10,000 requests, Production $100 for 35,000 ($2.86 per 1,000), BigData $250 for 100,000 ($2.50). Failed requests are not billed.
• Our run: all 6 requests returned an answer, 1 credit each on our account. All 3 AI Overviews came inside the first Google response. AI Overview median 3.36 s, AI Mode median 5.28 s.
• Sources: 30 of the 32 AI Overview links were Google redirect links (google.com/goto). The docs say link=resolved returns "the direct destination URL instead". Our run used the default.

Queries With No AI Overview

Google shows an AI Overview for some queries and not others, so a keyword list will hit both. We sent "facebook login" to each API in November 2026, a few seconds apart.

The SerpApi and SearchApi samples above check for a missing ai_overview before reading it, so a keyword list does not stop on the first query without one.

Which API Fits Your Use Case

• Tracking which pages Google cites: you store the cited URL per keyword per day, so direct page URLs save a step. SerpApi returned direct URLs for all 32 AI Overview links, OpenWeb Ninja for 28 of 31, and SearchApi returns them with link=resolved. Our AI Mode brand tracking guide shows a full tracker.
• You already track organic rankings and want the AI Overview too: SerpApi and SearchApi return the AI Overview inside the full results page, 82 to 86 KB per SerpApi response in our run with organic results and related questions included. On OpenWeb Ninja, the Real-Time Web Search API does the same in one call with fetch_ai_overviews=true on /search: 8 organic results and the AI Overview in about 9.6 KB in our check. Its docs say a request uses two credits instead of one when an AI Overview is available.
• Many queries a day: monthly cost at volume decides it. For 100,000 requests a month on published plans: OpenWeb Ninja $150 for AI Overviews (Mega, 200,000 included) or $200 for AI Mode (Mega, 75,000 included, then $0.002 each), SearchApi $250 (BigData) and SerpApi $725 (Searcher). The SerpApi and SearchApi prices buy the whole results page, organic results included, so they are not like-for-like with a dedicated AI Overviews API.
• Follow-up questions in an LLM tool: all three support AI Mode follow-ups. OpenWeb Ninja AI Mode was the fastest in our run (median 2.02 s) and puts ChatGPT, Gemini and Copilot APIs on the same key, but it cited fewer sources (3 against 7 on both competitors for "what is retrieval augmented generation"). If the sources matter more than speed, compare all three on your own prompts. For wiring answers into a model, see Give Your AI Agent Live Web Search.
• Answers for a specific city: AI Mode answers about local businesses, weather or events depend on where the search comes from. All three take location for both AI Overviews and AI Mode: OpenWeb Ninja (AI Overviews and AI Mode docs), SerpApi (Google Search and AI Mode docs) and SearchApi (Google Search and AI Mode docs). SerpApi and SearchApi also take uule on both, and OpenWeb Ninja takes it for AI Mode. A common practice is to set the city you report on and keep it fixed between runs.

For organic results and the rest of the results page, see Best SERP APIs in 2026 and OpenWeb Ninja vs SerpApi. More SEO use cases: SEO and SERP research.