How to Use Semrush with Claude: MCP Setup and the $199 Fine Print

Semrush has an official MCP server, and connecting it to Claude takes a few minutes. The catch worth knowing upfront: MCP access starts on the Starter plan at $199/month. The base SEO plan at $139 does not include it. But $199 is still the cheapest agent-grade door into Semrush data, because direct API access costs $549/month on the Advanced plan.

New to MCP? It is the open standard that lets Claude query software directly instead of you exporting CSVs. The background is in my API vs MCP vs CLI explainer. Everything below was verified against Semrush's live pricing and documentation on July 7, 2026.

What can Claude do with Semrush connected?

The MCP server exposes the same data families as Semrush's REST API: organic research, keyword research, backlink research, and trends research, plus read-only access to your Projects. It is a data firehose rather than an action tool: Claude reads and analyzes, it does not edit your campaigns.

Prompts I would actually use:

• Compare my domain's organic keyword overlap with my top three competitors and list keywords they rank for that I do not.
• Which referring domains did my competitor gain in the last month, sorted by authority score?
• Pull the top questions people search around my product category and cluster them by intent.
• Summarize the visibility trend for my main project this quarter.

How to connect Semrush to Claude

You need a Semrush plan with MCP access (Starter and up, or a Trends API subscription) and a paid Claude plan, since custom connectors are a paid feature.

• In Claude, open Settings, then Connectors, and click Add custom connector.
• Name it Semrush.
• Paste the server URL: https://mcp.semrush.com/v1/mcp
• Click Add, then Connect. You are redirected to the Semrush login to authorize via OAuth.

If you prefer keys over OAuth, the server also accepts a Semrush API key in the Authorization header. OAuth is less to manage and easier to revoke, so I would default to it. Semrush publishes first-party setup guides for ChatGPT, Claude, Cursor, VS Code, Gemini, and Perplexity, plus a generic guide for custom agents, so the walkthrough exists for whatever you run.

Connect Semrush to ChatGPT

Semrush is one of the few SEO vendors with a first-party ChatGPT guide, which matters if your team standardized on ChatGPT rather than Claude. The connection uses the same MCP server; you add it through ChatGPT's connector settings and authorize with your Semrush login. The prompts and data access are identical to what I described above for Claude, so pick the assistant your team already pays for rather than adding another subscription.

What it costs

MCP access ships from the Starter plan at $199/month ($165.17 billed annually), which also adds the AI-visibility tracking. Heavy usage is metered through the same unit system as the REST API, so an agent that hammers the data all day draws down the same budget. For the full ladder including the $549 Advanced tier where the API lives, see my Semrush pricing breakdown. If your main goal is API-style data access rather than the Semrush suite itself, I compared the real costs in my Semrush API pricing guide.

Honest limits

• Not on the $139 plan. The base SEO plan does not include MCP access. If agent access is why you are buying, budget for Starter from day one.
• Read-only projects. Claude can analyze your projects but not change them. For write-capable SEO MCPs, look at SE Ranking.
• Unit metering. Continuous automated querying consumes units. Occasional analysis sessions are fine; a cron-style agent loop needs budgeting.

Verdict

Semrush's MCP earned a 7/10 agent-readiness score from me: official, well-documented, broad data, held back by plan gating and read-only project access. If you already pay for Starter or above, connecting Claude is free capability sitting on the table. If you are choosing a suite specifically for agent workflows, SE Ranking includes MCP and API on every plan at $129 and is the better pure agent-fit buy.

My full platform take is in the Semrush review.