Migrating from SerpAPI

Overview

Linkup is powered by a proprietary, AI-native web index, which provides swift and relevant retrieval of web results. This is a fundamentally different approach than SerpAPI’s, which scrapes Google’s results page.

Quick start

Get your API key

Create a Linkup account for free to get your API key.

Install the SDK

pip install linkup-sdk

npm install linkup-sdk

Replace your API calls

SerpAPI

curl "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=latest%20AI%20news&num=10&api_key=YOUR_SERPAPI_KEY"

from serpapi import GoogleSearch

params = {
  "engine": "google",
  "q": "latest AI news",
  "num": 10,
  "api_key": "YOUR_SERPAPI_KEY"
}

search = GoogleSearch(params)
results = search.get_dict()

const SerpApi = require('google-search-results-nodejs');
const search = new SerpApi.GoogleSearch("YOUR_SERPAPI_KEY");

const params = {
  engine: "google",
  q: "latest AI news",
  num: 10
};

search.json(params, (data) => {
  console.log(data);
});

Linkup

curl "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search" \
  -G \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_LINKUP_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=latest AI news" \
  --data-urlencode "depth=standard" \
  --data-urlencode "outputType=searchResults" \
  --data-urlencode "maxResults=10"

from linkup import LinkupClient

client = LinkupClient(api_key="YOUR_LINKUP_KEY")

response = client.search(
    query="latest AI news",
    depth="standard",
    output_type="searchResults",
    max_results=10
)
print(response)

import { LinkupClient } from 'linkup-sdk';

const client = new LinkupClient({ apiKey: 'YOUR_LINKUP_KEY' });

client.search({
  query: 'latest AI news',
  depth: 'standard',
  outputType: 'searchResults',
  maxResults: 10
}).then(console.log);

Parameter mapping

SerpAPI parameter	Linkup parameter	Notes
`q`	`query`	Required parameter
`engine`	N/A	Linkup uses its own AI-native search engine
`num`	`maxResults`	Total number of results returned. Default: `10`
`tbs` (time-based)	`fromDate`, `toDate`	Use ISO 8601 date format (YYYY-MM-DD)
`as_dt`, `as_eq`	`includeDomains`, `excludeDomains`	Use arrays of domain strings
N/A	`depth`	Choose `"fast"` (beta), `"standard"`, or `"deep"`
N/A	`outputType`	Choose `"searchResults"`, `"sourcedAnswer"`, or `"structured"`
N/A	`structuredOutputSchema`	Define custom JSON schema for structured data extraction

Response format differences

SerpAPI response structure

{
  "organic_results": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "title": "Page Title",
      "link": "https://example.com",
      "snippet": "Description...",
      "date": "2 days ago"
    }
  ],
  "search_metadata": {
    "status": "Success",
    "total_time_taken": 1.23
  }
}

Linkup response structure ("searchResults")

{
  "results": [
    {
      "name": "Page Title",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "content": "Full content text...",
      "type": "html"
    }
  ]
}

Linkup response structure ("sourcedAnswer")

{
  "answer": "Generated answer with citations...",
  "sources": [
    {
      "name": "Page Title",
      "url": "https://example.com",
      "snippet": "Relevant excerpt..."
    }
  ]
}

Linkup response structure ("structured")

{
  "output": {
    "customField1": "Extracted data following your schema...",
    "customField2": ["Array", "of", "values"]
  }
}

Examples

Fresh content search

SerpAPI

curl "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=AI+news&tbs=qdr:w&api_key=YOUR_KEY"

params = {
  "engine": "google",
  "q": "AI news",
  "tbs": "qdr:w",  # Past week
  "api_key": "YOUR_KEY"
}

const SerpApi = require('google-search-results-nodejs');
const search = new SerpApi.GoogleSearch("YOUR_KEY");

const params = {
  engine: "google",
  q: "AI news",
  tbs: "qdr:w"
};

search.json(params, (data) => {
  console.log(data);
});

Linkup

curl "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search" \
  -G \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=AI news" \
  --data-urlencode "depth=standard" \
  --data-urlencode "outputType=sourcedAnswer" \
  --data-urlencode "fromDate=2026-03-05"

response = client.search(
    query="AI news",
    depth="standard",
    output_type="sourcedAnswer",
    from_date="2026-03-05"
)
print(response)

client.search({
  query: 'AI news',
  depth: 'standard',
  outputType: 'sourcedAnswer',
  fromDate: '2026-03-05'
}).then(console.log);

Domain-specific search

SerpAPI

curl "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=transformers&as_dt=arxiv.org&api_key=YOUR_KEY"

params = {
  "engine": "google",
  "q": "transformers",
  "as_dt": "arxiv.org",  # Domain to search
  "api_key": "YOUR_KEY"
}

const SerpApi = require('google-search-results-nodejs');
const search = new SerpApi.GoogleSearch("YOUR_KEY");

const params = {
  engine: "google",
  q: "transformers",
  as_dt: "arxiv.org"
};

search.json(params, (data) => {
  console.log(data);
});

Linkup

curl "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search" \
  -G \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=transformers" \
  --data-urlencode "depth=standard" \
  --data-urlencode "outputType=searchResults" \
  --data-urlencode "includeDomains=arxiv.org"

response = client.search(
    query="transformers",
    depth="standard",
    output_type="searchResults",
    include_domains=["arxiv.org"]
)
print(response)

client.search({
  query: 'transformers',
  depth: 'standard',
  outputType: 'searchResults',
  includeDomains: ['arxiv.org']
}).then(console.log);

Excluding domains

SerpAPI

curl "https://serpapi.com/search?engine=google&q=python+tutorial&as_eq=w3schools.com&api_key=YOUR_KEY"

params = {
  "engine": "google",
  "q": "python tutorial",
  "as_eq": "w3schools.com",  # Domain to exclude
  "api_key": "YOUR_KEY"
}

const SerpApi = require('google-search-results-nodejs');
const search = new SerpApi.GoogleSearch("YOUR_KEY");

const params = {
  engine: "google",
  q: "python tutorial",
  as_eq: "w3schools.com"
};

search.json(params, (data) => {
  console.log(data);
});

Linkup

curl "https://api.linkup.so/v1/search" \
  -G \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer YOUR_KEY" \
  --data-urlencode "q=python tutorial" \
  --data-urlencode "depth=standard" \
  --data-urlencode "outputType=searchResults" \
  --data-urlencode "excludeDomains=w3schools.com"

response = client.search(
    query="python tutorial",
    depth="standard",
    output_type="searchResults",
    exclude_domains=["w3schools.com"]
)
print(response)

client.search({
  query: 'python tutorial',
  depth: 'standard',
  outputType: 'searchResults',
  excludeDomains: ['w3schools.com']
}).then(console.log);

Need help?

Check our Quickstart Guide
Read about Prompting Best Practices
Join our Discord Community
Explore the API Reference

Your Linkup account starts with $20 of free credit when you sign up with a professional email address. You can monitor usage and add more credit in the Billing section.

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FAQ

Overview

Quick start

Get your API key

Get your API key

Install the SDK

Replace your API calls

Parameter mapping

Response format differences

Examples

Fresh content search

Domain-specific search

Excluding domains

Need help?

​Overview

​Quick start

​Get your API key

Get your API key

​Install the SDK

​Replace your API calls

​Parameter mapping

​Response format differences

​Examples

​Fresh content search

​Domain-specific search

​Excluding domains

​Need help?

Overview

Quick start

Get your API key

Install the SDK

Replace your API calls

Parameter mapping

Response format differences

Examples

Fresh content search

Domain-specific search

Excluding domains

Need help?