API keys

Open Account Settings

The video tours all of Account Settings: your subscription, password, devices, and API keys.

PirateSERP includes search and ranking data with Pro and lifetime deal (LTD) access, so you add only the AI, Google Maps, and analytics credentials that your chosen tools require. Account Settings stores each key encrypted and shows only its last four characters after you save it.

Choose the required connection

Tool or task	What you need
Service Atlas research	OpenRouter key and a chosen model.
Content Editor AI writing, Article Writer, Entity SEO Auditor, Content Alignment rewrites, Product Optimizer, Product Roundup, and GPTs	OpenRouter key and a chosen model. Every one of these tools runs on that model.
E-E-A-T Analysis	No key for the graded report. The optional AI review requires an OpenRouter key and a chosen model.
Google Ads Audit	No key for the audit findings. The action plan and the copy tools require an OpenRouter key and a chosen model.
Content Alignment analysis	Google Gemini key.
Content Alignment rewrites	OpenRouter key, in addition to the Gemini key.
Business Search	Google Maps key with Places API (New) enabled.
Web Analytics	A connected Google account or a Google service account key, a Bing Webmaster Tools key, or both, saved in the active project. Ask about this report also requires an OpenRouter key and a chosen model.
AI crawler visits in Web Analytics and Site Auditor	A Cloudflare zone ID and API token, saved in the active project.
Keyword Research, Rank Tracker, GeoPin Generator, AI Visibility, Domain Overview, Backlinks, Topical Maps, Niche Insights, GBP Audit, and Content Editor People Also Ask (PAA) questions	No key.
Site Auditor, Sitemap Scraper, Internal Linking, Entity Home, Lexical Diversity, Entity Graph Viewer, and Schema Generator	No key.

Provider usage can create charges in your provider account. PirateSERP access does not include your own OpenRouter, Google Gemini, or Google Maps charges.

Add OpenRouter

OpenRouter, an AI model marketplace, runs PirateSERP's writing, research, and chat features on your own key.

1. Create a key in OpenRouter.
2. Open Account Settings and find AI Provider API Keys.
3. For OpenRouter, paste the key and click Save.
4. In Model for all AI tools (required), choose a model. This list appears after you save your key, and your choice saves as soon as you make it.

The model you choose is the one model that every PirateSERP AI feature uses with your key: Article Writer, Content Editor rewrites, style reviews, outlines, briefs, meta descriptions, Entity SEO audits, Content Alignment rewrites, the product tools, Service Atlas research, and chat. AI features stop and ask you to choose a model until you save one.

The list shows Free models first, then Paid models, each in alphabetical order. A free model costs nothing, but OpenRouter limits how many requests it accepts per minute, so long jobs such as Article Writer can stop with a rate-limit message. Choose a paid model when a job keeps hitting that limit.

For the most reliable results, choose a model that supports structured outputs. OpenRouter's models page lists them. Checks that return a fixed report, such as Article Writer's Quality check, the E-E-A-T AI review, and Google Ads copy, fail less often on these models. Other models still work.

Account Settings holds one OpenRouter key. To use a different OpenRouter account, remove the saved key and save the new one.

OpenAI and Anthropic models are available through OpenRouter. Account Settings has no separate OpenAI or Anthropic key field.

Add Google Gemini

Create a key in Google AI Studio, then in AI Provider API Keys, save it for Google Gemini.

Content Alignment requires this key for analysis. An OpenRouter model does not replace it.

Add Google Maps

Create a key in a Google Cloud project with Places API (New) enabled, then in AI Provider API Keys, save it for Google Maps (Places API).

The Google Cloud project must have billing enabled for the requests you make. Restrict the key to Places API (New), the API that Business Search calls.

Connect Web Analytics

Web Analytics credentials belong to one project, so open Web Analytics with the correct project active.

1. To add Google Search Console and Analytics data, click Connect Google and grant read-only access for the project.
2. To add Bing data, in Web Analytics setup, save a key for Bing Webmaster Tools.
3. Optional: If you can't connect a Google account, expand Advanced: Google service account key and save the key there. A connected Google account takes priority over this key.

Follow the Web Analytics guide to choose properties and enter matching site identifiers.

Add Cloudflare

Cloudflare counts the requests AI crawlers make to a site that runs through it. Web Analytics saves those counts daily as AI crawler visits.

1. In Cloudflare, open My Profile, then API Tokens, and click Create Token.
2. Create a custom token with the permission Zone, Analytics, Read, limited to your site's zone.
3. Copy the token. Then open the domain's Overview page and copy its Zone ID, under API.
4. In PirateSERP, open Web Analytics, expand the setup section, and in the Cloudflare row enter the zone ID, a colon, and the token, like zoneID:token. Click Save.
5. Under AI crawler visits, click Update now.

Each key row in Account Settings and Web Analytics setup links to the page where that key is created, and says what else it needs, such as the email address to share with a Google service account.

Replace a key or fix a failed request

To replace a saved key, click Remove next to it, click Remove key to confirm, and then save the replacement. Account keys live in AI Provider API Keys; project credentials live in Web Analytics setup.

When a request fails, check three conditions: the required key is saved, the selected model is available, and the provider account has credit or quota. Product Optimizer names the cause when OpenRouter reports that your key is out of credits, rejected, or rate-limited. Removing a key does not remove previously saved results.