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Quota usage, search terms and search engines

What we track to get data

Jay Langridge avatar
Written by Jay Langridge
Updated this week

Using quota for AI mode

If you choose to track a search term using our AI Mode search engine, it will count towards your quota at a premium rate: 2 quota units for every 1 search term tracked.

For example: ‘black dress’ tracked in AI Mode search on Google UK Desktop = 2 quota units. The same tracking frequencies apply, but quota usage will be calculated at this premium rate.

Quota usage
Each unique query (i.e. a search term and search engine combination) generally consumes one unit of your quota. Some specialised search engines may consume more. For example, tracking a search term in AI Mode search (desktop only) counts at a premium rate of 2 quota units for every 1 search term tracked. This is because AI Mode uses advanced processing to deliver more accurate, context-aware results.

Search terms

Search terms - sometimes known as keywords - are the basic building blocks of Pi’s data. These search terms are tracked in search engines. It is the search terms in your account that are tracked in search engines which provides the position data which drives our tools and insight.

Pi is capable of tracking many search engines covering multiple markets to cater for a wide range of region-specific data depending on your business needs. Pi can also cover search engines depending on the device i.e. Desktop or Mobile.

Terminology

Search term

  • A search term (sometimes called a keyword) is the basic building block of Pi’s data.

  • When tracked in a search engine, it provides the ranking data that powers Pi’s tools and insights.

Query

  • A Query = one search term tracked in one search engine.

  • Examples:

    • ‘black dress’ tracked in Google UK Desktop = 1 query

    • ‘black dress’ tracked in Google UK Desktop & Google UK Mobile = 2 queries

Quota units

  • Quota usage is based on the number of queries multiplied by the cost per query for that search engine.

  • Most search engines have a cost per query of 1.

  • Some premium search engines (e.g. AI Mode) have a higher cost per query.

Search engine

Cost per search term

Google AI Mode

2

Google UK Mobile

1

Unique queries

  • Each query is only charged once, even if it’s tracked in multiple workspaces.

Frequency

  • There are separate quotas for daily and weekly tracking.

  • Any search term tracked in daily can also be added to weekly for free.

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