Use whenever the user wants to find, shortlist, vet, or enrich US SEO agencies — technical SEO, on-page/off-page, link-building, content-led SEO, local SEO, ecommerce SEO, B2B SEO, and SEO audits. Triggers on "find me an SEO agency in Texas", "shortlist three technical SEO consultancies for SaaS", "link-building and on-page for our ecommerce store", or "pull contact info for these 8 SEO firm domains", even when described indirectly (organic traffic flat, improve Google rankings, search visibility). Drives the ServiceGraph API (api.servicegraph.co) — a 100k+ US firm catalog filterable by industry, services, location, size, ratings, third-party listings. Defer to find-marketing-agency when scope spans multiple marketing services beyond SEO. Skip SEM/PPC/paid-search asks, web-dev asks (use find-web-developer), "how do I rank" DIY questions, SEO tool recommendations (Ahrefs, Semrush), in-house SEO hires, non-US firms, individual freelancers.
Use whenever the user wants to find, shortlist, vet, or enrich US SEO agencies — technical SEO, on-page/off-page, link-building, content-led SEO, local SEO, ecommerce SEO, B2B SEO, and SEO audits. Triggers on "find me an SEO agency in Texas", "shortlist three technical SEO consultancies for SaaS", "link-building and on-page for our ecommerce store", or "pull contact info for these 8 SEO firm domains", even when described indirectly (organic traffic flat, improve Google rankings, search visibility). Drives the ServiceGraph API (api.servicegraph.co) — a 100k+ US firm catalog filterable by industry, services, location, size, ratings, third-party listings. Defer to find-marketing-agency when scope spans multiple marketing services beyond SEO. Skip SEM/PPC/paid-search asks, web-dev asks (use find-web-developer), "how do I rank" DIY questions, SEO tool recommendations (Ahrefs, Semrush), in-house SEO hires, non-US firms, individual freelancers.
Drive the ServiceGraph API (https://api.servicegraph.co) to find,
shortlist, and enrich US SEO agencies via the pro_services dataset.
The catalog has thousands of US firms tagged with
service_provided:seo under industry:marketing_agency.
Always pin both industry:marketing_agency and
service_provided:seo. SEO sub-flavors (technical, local,
link-building, on-page, ecommerce, B2B, etc.) are not separate tags
— the catalog has one seo tag — so sub-flavor specialization is
inferred via keyword search across firm text.
Any HTTP client works (curl, fetch, requests). Examples below use curl.
Sibling skills — defer when scope is broader
If the user wants a multi-service marketing engagement (SEO plus
PPC plus content plus social, or a "full-service digital agency"),
defer to find-marketing-agency — that skill covers the same
catalog with a broader filter and won't over-constrain on SEO.
If the user wants strictly web/app development (build a site, ship a
feature), defer to find-web-developer / find-software-developer.
Prerequisites
ServiceGraph access, either:
the ServiceGraph MCP server (https://mcp.servicegraph.co) loaded in
your harness — this plugin's .mcp.json wires it up; OAuth 2.1 + PKCE
keeps credentials in the harness sandbox — or
a ServiceGraph API key (vk_…, minted at
https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys) available as
SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY in the environment or .env.local for the REST
path (setup steps under Auth below).
An HTTP client for the REST path — the examples use curl.
Instructions
The loop is free-first: discovery, validation, search, and brief reads cost
nothing; only unlock after the user confirms the spend.
Pick the call path — the ServiceGraph MCP tools if loaded, otherwise the
REST flow (MCP server and Auth sections below).
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields?include_values=1 — confirm the
fields and values you plan to filter on exist.
Build the filter (Filter DSL below) and validate it with
— or draft it from plain English via
.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search — present the free brief cards and
let the user pick.
Quote the unlock cost (10 credits per row, 30-day TTL) and get an explicit
go-ahead.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks with the chosen apexes; report the
revealed detail.
GET /v1/me/credits to report the remaining balance when asked.
MCP server (preferred for authed calls)
If your harness has the ServiceGraph MCP server loaded (tools
containing servicegraph), prefer those — OAuth 2.1 + PKCE keeps the
token in the harness sandbox. Otherwise use the REST flow below.
API surface (dataset id: pro_services)
Every endpoint requires the bearer (Authorization: Bearer vk_…).
No anonymous tier.
Endpoint
Cost
Use it for
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/fields[?include_values=1]
free
Confirm seo is in the service_provided value list.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/check?filter=…
free
Validate filter.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent
free
{intent} → DSL filter + sanity count.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=…&limit=
free
Brief firm cards + per-row unlock hint + total.
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex
free
One row brief; detail only if unlocked.
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
10 credits / firm
{apexes:[...]} ≤100; atomic; 30-day TTL on detail.
GET /v1/me/credits
free
Balance.
Cost model. Discovery / validation / search / brief reads are
free. Detail (url, phone, email, social, address, full platforms
map) costs 10 credits per firm and lasts 30 days.
Auth
vk_* API keys minted in the dashboard. Keep the token out of the
LLM context — never read .env* into your context; dispatch via
shell.
Try the call first through a shell wrapper that sources .env.local:
"Open https://servicegraph.co/profile/api-keys, create a
key, and add SERVICEGRAPH_API_KEY=vk_… to .env.local here
(or export it). Tell me when done. Please don't paste the key
into chat."
Retry after the user signals ready.
Filter DSL
GitHub-search-style.
filter := orExpr
orExpr := andExpr ("OR" andExpr)*
andExpr := notExpr (("AND")? notExpr)* # whitespace = implicit AND
notExpr := ("NOT" | "-") notExpr | atom
atom := "(" filter ")" | predicate
predicate:= IDENT op valueOrList | bareword
op := ":" | "=" | ">=" | "<=" | ">" | "<"
valueOrList := value ("," value)*
value := IDENT | NUMBER | tagAtEvidence
tagAtEvidence := IDENT "@" ("low"|"medium"|"high")
bareword := IDENT | NUMBER # → keyword:<bareword>
Four rules that bite: AND binds tighter than OR (use parens);
comma list = OR within one predicate; negation is -x or NOT x;
bareword = keyword search (quote multi-word phrases).
SEO-flavored examples (validate yours with /check):
Sub-flavor → keyword mapping (catalog has one seo tag):
User asks for
Add as keyword
Technical SEO
technical
Local SEO
local
Link-building
link-building or links
On-page SEO
on-page or onpage
Off-page SEO
off-page or offpage
Ecommerce SEO
ecommerce
B2B SEO
b2b
Shopify SEO
shopify
Core Web Vitals / page speed
"core web vitals"
Identifying firms — apex
Firms are identified by their apex domain (searchpilot.com, not
www.searchpilot.com/about).
Output
All responses are JSON.
Search returns free brief firm cards — apex, name, location, and
rating signals — plus a per-row unlock hint and the match total. Briefs
never include url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name,
address_full, or the full platforms map.
Unlock (POST …/unlocks) returns each unlocked firm's detail block —
contact fields, address, socials, the platforms map — plus per-item
billing; detail stays readable for 30 days.
Errors arrive as a JSON envelope
{"error": {"code": "…", "message": "…"}} — see Errors below.
Examples
A. SEO agency in a state (the baseline)
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo+state:TX&limit=10
# Present, get pick of 3. "Unlocking 3 = 30 credits, 30-day TTL."
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/unlocks
{ "apexes": ["firm-a.com", "firm-b.com", "firm-c.com"] }
B. Technical SEO for a SaaS company
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo@high+technical+b2b+saas&limit=10
C. Link-building + on-page for ecommerce
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo+link-building+on-page+ecommerce&limit=10
If the breakdown is sparse, drop on-page — agencies that do SEO at
all usually do both.
D. Local SEO for a multi-location business
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo+local+state:NJ&limit=10
The catalog tags one state per firm (HQ); local-SEO firms can
serve NJ without being headquartered there. If results are narrow,
drop state:NJ and use geography_served:national_US,multi_state_regional.
E. Indirect intent — "organic traffic flat"
User: "Our organic traffic has been flat for 6 months — we need an SEO partner."
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo&limit=10
Or use the translator:
POST /v1/datasets/pro_services/translate-intent
{ "intent": "SEO partner — our organic traffic has been flat for 6 months" }
If the user gave a vertical or location elsewhere, add it. Otherwise
present the top-10 and ask for constraints.
F. Quality threshold + third-party signals
Be cautious — TX seo@high collapses sharply with rating gates or
Clutch alone. Layer @high evidence + non-solo size first; add the
rating gate only if pool is still large:
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo@high+-company_size_signal:solo+state:TX&limit=10
For users insisting on third-party signals:
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/search?filter=industry:marketing_agency+service_provided:seo@high+rating>=4+review_count_total>=20+has:clutch&limit=10
G. BYO apex list — enrich domains
User pastes 8–20 SEO firm domains:
GET /v1/datasets/pro_services/:apex per domain — free brief
(404 = not in catalog, no charge). Note: not every firm with seo
in their domain is tagged service_provided:seo.
User picks N to fully enrich. POST /unlocks = 10×N credits,
atomic, detail returned.
Re-runs within 30-day TTL are free.
Gotchas
Always pin both industry:marketing_agency AND service_provided:seo. Without the industry pin, service_provided:seo matches SEO services from IT firms or design shops too. Without the service pin, you'd return all marketing agencies regardless of SEO specialty.
SEO sub-flavors are NOT separate tags. Use barewords for sub-flavor — they become keyword substring matches in firm text.
Defer to find-marketing-agency for multi-service scope. SEO plus paid plus content plus social as one engagement is a full-service marketing ask.
Defer to find-web-developer for "fix our site speed / Core Web Vitals" if they want it BUILT. SEO agencies advise on CWV; they don't refactor your front-end.
Rating/Clutch gates are sparse for SEO. TX seo@high (~243 firms) collapses below k=20 with rating>=4 OR has:clutch alone. Prefer @high + non-solo as the quality proxy and add rating only if the base pool is still wide.
"SEM" / "PPC" / "paid search" / "Google Ads" are NOT SEO. Defer to find-marketing-agency. SEM-vs-SEO is a frequent terminology mix-up.
Multi-word phrases must be split or quoted.core web vitals parses as three AND'd keywords; "core web vitals" is one phrase.
Briefs DO include apex, name, location, ratings. They DON'T include url, phone_primary, email_primary, legal_name, address_full, full platforms — those require an unlock.
not_found / not_in_dataset 404 = not in pro_services. Skip; not charged.
Unlock is atomic. N apexes either all charge (up to 10×N credits) or none on 402.
