DataForSEO alternative: Why teams choose cloro for AI scraping

DataForSEO is comprehensive. With APIs for SERP, backlinks, on-page SEO, rank tracking, and more, they’ve built an all-in-one SEO platform. In September 2025, they reduced SERP API costs by 80%, making their pricing significantly more competitive.

But comprehensive traditional SEO coverage isn’t enough in 2025. Your audience is searching on AI platforms – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot – and DataForSEO can’t follow them there.

The SEO landscape has shifted

Modern SEO requires different tools:

1. AI platform coverage – Not just Google/Bing, but ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot
2. Extended Google parsing – AI Overviews, citations, knowledge panels
3. Simple APIs – One interface, not dozens of endpoints
4. Better pricing at scale – $0.90 with more features vs $0.60 basic

DataForSEO was built for the traditional SEO era. cloro was built for the AI-first future.

What DataForSEO does well

DataForSEO has built something impressive:

• Massive API suite – SERP, backlinks, on-page, rank tracking, keyword research
• Global coverage – 100+ countries across Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex
• Improved pricing – 80% price reduction in September 2025
• Deep parameters – Advanced filters, device types, location targeting
• Pay-per-use – Only pay for what you use

For comprehensive traditional SEO data, DataForSEO is powerful.

Where cloro wins

1. AI Platform Support

DataForSEO covers traditional search engines. cloro covers AI platforms:

• ChatGPT – Scraping with citation extraction
• Perplexity – Source parsing and answer tracking
• Copilot – Microsoft Bing AI monitoring
• Google Search – With AI Overview parsing
• Gemini & Grok – Multi-platform AI coverage

Same number of platforms (6+), but focused on where users are actually searching.

2. API Simplicity

DataForSEO: Dozens of different APIs to learn and integrate.

cloro: One simple API for everything.

DataForSEO integration:

• SERP API → one endpoint
• Backlinks API → another endpoint
• Rank Tracker API → another endpoint
• On-Page API → another endpoint
• Each with different parameters and response formats

cloro:

# One API for all AI platforms
curl -X POST https://api.cloro.dev/v1/monitor/chatgpt \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CLORO_API_KEY" \
  -d '{"prompt": "Best SEO tools", "country": "US"}'

Same endpoint for ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Grok.

3. Pricing at Scale

DataForSEO: Pay-per-use (~$0.60 per 1,000 requests after 2025 price cut).

• 10K requests = $6
• 100K requests = $60
• 1M requests = $600
• Costs scale linearly

cloro: $0.90 per 1,000 for Google Search with extended parsing

For high-volume monitoring, get AI Overviews and citations that DataForSEO doesn’t provide.

4. Clean Data vs. Raw JSON

DataForSEO returns comprehensive raw JSON – everything included, complex structure.

cloro returns parsed, ready-to-use objects:

Less parsing, more using.

5. AI Visibility Tracking

DataForSEO can’t monitor AI platforms. cloro does:

• ChatGPT monitoring – Track what GPT says about your brand
• Perplexity tracking – Monitor citations and source appearances
• Copilot watching – Microsoft AI result monitoring
• Change alerts – Get notified when AI responses change

SEO in 2025 requires AI platform monitoring.

When to choose DataForSEO

Choose DataForSEO if you need:

• Backlink analysis – Comprehensive link profile data
• Rank tracking – Position monitoring across search engines
• On-page SEO – Content optimization and auditing
• Keyword research – Search volume and difficulty metrics
• Traditional SEO suite – All-in-one platform for web search
• Pay-per-use model – Only pay for what you use

When to choose cloro

Choose cloro if you need:

• AI platform scraping – ChatGPT, Perplexity, Copilot, Gemini, Grok
• SERP monitoring – Google Search with AI Overview tracking
• Simple integration – One API for all platforms
• Credit-based pricing – Different models cost different amounts, unlimited queries
• Clean data formats – Parsed objects vs raw JSON
• AI visibility tracking – Monitor your brand across AI platforms

The bottom line

DataForSEO is excellent for comprehensive traditional SEO data across multiple APIs.

But for AI scraping and monitoring, cloro offers:

• AI platform coverage – 6+ AI engines vs traditional search only
• Extended Google parsing – AI Overviews, citations vs basic SERP
• Simple API – One endpoint vs dozens
• AI visibility – Brand monitoring across AI platforms

Use both: DataForSEO for traditional SEO data + cloro for AI platform monitoring.

Most teams switch from DataForSEO when they realize they need AI platform coverage, not just SERP APIs.