International keyword research with an API or MCP: other countries and languages

International keyword research means finding the words people in each country actually type into Google, in their own language, and measuring demand in that market. Translating your English keyword list isn't enough: German searchers might use a compound noun, an English loanword or a different phrase altogether, and the only way to know is to check volume in Germany, in German. With Cite42 you set the country and the language follows, so "country": "de" returns German-language volumes for Germany. Keyword volume covers 13 countries. Checking where you rank on Google covers 40, including Sweden.

Cite42 publishes this guide. The requests below follow Cite42's API documentation as of October 23, 2026; we didn't run paid calls for this article, so it shows requests and response fields rather than live numbers.

Why translated keywords miss

Search volume belongs to a country and a language together. "Germany in German" and "Canada in French" are separate datasets, and a phrase that is common in one can have no measurable volume in another.

Three things go wrong when you translate a keyword list:

• Nobody searches the literal translation. Native speakers often use a shorter phrase, a compound word or the English term itself.
• The same language differs by country. Spanish searches in Spain, Mexico and the United States are three markets with different wording and different volumes.
• Brand and product names change. Local competitors, local spellings and local product categories all show up in what people type.

The fix is to generate candidates in the target language, then measure every one of them in the target market before you plan a page.

Which countries and languages Cite42 covers

Cite42 Keyword Research returns monthly search volume, CPC and paid-search competition in 13 countries. Each country searches in its main language unless you choose a supported second one.

Any other country returns an error that lists the supported markets, and the failed request isn't billed.

Keyword Rankings, which checks where your site ranks in Google's top 100, covers 40 countries: the 13 above plus Ireland, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the Philippines, the United Arab Emirates, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium, Portugal, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Poland, Czechia, Hungary, Romania, Greece, Turkey, Ukraine, Argentina, Colombia, Chile, South Korea, Indonesia, Thailand and Vietnam. It runs on the REST API and in the dashboard, and its MCP tool follows.

German keyword research, step by step

Germany is a good test case because German phrasing often differs from a word-for-word translation.

1. Write candidates in German. Ask a native speaker for the phrases a German buyer would type, or draft them with an AI assistant and have a native speaker check the list. Include compounds, informal phrasing and any English terms in common use. Aim for 20 to 50.
2. Check volumes in Germany in one batch. You don't need to pass language, because Germany searches in German by default.

curl --fail-with-body https://www.cite42.dev/api/v1/keywords/batch \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CITE42_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "seeds": ["keyword recherche", "keyword tool kostenlos", "suchvolumen abfragen", "keyword research tool"],
    "country": "de"
  }'

Each row comes back with the requested keyword, a status of exact or no_data, average monthly volume, CPC and paid competition. A batch of 2 to 50 keywords costs $0.09, or $0.03 if none of them has volume. Putting the English term in the same German batch, as with "keyword research tool" above, tells you whether German searchers use the loanword more than the German phrase.

3. Expand the strongest seeds. Send one keyword to /api/v1/keywords with "ideas": true and "country": "de" to get up to 50 related German keyword ideas for $0.12.
4. Check where you already rank in Germany. Run your top five targets through Keyword Rankings with "country": "de" for $0.09 per keyword. You get your position in German Google results, the page that ranks, the top 10 and whether the AI Overview cites you.

From Claude, ChatGPT, Codex or Cursor connected to the Cite42 MCP server, you can do steps 2 and 3 in plain language: "Check German search volume in Germany for these 30 keywords and sort them by volume." The assistant calls cite42_keywords_batch and reads the rows back to you.

Swedish keywords: volume elsewhere, rankings in Cite42

Sweden isn't one of the 13 keyword volume markets, so a batch request with "country": "se" returns an error and costs nothing. Sweden is covered for Keyword Rankings, so a Swedish workflow splits into two parts.

1. Get Swedish search volumes from a tool that covers Sweden. Google Keyword Planner can target Sweden in Swedish from a Google Ads account. Semrush has a Swedish database, and Ahrefs reports search volume for more than 200 countries.
2. Check relative interest if you need a trend. Cite42's Google Trends tool takes any location name, so "geo": "Sweden" with "language": "sv" shows interest over time for a Swedish term for $0.05. Trends is an index from 0 to 100, not a search volume.
3. Check where you rank on Google in Sweden. Keyword Rankings searches in Swedish by default when the country is se:

curl --fail-with-body https://www.cite42.dev/api/v1/keywords/rankings \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $CITE42_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "keywords": ["sökmotoroptimering", "sökordsanalys", "seo byrå"],
    "domain": "example.se",
    "competitors": ["competitor.se"],
    "country": "se",
    "device": "mobile"
  }'

Each keyword returns your organic position, or not_in_top_100, plus the ranking URL, the competitor's position, the top 10 results, the other result types on the page and whether the AI Overview cites your site. Each keyword is billed at $0.09.

Multilingual markets: choose the language too

Three keyword volume markets accept a second language: the United States (English or Spanish), Canada (English or French) and India (English or Hindi). Pass it explicitly when the language changes the audience:

{ "seeds": ["assurance auto", "assurance habitation"], "country": "ca", "language": "fr" }

Keyword Rankings also accepts a second language in Switzerland (German, French or Italian), Belgium (Dutch or French), the United Arab Emirates (English or Arabic) and Indonesia (Indonesian or English). Every other country has one search language and rejects anything else.

Mistakes that skew international keyword research

• Using US volumes as a stand-in for other English markets. The United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and India each have their own numbers.
• Mixing up language and country. Spanish in the United States is a different market from Spanish in Spain.
• Comparing raw volumes across countries without context. A smaller market can have lower volume and still be the better opportunity.
• Treating no_data as zero. A missing volume means the keyword has no measured volume in that market, which is different from a confirmed zero.
• Checking rankings from your own browser. Google localizes and personalizes results, so a check from the target country and device is more reliable than searching from home.

Frequently asked questions

How do I do keyword research for another country?

Write candidate keywords in the local language, then measure their search volume in that country and language rather than translating your English list. With Cite42, one batch request with the country code checks up to 50 keywords for $0.09, and the language defaults to the country's main one.

Can I get keyword search volume for Sweden from Cite42?

No. Cite42 Keyword Research covers 13 countries, and Sweden isn't one of them, so a Swedish request returns an error without a charge. Keyword Rankings does cover Sweden, so you can check where your site ranks on Google there, and Google Keyword Planner, Semrush and Ahrefs report Swedish search volumes.

Does translating keywords work for international SEO?

Translation is a starting point, not a result. Native speakers often search with different phrases, compounds or English loanwords, so every translated keyword should be checked for volume in the target country before you build a page around it.

Which countries does Cite42 Keyword Research support?

Cite42 Keyword Research supports 13 countries: the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, India, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Brazil, Mexico and Japan. Keyword Rankings checks Google positions in 40 countries.

Can I do international keyword research from Claude or ChatGPT?

Yes. Connect the Cite42 MCP server at https://mcp.cite42.dev and ask for search volumes in a given country; the assistant calls the keyword tools and returns the rows. Cite42 has no subscription, you pay only for successful calls, the prepaid balance never expires and the minimum top-up is $25.00.

Try it on one market

Pick one country, write 20 candidate keywords in its language and run them as one batch. Create a free Cite42 account for $1.00 of credit, get a key from the dashboard and follow the keyword API docs, or see what each call costs on the pricing page. For English-language research inside an AI assistant, the ChatGPT keyword research guide shows the setup.