SerpApi Integration Guide

This guide covers the SerpApi integration available in TexAu. Use it to run Google searches programmatically and extract data from the top organic result.

Before you begin

• You need an active SerpApi account. Sign up at serpapi.com. Free tier is available.
• Retrieve your API key from the SerpApi dashboard.
• In TexAu, go to Settings > Integrations, find SerpApi, and paste your API key.

Actions

Search Google Top Result (SerpApi)

Runs a Google search for a given query and returns detailed information for the first organic result.

Credit cost: 2 credits per row

Input:

• Search Query (required): the text to search on Google

Output:

• Title: page title of the top result
• Link: URL of the top result
• Description: source description from Google's knowledge about the result
• Region: geographical region associated with the result

Typical use case: Look up a person's LinkedIn URL from their name and company, find a company's website from its name, or verify that a URL is the correct web presence for an organization.

Common use cases

Find a LinkedIn URL from name and company

Build a search query using a formula column, then run the search to get the LinkedIn URL in the result:

1. Add a formula column: CONCAT(first_name, " ", last_name, " ", company_name, " site:linkedin.com/in")
2. Use that formula column as input for Search Google Top Result (SerpApi).
3. Map the formula output to the Search Query input.
4. The Link output will contain the LinkedIn profile URL if the person has a public profile.

Find a company domain from company name

1. Add a formula column: CONCAT(company_name, " official website")
2. Use that column as input for Search Google Top Result (SerpApi).
3. The Link output returns the company website.
4. Use a formula to extract the domain: EXTRACT_DOMAIN(link_output) or strip the path manually.

Verify that a URL belongs to the right company

1. Feed the company name as the search query.
2. Compare the Link output to your expected domain.
3. Use an IF formula column to flag mismatches.

Building effective search queries

The quality of your output depends on your query. Keep these patterns in mind:

• For LinkedIn URL lookup: [Full Name] [Company] site:linkedin.com/in
• For company domain: [Company Name] official website
• For generic research: [Company Name] [Topic] filetype:pdf or "[Company Name]" "annual report"

Use formula columns to build your queries dynamically from other columns in your table. The CONCAT function works well for this.

Troubleshooting

Link output returns a news article or directory listing, not the target result. Your search query may be too broad. Add more specifics to the query formula. For LinkedIn lookups, use site:linkedin.com/in to constrain results to LinkedIn profiles only.

Search returns the right page but the Link field has a redirect URL. Some Google results include redirect wrappers. Add this to your output processing: run the Link output through the Resolve URL Redirect utility action to get the final destination URL.

Results are consistent across many rows but clearly wrong. Google sometimes returns the same top result for variations of a query. Add a second column with the description or title and check visually whether the result matches your intent before building any automation on top of the Link output.

API key is valid but queries are failing. SerpApi has a monthly search credit limit on free plans. Check your SerpApi dashboard to confirm your quota has not been exhausted.