Automate SEO Rank Tracking with AI
· By AI Compare
Weekly keyword rankings in a sheet, with an AI summary of what changed and what to do next.
What you will build
A scheduled workflow that checks where your site ranks on Google for a list of keywords, stores the results in Google Sheets, and uses AI to summarise what changed and what to do next. It replaces or supplements a paid rank tracker for a focused keyword list.
This is based on n8n templates such as "Track SEO keyword rankings with Bright Data MCP and GPT AI analysis".
Getting SERP data
Google does not offer an official API for search rankings, so you use a SERP data provider:
| Provider type | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| SERP scraping APIs | Bright Data, SerpApi, DataForSEO | Pay per request; return structured results |
| SEO platforms with APIs | SE Ranking, Semrush, Ahrefs | Rank data plus volumes; higher plans |
| Google Search Console API | Free, your own site only, average positions with a delay |
The Bright Data template uses a community node (MCP client), which works only on self-hosted n8n. With other providers, the HTTP Request node works on n8n Cloud too.
Workflow structure
| # | Node | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Schedule Trigger (weekly, Monday 7:00) | Start the check |
| 2 | Google Sheets: read keywords | Keyword, target URL, country, language |
| 3 | Loop Over Items (batch 5) + Wait | Respect provider rate limits |
| 4 | HTTP Request / Bright Data | Fetch the top 100 results for each keyword |
| 5 | Code or Edit Fields | Find your domain's position and URL; note competitors in the top 3 |
| 6 | Google Sheets: append | Date, keyword, position, URL, top competitors |
| 7 | Aggregate | Combine this week's results |
| 8 | AI Agent / LLM Chain | Compare with last week; write a summary |
| 9 | Gmail or Slack | Send the report |
The analysis prompt
You are an SEO analyst. Here are this week's and last week's rankings.
1. List keywords that moved up or down by 3+ positions.
2. Flag keywords where a competitor overtook us.
3. Suggest the 3 most valuable actions this week (update content,
add internal links, target a new keyword).
Keep it under 200 words.
Cost example
Tracking 50 keywords weekly is about 200 SERP requests a month. With pay-per-request providers that is typically a few dollars a month, plus a few cents of AI tokens. Self-hosted n8n adds no extra cost.
Ideas to extend it
- Pull Search Console clicks and impressions for the same keywords.
- Track AI Overview presence and which sites are cited.
- Alert immediately when a priority keyword drops out of the top 10.
