# A keyword rank tracker for Google, desktop and mobile.

URL: https://serpel.app/features/rank-tracking

Updated: 2026-10-10

A keyword rank tracker checks where your website appears in Google for the keywords you care about and keeps the history. Serpel runs live Google searches on desktop or mobile, nationwide or for a single city, down to position 100. Checks run on a schedule you choose and end with a report.

## What the keyword rank tracker covers

- **Desktop and mobile:** Each keyword is tracked on one device. Track the same keyword on both to compare the two results.
- **Local rankings:** Check nationwide or from a city, postal code or region. The same keyword can be tracked for several places.
- **Depth up to 100:** A keyword outside the checked depth reads “not in top N”. Serpel never guesses a position.
- **Scheduled monitoring:** Check manually, daily, every 3 days or weekly at the hour you pick, and get a report after each run.
- **Competitors:** Add up to 10 competitors and compare positions keyword by keyword from the stored results, at no extra cost.
- **AI Overview column:** See whether Google shows an AI Overview for a keyword and whether it cites your website.

## What does a keyword rank tracker do?

A keyword rank tracker records where your pages appear in Google for a list of keywords, every time it checks. Over weeks, the history shows which pages gain, which slip and which keywords you lose entirely. A SERP tracker goes one step further and keeps the results page itself: Serpel stores the organic results of the latest check, so you can see who ranks ahead of you.

## How does Serpel check a ranking?

Each check is a live Google search for the keyword in its own country, language, device and location. Serpel finds the first result that belongs to your domain and stores the position, the URL and the time. If your domain isn’t within the checked depth, the keyword reads “not in top N” and the position stays empty.

- The position, the ranking URL and the change since the previous check.
- Whether Google showed an [AI Overview](https://serpel.app/features/ai-overview-tracking) and whether it cites you.
- Search volume and CPC, added automatically for new keywords and refreshed after 30 days. This is a small separate credit charge that you can switch off per project.
- The organic results down to the checked depth, with titles for the top 10.

## Which devices, locations and depths can you track?

| Setting | Options | Where you set it |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Device | Desktop or mobile | Per keyword, with a default per project |
| Location | Nationwide, or a city, postal code or region | Per keyword, with a default per project |
| Market | 43 countries and 22 languages | Per project, and per keyword if needed |
| Depth | Top 10, 20, 30, 50 or 100 | Per project |
| Schedule | Manual, daily, every 3 days or weekly | Per project, at the hour you choose |

Daily checks need the Pro plan. The page on [mobile rank tracking](https://serpel.app/features/mobile-rank-tracking) explains how the device and location settings work together.

## What does keyword rank tracking cost?

| Check | Credits per keyword | Price per keyword |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Scheduled check, up to top 50 | 2 | €0.02 |
| Scheduled check, top 100 | 3 | €0.03 |
| Check started by hand, up to top 50 | 5 | €0.05 |
| Check started by hand, top 100 | 9 | €0.09 |

Scheduled runs cost less than checks you start by hand, because Serpel queues them with the data provider instead of waiting for a live result. This is what 100 keywords at depth 50 use in a month:

| Schedule | Checks a month | Credits a month | Price a month |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Weekly | 4.3 | 858 | €8.58 |
| Every 3 days | 10 | 2,000 | €20.00 |
| Daily | 30 | 6,000 | €60.00 |

## How many keywords can you track?

| Plan | Projects | Keywords per project | Scheduled checks |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free | 1 | 50 | Weekly and every 3 days |
| Starter | 5 | 200 | Weekly and every 3 days |
| Pro | 20 | 500 | Daily, every 3 days and weekly |

Each combination of keyword, country, language, device and location takes one slot, so tracking a keyword on desktop and on mobile uses two.

## How do you get rankings out of Serpel?

- **Dashboard:** a rankings table with position, change, ranking URL, search volume and the history of every keyword.
- **Reports:** a report after every run, by email to up to 10 recipients or to Slack, Discord and a webhook.
- **CLI and exports:** `serpel rankings list`, `serpel rankings history` and `serpel export --type rankings`.
- **API:** the [rank tracking API](https://serpel.app/developers/rank-tracking-api) returns positions as JSON.
- **Coding agents:** `get_keyword_rankings` over MCP.

## Start tracking in three steps

1. **Add keywords** Add one or more keywords. They take the country, language, device and location of the project unless you set them.

```bash
serpel rankings add --project <project-id> --keyword "keyword rank tracker" --keyword "serp tracker"
```

2. **Run a check** Start a check and wait for it to finish. The first check gives every keyword its first result.

```bash
serpel rankings run --project <project-id> --wait
```

3. **Schedule monitoring** Let Serpel check on a schedule. Each run ends with a report that compares positions with the last one.

```bash
serpel projects update <project-id> --schedule weekly --schedule-hour 6
```

## Frequently asked questions

### What is the difference between a rank tracker and Search Console?

Search Console reports the average position of queries that already earned impressions. A rank tracker checks the keywords you choose on a fixed schedule, including ones where you don’t rank yet. Serpel shows both, and you can connect [Search Console](https://serpel.app/features/search-data) to the same project.

### How often does Serpel check rankings?

You choose: manually, daily, every 3 days or weekly, at the hour you pick. Daily checks need the Pro plan. You can also start a check at any time.

### Can I track rankings for a city?

Yes. Search for a location by name or postal code and set it for a keyword or as the project default. The same keyword can be tracked for several places, and each place uses its own slot.

### Why can my own Google results differ from Serpel’s?

Positions come from live Google searches for the keyword, device and location you set. Personalisation, your real location and the time of the search can still make your own results differ.