The Holidays are over and you’d be forgiven for wanting to hold onto those warm-and-fuzzy feelings a little longer. But if you're like me, you're already hunting for your next edge—something you can build that no one else has yet. If you are an agency owner, a digital marketer or a search
pro, you’re likely returning to an inbox full of the same questions: When will we show up in ChatGPT, Perplexity, and AI overviews? And when will all the work we’ve done so far pay off? The big SEO platforms like Semrush and Ahrefs will be no help. Even if you can afford the enterprise price tag, their APIs don't include AI visibility endpoints yet. That gives you an excellent opportunity to explore new “digital handshakes” that have become available, allowing you to build new apps, establish a vanity metric--something no one has yet. Hey, its 2026--it's worth a shot. But you’d better get busy, before the big boys catch up.
Happy New Year...I miss my cozy clothes already!
This workflow explores one pay-for-play API you can access right now that will give you API data to experiment with. We’ve chosen a report that is on everyone’s mind: an AEO ROI Tracker.
In their “State of the API” report, collaborative software platform Postman showed the prevalence of API-first development across industries. For example, 82% of organizations have adopted some level of an API-first approach as of 2025, with 25% operating as fully API-first organizations—a 12% increase from 2024. One beneficiary of that has been Data For SEO, a pay-for-play API whose revenue hit $3.2 million this year with a small team and an API alone. With AI catching everyone flat-footed this year, and traditional SEO platforms struggling to present coherent offers. Data For SEO stood out as one of the first to offer AI-specific endpoints via API at a reasonable price.
› Experimentation that can lead to scalable products, valuable reporting and more, helping you stand out over more well-resourced competitors.
› Collection of AI queries, page mentions and, most importantly, the ROI of AIO.
› Combine your most valuable data with AI to create new customer value.
› Create custom, branded dashboards to help you further stand out.
› While this is mostly a no-code build, Data For SEO is a pure API so, in order to connect it to your database, you’ll either need middleware (Zapier, Make) or, if you have development skills, you can code a quick Python script and run it locally. Once you’re ready to roll it out, add a simple hosting platform. Since I am a HubSpot shop, I am going to use HubSpot as my database and CRM.
› Using native integrations, connect GA4 to Hubspot and Databox. For any data points you pass from D4SEO, create custom fields. This way, you can just connect those fields to Databox using the native integration as well.
› To get the ROI report, you’ll need the D4SEO Top Pages endpoint to show you which pages get cited and how often. You can get referral traffic by AI platform from GA4. Add some Deal referral pages, amounts and counts and you’ll have your answers. Databox can handle all calculations. Good luck!
You have a golden opportunity to offer insights well beyond what is available to your clients today--either because of price constraints or development ability. Data4SEO is not the only API with these endpoints, but it's one of only a few. Try it out to strike while the iron is hot. Want more? Subscribers get access to scripts, process docs and more. Just email D4SEO to hello@johnsteeleconsulting.com and I'll share my full build.
Want to build something like this for your business? ➡️ We can help ➡️
Adobe has announced its intent to acquire Semrush in a play to beef up its AI-era marketing stack. The $12/share all-cash deal—nearly double SEMRush's closing price—brings SEO and generative engine optimization tools to Adobe Experience Cloud. Deal closes first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval.
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