Credits by Product: AI, Agent & MCP

💳 Understanding GBP and HDC Limits per Plan

💡 Overview of the Pricing Page The Search Atlas pricing page, located at /pricing, lets you compare every subscription plan side by side, including features, pricing, and usage limits. Two limits customers frequently ask about are GBP (Google Business Profile locations) and HDC units. This article explains what these terms mean and lists the exact limits included with each plan, so you always know what to expect before you subscribe or upgrade. 📖 What GBP and HDC Mean - GBP (Google Business Profile): The number of Google Business Profile locations you can connect and manage in Search Atlas. GBPs are used for local SEO work such as managing business listings, posts, and review tracking. - HDC: A plan-based resource included with Search Atlas subscriptions. Your plan level determines how many HDC units you can use. HDC is not included with the Starter plan and becomes available starting with the Growth plan. 📊 GBP and HDC Limits by Plan Every Search Atlas plan includes a set number of GBP locations and HDC units. Here are the exact limits for each plan: - Starter: 3 GBP, 0 HDC - Growth: 10 GBP, 10 HDC - Pro: 25 GBP, 30 HDC - Agency: 100 GBP, 100 HDC Limits are tied to your plan level, not your billing cycle. Switching between monthly and annual billing does not change the number of GBP locations or HDC units included. 🧭 How to View and Compare Plans To review plans and pricing at any time, follow these steps: 1. Open your browser and go to the Search Atlas /pricing page. 2. Review each plan card to compare price, features, and limits. 3. If annual billing is available for your account, toggle between monthly and annual options to see updated pricing. 4. Compare the GBP and HDC limits against the number of business locations and HDC units you need. 🚀 How to Upgrade Your Plan If you need more GBP locations or HDC units than your current plan includes, upgrading is the fastest way to increase both limits: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Go to the /pricing page. 3. Select the plan that matches the limits you need. 4. Confirm your billing details and complete the checkout process. 5. Your new plan limits are applied to your account right away. 🛠️ Choosing the Right Plan Use these quick guidelines to pick the best fit: - Starter: Best for individuals or small businesses managing a single location and basic SEO needs. - Growth: Ideal for growing businesses that need more GBP locations plus HDC access. - Pro: Suited for larger teams handling multiple locations and heavier workloads. - Agency: Designed for agencies managing many client locations at scale, with the highest GBP and HDC limits. ❓ Frequently Asked Questions - What happens if I reach my GBP or HDC limit? Your current plan limits stay in place until you upgrade. Upgrading to a higher plan immediately increases your GBP and HDC allowances. - Does the Starter plan include HDC? No. Starter includes 3 GBP locations and 0 HDC units. HDC access begins with the Growth plan, which includes 10 HDC units. - Can I get more than 100 GBP or 100 HDC? The Agency plan includes 100 GBP locations and 100 HDC units. If you need more than these amounts, our team can review your options with you. - Do my limits reset each month? These limits describe what is included with your plan for the life of your subscription. They are not a monthly allowance that resets, and unused capacity does not roll over. 💬 Still Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🤖 AI Gateway Credits and Data Aggregator Submissions Explained

🎯 Overview This article covers two common questions about AI Gateway and Data Aggregator Submissions: where to find your five-hour credit allowance and what happens if you need to cancel or revert a submission that is still processing. ⚡ What Is the AI Gateway Five-Hour Credit Allowance? AI Gateway operates on a rolling five-hour credit window. This means your available AI credits are calculated and refreshed in five-hour intervals rather than on a fixed daily or monthly reset. The allowance is designed to prevent overuse during short bursts of activity while still giving you consistent access throughout the day. - Credit scope: The five-hour allowance applies to all AI-powered actions processed through the AI Gateway, including automated content tasks and AI-assisted workflows within the platform. - Reset timing: Credits reset automatically every five hours from the point your first credit was consumed in that cycle. You do not need to take any action to trigger a reset. - What counts against your allowance: Any task routed through AI Gateway — such as AI-generated content requests or large-scale automated operations — draws from this five-hour pool. 🔍 Where to View Your AI Gateway Credit Allowance Your AI Gateway credit usage and remaining allowance are displayed directly within the AI Gateway section of the platform. Follow these steps to locate it: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Look for the AI Gateway option in your platform navigation. 3. Open AI Gateway — your current credit balance and the time remaining until the next reset are shown on the main dashboard of that section. Important: AI Gateway credits are not located in the Billing section of your account settings. If you have previously been directed there, that information was incorrect. Credit tracking is managed entirely within the AI Gateway interface itself. ↩️ Can You Revert a Data Aggregator Submission While It Is Processing? Once a Data Aggregator Submission has been initiated and its status shows as processing, it cannot be reverted or canceled from within the platform. The submission is actively being handled by the system at that point, and no rollback option is available through the UI. Here is what you should know: - Before submitting: Always review your submission details on the confirmation screen before you confirm. This is your last opportunity to make changes without contacting support. - While processing: No self-serve cancel or undo option exists once processing has begun. The system will complete the submission automatically. - After processing completes: Once the submission finishes, you can review the results. If the outcome is incorrect or unintended, contact the support team via the chat widget (see below) for guidance on next steps. ✅ Best Practices to Avoid Unwanted Submissions - Double-check all submission details, including target sites and data fields, before confirming. - Submit a small test batch first if you are unfamiliar with a new Data Aggregator configuration. - Monitor your AI Gateway credit balance before running large AI-dependent workflows to avoid interruptions mid-process. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Understanding AI Gateway Credits and Reverting Submissions

🔍 What Is the AI Gateway Credit System? The AI Gateway (AIGW) is the engine behind Search Atlas features that use artificial intelligence, such as content generation and data processing. To ensure fair usage across all customers, Search Atlas applies a credit-based quota system that limits how much AI processing you can run within a set time interval. Each account is assigned a default credit allowance. When your credits are exhausted within the current interval, AI-powered requests are paused until the quota resets. This is different from a platform capacity issue — it is specific to your account's usage limit. 📊 Where to View Your AI Gateway Credit Allowance You can check your current AI Gateway credit balance and usage directly inside the platform. Follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to Settings from the main menu. 3. Look for the AI Gateway or Usage & Credits section. 4. Your current credit balance, usage for the active interval, and reset schedule will be displayed here. Note: The default allowance covers a rolling 5-hour interval. Once the interval resets, your credits are automatically restored to their default limit. Credit top-ups and higher-tier allowances are being rolled out as part of ongoing platform improvements — check this section regularly for updates to your plan. ⚙️ What Happens When You Run Out of Credits? If your AI Gateway credits are exhausted mid-session, you may notice that AI-powered actions stop responding or appear to stall. This is expected behaviour and is not a platform outage. Specifically: - Requests that exceed your quota are blocked until the interval resets. - You will not lose work that was already completed before the quota was reached. - Any requests submitted after the quota was exhausted will need to be resubmitted once credits are restored. If you see a message suggesting the platform is under heavy load when you believe you have hit your credit limit, this is a known display issue currently being resolved. Your quota status is always the most reliable indicator of what is happening. 🔄 Can You Revert Data Aggregator Submissions While They Are Processing? This is one of the most common questions about the AI Gateway workflow. Here is what you need to know: - Submissions that are still processing cannot be automatically reversed from within the platform at this time. Once a Data Aggregator Submission is queued, it begins consuming credits and processing data immediately. - If you submitted data by mistake or need to stop a submission in progress, act quickly — the sooner you reach out, the more options may be available. - Completed submissions cannot be undone, but the results can be disregarded or overwritten with a new submission once your credits reset. To request assistance with a submission that is currently processing, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team. 💡 Best Practices to Manage Your AI Gateway Credits Follow these tips to make the most of your credit allowance and avoid unexpected interruptions: - Plan bulk submissions carefully. Large Data Aggregator jobs consume more credits. Break them into smaller batches if you are close to your limit. - Check your balance before starting large tasks. A quick look at your usage in Settings can prevent mid-job interruptions. - Wait for the interval reset if you have exhausted your credits. The 5-hour window resets automatically — no action is needed on your part. - Avoid duplicate submissions. Re-submitting the same data while a job is still processing will consume additional credits without producing new results. 🛠️ Troubleshooting Common Issues If you are experiencing unexpected behaviour with AI Gateway, use the checklist below before contacting support: 1. Confirm your credit balance in Settings > AI Gateway / Usage & Credits. 2. Check whether your interval has recently reset — if credits show as full but requests still fail, wait a few minutes and try again. 3. Refresh your browser and retry the action. 4. If the issue persists after your credits have reset, there may be a separate technical problem. If none of the above steps resolve your issue, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💳 Hyperdrive Credits vs AI Points Explained

🔍 What Are the Two Credit Types? Search Atlas uses two separate credit systems, and it is easy to confuse them. Here is a quick breakdown: - Hyperdrive Credits: Used exclusively to speed up OTTO SEO task processing. Purchasing Hyperdrive credits gives OTTO the ability to work through your site's SEO tasks faster than the standard queue. - AI Points: Used to power AI-driven features across the platform, including Local Citations, content generation, keyword research AI tools, and other AI-assisted workflows. These two currencies are not interchangeable. Spending one type will not unlock features that require the other. ⚠️ Why Local Citations Is Not Working After Your Purchase If you purchased credits and Local Citations is still unavailable, the most likely cause is that you purchased Hyperdrive credits instead of AI points. Local Citations requires AI points to run — Hyperdrive credits cannot activate it. Here is how to check which type of credit you currently hold: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to your Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups section in the top-right menu. 3. Review your credit balances. You will see separate line items for Hyperdrive Credits and AI Points. 4. If your AI points balance is at zero or too low, that is why Local Citations is blocked. 🛒 How to Purchase the Correct Credits To use Local Citations and other AI-powered features, make sure you are purchasing AI points and not Hyperdrive credits. Follow these steps: 1. Go to Billing in your account settings. 2. Select Buy AI Points from the available purchase options. 3. Choose the quantity that fits your needs and complete the checkout. 4. Once the transaction is confirmed, return to Local Citations — it should now be available. If you are unsure which option to select during checkout, look for the label carefully. Hyperdrive always refers to OTTO task speed, while AI Points refers to AI feature usage across the platform. 💰 What to Do If You Were Charged for the Wrong Credit Type If you purchased Hyperdrive credits by mistake and have not used them, you may be eligible for a refund or a credit swap. Here is what to do: 1. Do not use the Hyperdrive credits — refund eligibility typically requires that the credits remain unused. 2. Note the date, time, and amount of the transaction. 3. Contact our support team as soon as possible using the live chat widget (see below). Our team will review your purchase history and work with you on the best resolution, which may include a refund to your original payment method or a conversion to AI points depending on your account status and usage. 🧭 Quick Reference: Which Credit Do I Need? - Local Citations → AI Points - Content Generation → AI Points - AI Keyword Research Tools → AI Points - Speed up OTTO SEO Tasks → Hyperdrive Credits When in doubt, check the feature's tooltip or description inside the platform — it will always state which currency is required before you commit to a purchase. 🛠️ Still Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

⚡ HyperDrive Credits: Policy, Usage, and Errors

🔍 What Are HyperDrive Credits? HyperDrive credits power key actions inside Search Atlas, such as generating cloud stacks and submitting pull requests (PRs). Each time you perform one of these actions, credits are deducted from your monthly balance. Your credit balance is tied to your current plan and refreshes on a billing cycle basis. 📅 Do Unused Credits Carry Over? No. HyperDrive credits do not carry over to the next billing month. Any unused credits expire at the end of your current billing cycle and cannot be transferred, rolled over, or refunded. Your balance resets to your plan's full allocation on your next billing date. To make the most of your credits, plan your cloud stack generation and PR submissions before your cycle ends. ⚠️ Errors When Generating Cloud Stacks or Submitting PRs If you see an error when trying to generate a cloud stack or submit a PR, a common cause is a depleted credit balance. When your HyperDrive credits are exhausted, the platform may block new generation and submission actions until your balance is restored. Symptoms linked to credit exhaustion can include: - A generation failure message when attempting to create a cloud stack - An error or blocked status when submitting a PR - A notification indicating your HyperDrive limit has been reached These errors are not necessarily caused by a technical fault — they may be a direct result of your credit balance reaching zero mid-cycle. ✅ How to Resolve Credit Exhaustion Errors Follow these steps to identify and address the issue: 1. Check your current credit balance. Review your HyperDrive credit balance within your Search Atlas account to determine how many credits remain in your current cycle. 2. Confirm the error is credit-related. If your balance is at or near zero and you are receiving generation or submission errors, credit exhaustion is the likely cause. 3. Buy a top-up mid-cycle. You can purchase additional HyperDrive Credits at any time, including mid-cycle. Go to Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (/billing?tab=plans-topups), then click Top Up next to HyperDrive Credits. Purchased top-up credits roll over until used. 4. Wait for your billing cycle to reset. Your plan-included credits will automatically refresh on your next billing date. Once reset, generation and submission actions will work as normal. 5. Upgrade your plan for a higher credit allocation. If you regularly exhaust your credits before the cycle ends, consider upgrading to a plan with a larger monthly HyperDrive allowance. You can review available plans in the billing section of your account. 6. Prioritise remaining credits carefully. If you still have credits left, focus them on your highest-priority cloud stacks or PRs before the cycle ends. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Hyperdrive Credits: Cost Optimization and Purchasing Strategy

🔍 What Are Hyperdrive Credits? Hyperdrive credits power AI-driven features inside Search Atlas, such as automated content generation, on-page optimizations, and OTTO SEO actions. Every time you run one of these features, credits are consumed from your balance. Managing your credits efficiently directly impacts your monthly spend. 📊 Understanding Your Credit Options There are three main ways to get Hyperdrive credits: - One-time top-up: Purchase a one-time block of credits added to your current plan balance. - Recurring monthly top-up: Add 120 credits per month on a recurring basis. - Plan upgrade: Move to a higher-tier subscription that includes a larger monthly credit allowance. Each option suits a different usage pattern, so the right choice depends on how consistently you consume credits each month. 💡 Top-Up vs. Plan Upgrade: Which Is Better? A common question is whether buying a 330-credit top-up is the most cost-effective move, or whether upgrading your plan makes more sense. Here is how to think through it: 1. Check your monthly credit usage. Go to your Account Dashboard and review your average credit consumption over the past two to three months. Look for a consistent pattern rather than a one-off spike. 2. Compare the cost per credit. Divide the top-up cost by the number of credits it provides to get your cost-per-credit for a top-up. Then divide the price difference between your current plan and the next tier by the additional credits that tier includes. The option with the lower cost-per-credit is the better value for ongoing needs. 3. Consider frequency. If you are purchasing top-ups every single month, you are almost certainly paying more than you would on a higher plan. Repeated top-ups are designed for occasional overflow, not as a substitute for a plan that fits your volume. 4. Factor in other plan benefits. Higher-tier plans often include additional seats, more projects, or expanded limits on other tools. If you need those features anyway, the upgrade delivers more value per dollar even before counting the extra credits. ⚙️ When a Top-Up Makes Sense A credit top-up is the right choice when: - You have a short-term project or campaign that temporarily requires more credits than usual. - Your usage is irregular and you do not consistently hit your plan limit each month. - You want to avoid committing to a higher monthly subscription for a one-time need. In these situations, a 330-credit top-up (or whichever size fits your gap) is a flexible, low-commitment way to keep your work moving without changing your plan. 🚀 When a Plan Upgrade Makes Sense Upgrading your subscription plan is the smarter long-term move when: - You are buying top-ups two or more months in a row. - Your team is growing and you need more seats or projects alongside the extra credits. - The cost-per-credit on the next plan tier is lower than what you pay through top-ups. - You want predictable monthly costs without manually monitoring your credit balance. To compare plans side by side, click your avatar (top-right) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (Change Plan button) inside Search Atlas. The plan comparison table shows included credits and pricing at a glance. 🛠️ Step-by-Step: Evaluating Your Best Option 1. Log in to Search Atlas and go to your avatar (top-right) → Billing. 2. Review your Activity Log (Avatar Menu (👤) → Billing → Activity Log) for the past three months. 3. Note your average monthly credit consumption and how often you have purchased top-ups. 4. Open Top-right corner (avatar) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups tab and note the credit allowance and price of the next plan tier. 5. Calculate cost-per-credit for both the top-up and the plan upgrade using the method described above. 6. If the upgrade cost-per-credit is lower and you expect consistent usage, change your plan. 7. If your need is temporary, purchase a top-up from your avatar (top-right) → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (Top Up button). 📋 Quick Reference: Top-Up vs. Plan Upgrade - Top-up: Best for occasional, short-term, or unpredictable credit needs. - Plan upgrade: Best for consistent monthly usage where top-ups are becoming a habit. - Annual switch: Best when you are certain of your usage level and want the lowest possible per-month rate. 🙋 Need Personalised Help? If you are unsure which option fits your specific usage pattern or you would like one of our team members to review your account and recommend the most cost-effective path, we are happy to help. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Hyperdrive Credits, Summit Bonuses & Unlimited Quotas Explained

What Are Hyperdrive Credits (HDCs)? Hyperdrive Credits (HDCs) are the in-platform currency used to power AI-driven features across Search Atlas — including content generation, keyword research, OTTO SEO actions, and more. Every paid plan includes a monthly HDC allocation that refreshes on your billing cycle date. HDC Allocations by Plan Each Search Atlas plan comes with a set monthly HDC allocation. Higher-tier plans receive more credits to support larger teams and heavier workloads. Here is a general breakdown of how allocations scale: - Starter plans — a foundational HDC pool suited for individuals or small projects. - Growth plans — a mid-tier allocation designed for growing agencies and in-house teams. - Pro and Enterprise plans — the largest standard allocations, built for high-volume SEO operations. For the exact HDC number tied to your current or prospective plan, please reach out to our support team who can confirm the specific allocation figures for your plan. Summit Bonus Offer — What "+30% HDCs" Means The Summit Bonus is a limited-time promotional offer available to qualifying upgrade customers. Because the specific terms of this promotion can vary and are subject to change, the details below represent general guidance — please contact our team to confirm the exact terms applicable to your account: - +30% HDCs — When you upgrade during the promotional window, your plan's standard monthly HDC allocation may be increased by 30%. For example, if your plan normally includes 10,000 HDCs per month, the Summit Bonus would raise that to 13,000 HDCs per month. - Qualifying upgrade — The bonus is generally associated with moving from a lower-tier plan to an eligible higher-tier plan within the promotional period. - Recurring vs. one-time — Whether the +30% increase applies to every monthly cycle or as a one-time top-up depends on the specific terms of the offer — confirm this with our support team before upgrading. - Transferability — Whether the bonus carries over if you switch plans after the promotional window closes should also be confirmed directly with our team. To get authoritative confirmation of the current Summit Bonus end date and eligibility requirements for your account, contact our support team directly. Unlimited Quotas During certain designated promotional windows, some HDC-consuming features may be available with unlimited quotas, meaning standard per-feature usage caps are temporarily lifted. If you have seen messaging about unlimited quotas through a specific date (such as August 21st), our support team can confirm whether that window is currently active for your account and which features it applies to. To get accurate, account-specific information on any of the topics above — including your exact HDC allocation, Summit Bonus eligibility, and whether an unlimited quota window is active — please have your account email and current plan name ready when you reach out. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

Universal Credits, HyperDrive Promos & Nexus Sites Explained

🔍 Overview Search Atlas uses a flexible credit system to power features across the platform. This article explains what Universal Credits cover, how HyperDrive promotion credits work, and what to do if your Nexus Sites quota does not match what you expected. 💳 What Are Universal Credits? Universal Credits are the general-purpose credits included with your Search Atlas subscription. They can be applied toward a wide range of platform features. If you are unsure exactly which features your Universal Credits cover under your current plan, or if a specific feature or allowance does not appear where you expect it, our support team can confirm exactly what is and is not included. To get clarity quickly, have the following ready: - The email address associated with your Search Atlas account - The name of the specific feature or allowance you are trying to confirm - Your current plan name or tier Note that credits or quotas granted through limited-time promotional challenges such as HyperDrive are tracked separately from your standard Universal Credits and will appear as a distinct entry in your account. 🚀 HyperDrive Promotion Credits The HyperDrive challenge was a limited-time promotional event. Credits earned through this challenge are separate from your standard Universal Credits and are applied to your account by the Search Atlas team after your qualifying actions are verified. If you completed the HyperDrive challenge but your promotional credits do not appear to be reflected on your account, contact support and have the following ready: - The email address associated with your Search Atlas account - A description of the challenge actions you completed - Any confirmation emails or screenshots related to the promotion - The approximate date you completed the qualifying actions A support agent will look up your account, verify your challenge completion, and apply or confirm the promotional credits manually if needed. 🌐 Nexus Sites Quota Discrepancy Your Nexus Sites quota defines how many sites you can manage inside the Nexus module. If the number of Nexus Sites available to you does not match what you expected based on your plan or a recent promotion, this is typically resolved by the support team reviewing and correcting your account's quota directly. To get this resolved as quickly as possible, contact support and have the following ready: - The email address associated with your Search Atlas account - Your current plan name or tier - The Nexus Sites quota you expected (for example, based on your plan details or a promotional offer) - The quota you are currently seeing on your account - Any promotional confirmation or plan upgrade details that are relevant A support agent will review your account, confirm what quota you are entitled to, and apply the correct allotment if there is a discrepancy. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🔌 MCP Server Queries: Credits, Costs, and Quotas

🧠 Overview The Search Atlas MCP (Model Context Protocol) server lets you run keyword and domain queries programmatically — but it does not use a separate credit pool. Every MCP query draws from the exact same credit allocations you see inside the Search Atlas dashboard. Understanding which quota applies to which query type helps you plan usage and avoid unexpected shortfalls. 💳 Which Credits Do MCP Keyword Queries Use? When you run a keyword ranking query for a domain through the MCP server (for example, a query that returns 74 ranked keywords), the credits consumed come from your Keyword Lookup allocation — sometimes also referred to as the Site Explorer detail quota. This is the same pool that is drawn from when you explore keyword data inside the dashboard via Left sidebar → Keywords (Keyword Research). This is a common point of confusion. The quota to check is not the Keyword Rank Tracker allocation. The Keyword Rank Tracker quota covers tracked keywords you actively monitor over time (visible at Left sidebar → Keywords → Rank Tracker (Keyword Rank Tracker)). MCP domain keyword queries are lookups, not tracked keywords, so they pull from the Keyword Lookup pool instead. To summarise which quota applies to which action: - Keyword Lookup / Site Explorer detail quota: MCP keyword ranking queries for a domain, on-demand keyword research lookups in the dashboard. - Keyword Rank Tracker quota: Keywords you add to active rank tracking campaigns inside Rank Tracker. - Keyword Magic quota: Bulk keyword discovery queries run via Left sidebar → Keywords → Keyword Magic or the equivalent MCP call. 📊 How Many Credits Does One Query Consume? Credit consumption is based on the number of keyword rows returned, not on the number of API calls made. Each keyword row returned by a query counts as one Keyword Lookup credit. Using the example of a domain query that returns 74 keywords: - Credits consumed: 74 Keyword Lookup credits (one per keyword row returned). - If a second query for the same or a different domain returns 200 keywords, that query consumes 200 credits. - A query that returns zero results consumes zero credits. There is no flat per-call fee. You are only charged for the data rows actually returned to you. 🔄 When Do Keyword Lookup Credits Reset? Your Keyword Lookup allocation is an annual allocation, not a monthly one. The standard plan includes 5,000 Keyword Lookup credits per year. This entire pool resets once per year on your account renewal date — the anniversary of when your subscription started — not on a monthly billing cycle. Key points to remember: - Credits do not replenish every month. The full 5,000 credits are available for the entire year and reset annually. - Your renewal date may differ from your monthly payment date if you are on an annual plan billed monthly or if you started mid-cycle. - Unused credits do not roll over after the annual reset. To check your current Keyword Lookup balance and renewal date, go to your account usage or billing page inside the platform. 🖥️ MCP vs. Dashboard: No Separate Credit Pool It is important to understand that the MCP server is a programmatic interface to the same Search Atlas data — it is not a separate product with its own credits. Every query you run through the MCP server: - Draws from the same credit pools as the dashboard. - Is visible in the same usage counters you see in your account. - Counts toward the same annual or plan-level limits. This means that if you run keyword lookups both through the dashboard and through the MCP server in the same plan period, both sets of queries pull from the single shared Keyword Lookup allocation. Plan your programmatic usage accordingly, especially if your team also runs regular lookups manually through the dashboard. ✅ Quick Reference: Credit Consumption by Query Type - MCP domain keyword ranking query (e.g., 74 results): 74 Keyword Lookup credits consumed. - Dashboard Site Explorer keyword detail view: Keyword Lookup credits consumed per row. - Adding keywords to Rank Tracker: Keyword Rank Tracker credits consumed, not Keyword Lookup. - Keyword Magic bulk discovery: Keyword Magic credits consumed. - Keyword Gap analysis (Left sidebar → Site Metrics → Keyword Gap): Draws from its own respective quota, separate from Keyword Lookup. 🔍 How to Check Your Current Keyword Lookup Balance 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to your account or subscription settings. 3. Look for the Keyword Lookup or Site Explorer Detail usage row. 4. Review the credits used, credits remaining, and the next reset date shown next to that allocation. 5. Confirm the reset date shown is your annual renewal date, not a monthly date. If the reset date shown does not match what you expect, contact support to confirm your account renewal anniversary. 💬 Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 MCP Server Keyword Queries Credit Consumption Explained

🔍 Overview When you use the Search Atlas MCP server (mcp.searchatlas.com) to run keyword-related queries — such as retrieving keyword rankings for a domain — your account is charged using Universal Credits (UC). Understanding how these credits are consumed helps you plan usage and avoid unexpected quota shortfalls. 📊 How Credits Are Charged for Keyword Queries Credit consumption for keyword ranking queries through the MCP server is based on the number of results returned, not the number of queries submitted. This means: - If a domain ranking query returns 74 keywords, your account is charged for 74 rows of data. - Each keyword result row consumes 1 Universal Credit. - A single API call that returns 74 keywords will therefore deduct 74 Universal Credits from your quota. This row-based billing model replaced the previous fixed query-limit system. The credit system now reflects actual data consumption rather than the number of times you call the endpoint. 💳 What Type of Credit Is Used? Keyword queries run through the MCP server consume Universal Credits (UC). Universal Credits are a shared credit pool used across multiple Search Atlas features, including keyword research, site exploration, and other data-intensive tools. There is no separate credit bucket exclusively for MCP server calls. 🔄 When Does My Credit Quota Reset? Universal Credit quotas reset on your monthly billing cycle date — the same date your Search Atlas subscription renews each month. For example, if your billing date is the 5th of each month, your UC balance resets on the 5th. - Unused Universal Credits do not roll over to the next billing period. - If you exhaust your UC balance before the reset date, you can top up your credits from the billing page inside the platform. - Credit consumption and remaining balance are visible in your account's billing and quota section. 🛠️ How to Monitor Your Universal Credit Usage 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to your Billing page using the Avatar Menu (👤). 3. Locate the Universal Credits section to view your current balance, total allocation, and consumption history. If quota banners or credit totals do not appear to update immediately after MCP server queries, allow a few minutes for the system to sync and then refresh the page. This is a known display latency that does not affect actual credit deduction accuracy. 💡 Tips to Manage Credit Consumption - Filter before querying: Narrow your domain or keyword parameters in the MCP request to retrieve only the results you need, reducing the number of rows returned. - Avoid duplicate queries: The MCP server includes keyword deduplication warnings — pay attention to these to prevent charging for repeated data. - Schedule large queries strategically: If you expect high-volume queries, run them shortly after your billing reset date to maximise the credit window. - Use the Rank Tracker for ongoing monitoring: For recurring keyword tracking needs, consider using Left sidebar → Keywords → Rank Tracker (Keyword Rank Tracker) inside the platform, which may be more credit-efficient than repeated MCP queries for the same data. ❓ Frequently Asked Questions Does the number of domains queried affect credit consumption? Yes. Each domain query is processed independently. If you query three domains and each returns 50 keywords, your account is charged 150 Universal Credits in total (50 per domain). What if the query returns zero results? If no keyword data is returned, no Universal Credits are deducted. Credits are only consumed for rows of data actually delivered. Can I see a breakdown of MCP server credit usage specifically? The Billing page's Activity Log tab currently shows overall UC consumption. If you need a granular breakdown by tool or query type, contact our support team via the chat widget. 🆘 Need Further Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🤖 How Quota Consumption Works with Agents in Search Atlas

One of the most common questions around agents in Search Atlas is how quota and credit consumption works when actions are triggered through AI. This article clarifies an important update: agents are no longer quota-free. Following Search Atlas's metered spending rollout, agent-driven work now consumes credits, in addition to the quota consumed by the underlying product that performs the work. 🧠 Agents Are Orchestrators, and Now Metered Too Agents in Search Atlas still act as orchestration layers: they interpret your request, identify the correct product to handle the task, and pass the instruction forward. Previously, agents themselves consumed no quota at all. That has changed: agent usage is now tracked and metered through a credit system, and requests can be blocked once your available credits are exhausted. 🛠️ Where Quota and Credits Are Consumed Quota is still consumed inside the product that performs the action, the same way it would be if you initiated the action manually from the platform. For example, if you ask an agent to generate an article, it is processed by Content Genius and Content quota is consumed there. In addition, the agent layer itself now consumes credits for the work it coordinates and the AI processing involved. 📊 What This Means for You Actions triggered through an agent are no longer guaranteed to behave identically, from a cost perspective, to the same action triggered directly from the dashboard, because agent-triggered work now also draws on your credit balance. If your credits run low, agent requests may be paused until your balance is available again. ✅ Key Takeaway - Products still consume their own quota for the work they perform - Agents now also consume credits for the coordination and AI processing they perform - Credit balances are tracked and enforced, so requests can be paused if credits run out If you have questions about your specific credit balance or a product's quota, refer to the relevant product documentation or your billing settings. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Hyperdrive Credits, Growth Plan & Citation Costs Explained

🔍 What Are Hyperdrive Credits? Hyperdrive credits are the in-platform currency used to power certain premium actions inside Search Atlas, such as URL indexing and citation building. Credits are consumed each time you trigger one of these actions, so understanding how they work helps you plan your usage and avoid unexpected charges. 📊 What Does the Growth Plan Include? The Growth plan gives you access to a wide range of Search Atlas tools and a set monthly allowance of platform resources. The Growth plan includes a monthly Hyperdrive credit allocation. If you use up your monthly allocation, additional Hyperdrive credits can be purchased as top-ups when needed. Your plan's monthly allowance covers core platform features, but credit-powered actions (citations, URL indexing) draw from your Hyperdrive credit balance specifically. - To check your current Hyperdrive credit balance, navigate to your account or billing settings inside the platform. - If your balance is at zero or running low, you will need to purchase a credit top-up before triggering credit-powered actions. 💰 How Much Do Hyperdrive Credits Cost? Hyperdrive credits are sold in purchasable top-up bundles. Pricing for these bundles can vary based on your account configuration and any active promotions. To find the current bundle sizes and prices available to your account: 1. Log in to Search Atlas and go to your billing or account settings. 2. Go to Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups and click the Top Up button — available bundle options and their prices are listed there. 3. If no top-up options are visible in your settings, contact our support team (see below) with your plan name so they can confirm available bundles for your tier. 📍 What Do Citations Cost in Credits? Citations are local business listings built through the Authority Building tool, and each citation consumes a set number of Hyperdrive credits from your balance. The per-citation credit cost is displayed inside the Authority Building tool before you confirm a submission, so you can review the cost prior to triggering it. Key points to know: - Credits are deducted at the time each citation is submitted — not at the time the listing goes live. - If you do not have enough credits in your balance, the submission will not proceed until you top up. - You can review your credit usage history in your account or billing settings to see how many credits previous citation runs consumed. 🛠️ Do I Need to Buy Extra Credits on Top of My Plan? The Growth plan includes a monthly Hyperdrive credit allocation, but if you exceed it, additional credits for citation building and URL indexing can be purchased separately as top-ups. Your subscription covers access to the tools, but the credit balance that powers those tools is maintained independently. To estimate how many credits you will need: 1. Check the per-citation credit cost shown in the Authority Building tool before submitting. 2. Multiply that figure by the number of citations you plan to build per month. 3. Compare that total to your current credit balance in account settings. 4. Purchase a top-up bundle large enough to cover your planned usage. If you need to escalate a question about credits that you cannot resolve through the steps above, have the following ready: your current plan name and billing cycle, the specific action you are trying to perform (e.g., citations, URL indexing), the credit cost displayed in-platform (if visible), and your approximate monthly usage volume. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

⚡ Hyperdrive Credits Available but Indexer Shows Checkout Error

🔍 What Is This Error? When you submit URLs through the URL Indexer, you may encounter this message: Recurring top-ups must be processed via checkout session. This error can appear even when your Hyperdrive Credits balance is high enough to cover the submission — for example, attempting to index 60 URLs while holding 117 credits. This is a known billing and backend sync issue. It does not mean your credits are missing or that you need to purchase more. Attempting to force a new purchase will not resolve it. 🧠 Why Does This Happen? This error is typically caused by one of the following: - Billing session mismatch: Your account's credit balance and the billing system are temporarily out of sync, causing the platform to incorrectly route the request through a checkout flow. - Stale checkout session: A previous incomplete or interrupted checkout session is still attached to your account, blocking new indexing submissions. - Recurring top-up flag conflict: If you previously set up automatic credit top-ups, the billing record tied to that subscription can interfere with one-time credit usage, triggering the checkout requirement incorrectly. None of these causes reflect a problem with your credit balance itself. Your credits are intact and will be available once the issue is resolved. 🗺️ How to Navigate to the URL Indexer To confirm the error and locate the submission area: 1. In the left sidebar, click Authority. 2. Select Indexer (URL Indexer) from the submenu. 3. Attempt to submit your URLs as normal. If the checkout session error appears at this step, proceed with the troubleshooting steps below. 🛠️ Steps to Try First Before escalating to support, try the following quick fixes: 1. Refresh your session: Log out of Search Atlas completely, clear your browser cookies and site data for the platform, then log back in and retry the submission. 2. Try a different browser: Open the URL Indexer in a different browser or an incognito/private window to rule out a locally cached session conflict. 3. Wait and retry: If a billing sync delay is the cause, waiting 5–10 minutes and retrying the submission can resolve it without any further action. 4. Check for pending checkout sessions: Navigate to your account billing settings and confirm there are no incomplete or pending checkout sessions shown. If one exists, do not complete it — note it and escalate to support as described below. Do not purchase additional Hyperdrive Credits as a workaround. This will not fix the underlying session conflict and may result in an unnecessary charge. ⚠️ When to Escalate to Support If the error persists after following all steps above, this issue requires manual resolution by our team. Human escalation is needed when: - The error reappears after logging out, clearing cache, and logging back in. - A stale or duplicate checkout session is visible in your billing settings and cannot be dismissed. - Your credit balance appears correct but every URL Indexer submission is blocked. - The error has been present for more than 30 minutes without self-resolving. When you contact support, have the following ready to speed up resolution: - Your current Hyperdrive Credits balance (visible on the URL Indexer page). - The exact number of URLs you were attempting to submit. - A screenshot of the error message. - The approximate date and time the error first appeared. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Understanding Universal Credits Migration and LLM Project Quotas

🔍 What Are Universal Credits? Universal Credits (UC) is Search Atlas's unified billing system that consolidates feature usage into a single, flexible credit pool. Instead of managing separate allowances for each tool, your credits are shared across supported features — making it easier to allocate usage where you need it most. Important: HyperDrive Credits are a separate credit type and are not drawn from your Universal Credits balance. These two systems operate independently and will never be combined or confused in your billing. 📊 How to Understand Your Pre/Post Migration Usage If you want to model how your last 30–60 days of activity would look under Universal Credits, follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account and navigate to the Billing or Usage section of the platform. 2. Review your historical feature usage for the relevant date range. Look for per-tool consumption figures (e.g., Local SEO Heatmaps, content tools, keyword lookups). 3. Apply the UC conversion rate for each feature. Each tool has a defined rate that determines how many Universal Credits one unit of usage costs. These rates are listed in your plan details under Avatar → Billing → Plans & Top-ups (see the Quota model details section, which shows per-feature Total Quota X / Y). 4. Add the converted credit amounts together to get your estimated total Universal Credits consumption for that period. 5. Compare this total against your plan's Universal Credits allowance to see whether your usage fits comfortably within your quota. If you are unsure of the conversion rate for a specific tool, your plan documentation will list each feature alongside its UC rate. You can also reach out via the chat widget for a personalised usage summary. ⚙️ Universal Credits Conversion Rates — Key Facts - Each Search Atlas feature that supports Universal Credits has a fixed conversion rate (e.g., X credits per heatmap scan, Y credits per keyword lookup). - Conversion rates are defined at the plan level and do not change mid-billing cycle. - HyperDrive Credits have their own separate rate and quota — they are never deducted from your Universal Credits pool. - Your dashboard will always display your UC balance and HyperDrive balance as two distinct line items so there is no ambiguity. 🛠️ LLM Project Quota Limits Explained LLM (Large Language Model) features in Search Atlas — such as AI-assisted content tools — operate under a dedicated quota system called LLM allowed_projects. This controls how many active LLM projects you can run within your billing period. Here is what you need to know: - LLM project quotas are being integrated into the billing catalog as a purchasable resource, meaning you will soon be able to increase your LLM project allowance directly from your plan settings. - Until that update is fully released, your LLM project limit is tied to your current plan tier. - LLM project usage is tracked separately from your Universal Credits balance. Running an LLM project does not consume Universal Credits unless the specific output action (e.g., publishing content) has a defined UC cost. 🚨 "Quota Exhausted" Errors on Local SEO Heatmaps Some customers on Universal Credits plans have encountered a "quota exhausted" error when attempting to run Local SEO Heatmap scans. This was caused by a missing quota entry in the system's credit configuration — specifically, the uc.universal_credits value was absent from the quota record for affected accounts. This issue has been resolved. If you are still seeing a quota exhausted message on Heatmaps after logging out and back in, please take the following steps: 1. Clear your browser cache and reload the platform. 2. Navigate to Local → Local SEO Heatmaps and attempt the scan again. 3. If the error persists, check your Universal Credits balance in the Billing section to confirm you have sufficient credits remaining. 4. If your balance appears healthy but the error continues, contact support immediately via the chat widget. ✅ Quick Reference: UC vs. HyperDrive Credits - Universal Credits: Shared pool used across most Search Atlas features. Replenishes on your billing cycle. Visible in the Billing dashboard as "Universal Credits." - HyperDrive Credits: Separate credit type for HyperDrive-specific features. Has its own balance, quota, and replenishment schedule. Always shown as a distinct line item. - The two credit types are never interchangeable and are billed independently. 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Understanding HyperDrive Credits After VIP Platinum Upgrade

🔍 Overview When upgrading from the VIP plan to VIP Platinum, customers often expect to receive 300 additional HyperDrive credits — the full credit allotment of the new plan. However, you may notice that only 200 credits are added to your account instead. This is expected behaviour and is explained by how Search Atlas calculates credits during a mid-cycle plan upgrade. ⚙️ How Credit Allocation Works on Upgrade Search Atlas uses a prorated credit model. When you upgrade mid-billing cycle, the platform calculates the credits you are entitled to based on two factors: - Credits already included in your current VIP plan — The VIP plan includes a set number of HyperDrive credits per cycle. If those credits have already been issued to your account at the start of the billing period, they are counted toward your total. - Credits included in the VIP Platinum plan — VIP Platinum includes a higher monthly credit allotment. The upgrade tops your account up to the Platinum level, not above it. Because you already received a portion of your VIP credits at the start of the cycle, the system issues only the difference between the two plans — not the full Platinum allotment from scratch. 📊 Example: VIP to VIP Platinum Credit Calculation Here is a straightforward example of how the 200-credit top-up is calculated: 1. VIP plan HyperDrive credits: 100 credits issued at the start of the billing cycle. 2. VIP Platinum plan HyperDrive credits: 300 credits per billing cycle. 3. Credits added on upgrade: 300 − 100 = 200 additional credits. This means your account reaches the full 300-credit entitlement of VIP Platinum — 100 from VIP already in your account, plus 200 issued at the time of upgrade. No credits are lost. ✅ How to Verify Your Current HyperDrive Credit Balance You can check your total available HyperDrive credits at any time directly inside the platform: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to your Account or Billing settings from the top-right Avatar Menu (👤). 3. Locate the HyperDrive Credits section to view your current balance and usage history. If your balance reflects 300 or more credits in total (including any you already had), your upgrade has been applied correctly. 🛠️ What to Do If Your Balance Still Looks Incorrect If your total HyperDrive credit balance is lower than expected after accounting for the proration logic above, consider the following before reaching out: - Check for recent credit usage: HyperDrive credits are consumed when running certain Authority workflows. Review your usage history to confirm no credits were spent shortly after the upgrade. - Allow a few minutes for the system to update: In rare cases, there may be a brief delay before upgraded credits appear in your balance. - Confirm your upgrade was processed: Verify in your billing settings that your plan now shows VIP Platinum as your active subscription. 💬 Still Need Help? If you have reviewed the above and your credit balance still does not match expectations, our team is ready to investigate. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Understanding Plan Features and Hyperdrive Credits

🔍 What Are Hyperdrive Credits? Hyperdrive Credits (HDC) are a premium resource within Search Atlas that let you accelerate certain high-value tasks — including generating and distributing press releases. Each credit represents one unit of usage for supported features, and your available balance depends on your current plan. 📊 Which Plans Include Hyperdrive Credits? Hyperdrive Credits are available exclusively on paid plans. Here is what you need to know: - Free Trial: Hyperdrive Credits are not included during the free trial period. Credits are granted only when you roll over to a paid subscription. - Paid Plans: Credits are added to your account automatically at the start of each billing cycle (monthly or annual rollover). The number of credits you receive depends on your specific plan tier. - Unused Credits: Plan-included credits (and the optional recurring monthly HDC top-up) do not carry over between billing cycles, so make sure to use them before your renewal date. Credits purchased as a one-time top-up roll over and stay on your account until used completely. 🚀 What Can Hyperdrive Credits Be Used For? Once you are on a paid plan, Hyperdrive Credits can be applied to supported premium features. Common uses include: - Press release generation and distribution — one of the most popular uses for HDC. - Other accelerated content and outreach features available within your plan. The exact list of supported features may vary by plan tier. Check your account dashboard for a full breakdown of eligible actions. ⚙️ How to Check Your Hyperdrive Credit Balance 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Navigate to your account or billing settings from the top navigation menu. 3. Look for the Hyperdrive Credits section to view your current balance and renewal date. If you do not see a credit balance, confirm that your free trial has ended and that you are on an active paid plan. 🛠️ Upgrading to Access Hyperdrive Credits If you are currently on a free trial and want to start using Hyperdrive Credits, you will need to upgrade to a paid plan. Once your plan activates, credits will be granted automatically at your next billing cycle rollover. To explore available plans and upgrade options, click your avatar in the top-right corner, then go to Billing → Plans & Top-ups tab (Billing). 💬 Need More Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

📊 Understanding Local SEO Points and Hyperdrive Credits

📋 Overview Search Atlas allocates a set number of Local SEO Points and Hyperdrive credits to your account each month. These credits are used within the Local section of the platform for managing business listings and local citation activity. Understanding how these limits work helps you plan your local SEO activity and avoid unexpected pauses in service. 🗺️ What Are Local SEO Points? Local SEO Points are credits associated with submitting and managing your business listings across data aggregators and local citation sources. They are allocated on a monthly basis as part of your subscription plan. - Points are used when you perform actions through Local Citations. - Your quota is tied to your billing cycle. ⚡ What Are Hyperdrive Credits? Hyperdrive credits are a separate monthly credit allocation available within the Local section of Search Atlas, used alongside Local SEO Points for local citation and listing activity. - Hyperdrive credits are allocated monthly as part of your subscription. 🔢 How Many Credits Do I Get Per Month? The number of Local SEO Points and Hyperdrive credits included in your plan depends on your current subscription tier. To find out your exact monthly allocation or check how many credits you have remaining, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with our team, who can look up your account details directly. When reaching out, please have the following ready to help our team assist you quickly: - Your Search Atlas account email address. - The name of your current subscription plan. - A description of the credit type you are asking about (Local SEO Points, Hyperdrive credits, or both). ⚠️ What Happens When I Reach My Limit? Once your monthly quota is exhausted, new actions requiring credits may be paused until your credits refresh at the start of your next billing cycle. If you believe you have hit your limit unexpectedly or have questions about your current usage, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to reach our team with your account details and a description of the issue. 🚀 How to Make the Most of Your Monthly Credits To get the best value from your allocation each month, consider the following best practices: - Review your Local Citations page regularly to monitor your activity and plan submissions throughout the month. - Prioritise your most important listings and locations when credits are limited. - Use the chat widget before your credits run out if you need guidance on your plan's allocation or options to increase your quota. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

⚡ How Do Hyperdrive Credits Work?

Hyperdrive credits are the internal currency of the Search Atlas platform, used to pay for premium features such as the URL Indexer. Understanding how credits work as currency helps you budget them across your projects. Credits are currency, not a fixed per-URL ratio. One Hyperdrive credit is equal to $1 of platform currency, and credit balances can be fractional (for example, 8.2 credits). There is no fixed "1 credit = N URLs indexed" conversion rate for the URL Indexer or any other tool — the actual cost of indexing a given number of URLs depends on the current pricing for that feature at the time of use. Because credits work as currency rather than a fixed ratio, the best way to know exactly how many URLs you can index with your current balance is to check the cost shown at the point of use in the URL Indexer itself. If you have additional questions about Hyperdrive credits or the URL Indexer, please use the in-app live chat widget to chat with a human teammate who can assist you further.

🛠️ Zombie LLM Projects Consuming HDC Credits Fix

🔍 What Is This Issue? Some accounts experienced a platform defect where approximately 20 or more LLM (AI Visibility) projects appeared automatically — projects that were never manually created by the user. These ghost projects, sometimes called zombie projects, had two key characteristics: - They reappeared after being deleted - They silently consumed HDC credits and quota slots for weeks or months This was caused by a stale internal reference (a llmv_id pointer) that incorrectly linked orphaned LLM projects to deleted Site Explorer projects. In some cases, the same domain was also being tracked twice, which further inflated quota usage. ✅ Is This Issue Already Fixed? Yes. Search Atlas engineering has confirmed that the following fixes are now live: - Orphaned LLM projects have been cleaned up for all affected accounts - The stale pointer defect causing zombie projects to reappear has been resolved - Incorrect project usage counts and inflated quota figures caused by duplicate domain tracking have been corrected You do not need to take any action to trigger these fixes — they were applied automatically at the platform level. 📊 How to Verify Your Account Is Now Clean After the fix, you can confirm your account is in a healthy state by reviewing your AI Visibility projects: 1. Navigate to your AI Visibility (LLM) projects section in the platform 2. Review the list of projects shown. You should only see domains you intentionally set up 3. Check that your quota usage now accurately reflects only your active, real projects 4. If a project you did not create is still visible, do not attempt to delete it repeatedly — instead, contact support immediately (see below) ⚠️ What If You Still See Ghost Projects or Incorrect Quota? Although the fix has been deployed, if your account still shows: - LLM projects you never created - Projects that reappear after deletion - Quota showing as fully consumed with no active reports visible - An incorrect project count that does not match what you see on screen …then your account may still be affected and requires manual review by our engineering team. Do not attempt to repeatedly delete the projects, as this will not resolve the underlying pointer issue and may complicate the investigation. 💡 What Caused the Credits Loss? The orphaned projects were consuming HDC credits and occupying quota slots even though they were invisible or appeared to be inactive. This happened because the system's internal project references were not properly cleaned up when the original Site Explorer projects they were linked to were deleted. Engineering ticket SPE-652 was raised to address the root cause, and all related cleanup tasks are now marked

📘 What Are Hyperdrive Credits (HDC)?

📘 What Are Hyperdrive Credits (HDC)? Hyperdrive Credits (HDC) are used for premium actions inside the Search Atlas platform that require direct external execution or paid distribution. These credits are separate from standard Search Atlas quotas and are only consumed for specific high-impact services. 🧠 What Hyperdrive Credits Are Hyperdrive Credits are a dedicated balance used for actions that involve external systems, placements, or paid infrastructure. 👉 1 USD = 1 Hyperdrive Credit (HDC) ⚙️ Step-by-Step: When HDC Is Used - Step 1: You request an action through MCP. Examples: "Launch a link building campaign," "Publish a press release," "Purchase a guest post in LinkLab." - Step 2: The assistant prepares the action. - Step 3: The system identifies that the action requires Hyperdrive Credits. - Step 4: You are prompted to confirm. - Step 5: After confirmation, HDC is consumed and the action is executed. 📊 Actions That Use Hyperdrive Credits HDC is used for: - LinkLab (link building campaigns and guest post purchases) - Press release distribution - Cloud stacks and infrastructure-based SEO actions 🔐 Approval Requirement ⚠️ Actions that consume Hyperdrive Credits require explicit user confirmation before execution. This ensures you always know when paid actions are about to run. ⚠️ Important Notes - HDC is separate from standard Search Atlas quotas. - HDC is only used for specific premium actions. - Regular MCP actions (audits, content, etc.) do NOT use HDC. - Pricing is tied to real-world execution costs. 💳 Recurring vs Non-Recurring HDC Pools Your HDC balance may be split across two distinct pools: - Recurring HDC: Credits granted as part of your subscription plan, refreshed on each billing cycle. - Non-Recurring HDC: One-time or top-up credits purchased separately or added manually. ⚠️ Important: Certain checkout flows — including LinkLab guest post purchases — currently validate against the Recurring pool only. This means you may see an "insufficient HDC" message at checkout even when your total HDC balance (Recurring + Non-Recurring) is more than enough to cover the purchase. 🛠️ Troubleshooting: "Insufficient HDC" at LinkLab Guest Post Checkout If your LinkLab guest post checkout shows a low available HDC balance (e.g., 15 HDC available when you need 338 HDC) but your account total is higher, the credits are likely split between Recurring and Non-Recurring pools. How to resolve: 1. Check your HDC breakdown to confirm credits exist in the Non-Recurring pool. 2. Contact Search Atlas Support and request a credit pool reallocation so the Non-Recurring HDC can be applied toward the guest post purchase. 3. Support will escalate to the engineering/specialized billing team if reallocation is required. 4. Once reallocated, retry the guest post checkout — the purchase should process normally using HDC. 🔁 How HDC Fits Into MCP Pricing MCP pricing has three layers: 1. AI tokens (conversation) 2. Search Atlas quotas (standard actions) 3. Hyperdrive Credits (premium external actions) Hyperdrive Credits are used only when an action involves external execution or paid distribution. By requiring confirmation before use, MCP ensures you stay in full control of when these premium credits are spent.

🤖 AI Gateway Credits and Reverting Submissions

🔍 View your AI Gateway allowance Your AI Gateway allowance is measured over a rolling five-hour interval. To review your available credits and recent usage, open the AI Gateway area in the platform and check the usage or credits view. The display shows your allowance, consumed credits, and any remaining capacity for the current interval. Credit availability can change as requests finish processing. If the allowance is reached, new AI Gateway requests may be paused until capacity becomes available in the next interval. 📊 Understand credit limits - The allowance applies to AI Gateway activity during the current five-hour interval. - Usage may continue updating while requests are processing. - A temporary limit does not necessarily indicate a platform outage or high system load. - When the interval refreshes, available capacity is restored according to your account limits. ↩️ Revert Data Aggregator Submissions Data Aggregator Submissions cannot be reverted after they have been sent for processing. While a submission is processing, wait for its status to finish before taking further action. If the submission fails or produces an unexpected result, review its status and any available error details. Avoid submitting the same data again until the original submission has completed, as duplicate submissions may consume additional AI Gateway credits. 🛠️ What to do if a submission is stuck 1. Open the submission history and confirm the current status. 2. Wait for the processing status to change before retrying. 3. Check your AI Gateway usage to confirm that credits remain available. 4. If the status does not change or the credit display appears incorrect, capture the submission details and contact the team through the platform chat. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

💡 Increase AI Credits Without Upgrading Your Plan

🔍 What Are AI Credits? AI credits power Search Atlas features that use artificial intelligence, such as generating content, running AI-based analyses, and producing SEO recommendations. Every plan comes with a default monthly AI credits quota, but you can increase this limit without upgrading to a higher-tier plan. 💡 Can I Increase My AI Credits on My Current Plan? Yes. Search Atlas allows you to purchase additional AI credits as an add-on directly within your existing plan — including the $99 plan. You do not need to upgrade to a higher subscription tier just to get more AI credits. ⚙️ How to Increase Your AI Credits Quota 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your avatar in the top-right corner to open the Avatar Menu (👤). 3. Select Billing. 4. Scroll to the Add-Ons section. 5. Locate the AI Credits add-on option. 6. Choose the additional credits package that fits your needs. 7. Confirm your purchase. Your new credits will be available immediately. 📊 Which Category Do I Need to Increase? When managing your quota inside the platform, AI credits fall under the AI Credits category specifically — separate from other usage limits like keyword lookups or tracked keywords. Make sure you are adjusting the AI Credits add-on and not another usage category to ensure the correct quota is increased. 🛠️ Things to Keep in Mind - Add-ons are billed monthly and renew on the same cycle as your main subscription. - AI credits do not roll over — unused credits expire at the end of your billing cycle. - You can purchase add-ons multiple times within the same cycle if you exhaust your quota mid-month. - Your base plan credits and purchased add-on credits are combined into a single pool, so there is no separate tracking needed. 🚀 Tips to Use AI Credits Efficiently - Batch your content generation tasks together to avoid sporadic, high-consumption sessions. - Use the AI Credit usage tracker in your dashboard to monitor consumption in real time. - Plan large AI-assisted projects around the start of your billing cycle so you have the full quota available. ❓ Still Have Questions? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be connected with a member of our team.

🤖 Understanding AI Agent Credit Exhaustion

🤖 What are AI Agent credits? AI Agent credits are the account allowance used for metered AI Agent requests. Each request consumes credits based on the AI processing required. The allowance is separate from other product credits, including Content Genius credits. Having Content Genius credits available does not necessarily mean that AI Agent requests can continue. 📊 What happens when credits reach zero? When credit metering is enabled, AI Agent requests are blocked once the account reaches a zero balance. The agent cannot start or complete new metered requests until additional allowance becomes available. This limit does not mean your entire Search Atlas account is disabled. Features that do not use AI Agent credits may continue to work, and quota-exempt requests are not blocked. 💳 Can I add more credits? AI Agent credit availability and top-up options depend on your account configuration. If no top-up option is shown in the platform, do not assume that Content Genius credits can be used instead. Review the available account or billing options shown in your workspace. If your account needs additional AI Agent capacity and no option is available, contact our team through the chat widget so we can review your setup. ⚠️ Why might the message be unexpected? The platform may show a credit warning when your remaining balance is very small. In some cases, a fractional balance can be displayed as “out of credits” even though a small amount remains. This is a display issue and does not change the credit enforcement rules. You may also see a “quota exceeded” message while Content Genius credits are available because the two credit types are tracked separately. 🛠️ What should I do next? 1. Check whether the message appears while using an AI Agent action. 2. Confirm that you are checking the AI Agent allowance rather than Content Genius credits. 3. Retry only if the balance is not zero or the message appears inconsistent with your allowance. 4. Record the exact message and the action you were trying to run. 5. If the issue continues, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team. ✅ Key takeaway AI Agent credits control metered AI Agent requests. When the provisioned allowance is exhausted, new requests can be blocked, while unrelated or quota-exempt features may remain available. AI Agent credits and Content Genius credits are separate. If AI Agent credits are exhausted AI Agent credits are separate from other product credits, including Content Genius credits. When the AI Agent allowance reaches zero, new metered agent requests can be blocked while unrelated features may continue to work. Check the AI Agent balance and the top-up or plan options shown in your account or Billing area. If no top-up option is available, do not assume another credit type can be used instead; record the exact message, the action you were running, and the approximate time, then contact support in live chat.

🤖 AI Agent Credits vs AI Quota

🔎 What are AI Agent credits? AI Agent credits are a dedicated balance used by Atlas Agent to complete tasks in your Search Atlas account. They are separate from AI Quota Generation, Premium, and Hyperdrive balances. Because these balances are separate, having available AI Quota does not necessarily mean you have AI Agent credits available. ⚙️ What uses AI Agent credits? - OTTO tasks: Tasks run by OTTO through Atlas Agent can consume AI Agent credits. - Agent-initiated feature runs: When Atlas Agent starts or performs an eligible Search Atlas feature action, credits may be used. - Repeated or large tasks: A task that processes multiple pages, keywords, or recommendations may use more credits than a smaller task. Credits are consumed when the agent performs work, not simply because OTTO is enabled. The amount used depends on the task and the work required. 📊 How to check your balance and usage 1. Sign in to Search Atlas. 2. Open the account, plan, or usage area where AI consumption is displayed. 3. Locate the section labelled AI Agent credits. Do not use the AI Quota Generation, Premium, or Hyperdrive balance for this check. 4. Open the usage history or activity details to review credit consumption by date and task. 5. Compare the activity dates with your OTTO task schedule to identify what consumed credits. The usage history is the best way to investigate rapid consumption, such as credits being used within three days. Review task names, timestamps, quantities, and any associated project or workflow details when available. 📅 Credit resets and billing periods AI Agent credits reset according to the date shown in the AI Agent credit section. This date may differ from the reset date for other AI balances. Check the displayed reset date rather than assuming all AI allowances renew together. Unused credits may not carry over, depending on your plan. The balance and usage panel provides the current availability and applicable reset information. 🚫 “You’re out of AI Agent credits” This message means the dedicated AI Agent credit pool has reached zero or does not have enough credits for the requested task. It does not mean that all AI Quota balances are empty. - Check the AI Agent balance, not the general AI Quota balances. - Review usage history for recent OTTO tasks and agent-initiated runs. - Pause or reduce nonessential OTTO tasks until the balance resets or additional credits are available. - Check the displayed reset date and confirm that the task is scheduled after credits become available. - Retry the task only after confirming available AI Agent credits. 🧭 If usage is unexpected Filter the usage history to the relevant three-day period and compare each entry with your OTTO activity. Look for multiple runs, broad page selections, repeated retries, or workflows that processed more items than expected. If the history does not explain the balance change, record the affected dates, task names, projects, and screenshots of the AI Agent credit panel before requesting help. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

💳 Find Atlas Agent Credit Top-Ups

🔎 Where to find Atlas Agent top-ups Atlas Agent credit purchases are listed in the Activity Log tab in Billing. They may not appear as a separate Atlas Agent category or as a dedicated top-up section. 🛠️ How to check your purchase history 1. Open Billing in the Search Atlas platform. 2. Select the Activity Log tab. 3. Open the activity filter. 4. Filter by the available purchase or top-up type. 5. Review the filtered entries for your Atlas Agent credit purchase. 💡 If you cannot find the top-up Confirm that you are viewing the correct account and that the purchase or top-up filter is applied. The Activity Log contains general billing activity, so the exact label may vary. If the purchase still does not appear or your Atlas Agent balance has not updated, record the purchase details and review the Activity Log again after refreshing the page. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

📊 Track Atlas Agent Credit Usage

📘 How Atlas Agent credits work Atlas Agent uses credits for metered requests. Your available balance is managed by your account’s credit quota and any approved overage buffer. Before a request starts, Search Atlas checks whether enough credits are available. If your metered credits and overage buffer are exhausted, the request is stopped and you may receive a 402 error. 🔢 How credits are consumed 1. You submit an Atlas Agent request. 2. The request is processed and its cost is calculated. 3. Usage is recorded in the credit transaction ledger. 4. The recorded amount is deducted from your available Atlas Agent quota. Usage is recorded asynchronously. This means a request may finish before its credit deduction appears in account usage information. Short delays between activity and displayed consumption are expected. 🔍 How to check your available credits Open the platform’s billing or credit-usage area to review the balance and usage information available for your account. The exact balance depends on your plan, credit allocation, completed deductions, and any enabled overage buffer. If your account uses Universal Credits, credit meters may not appear in the Billing page in some cases. This is a known visibility limitation, so the displayed information may not provide a complete breakdown of Atlas Agent usage. 🧾 How to review three days of consumption 1. Record your current available credit balance. 2. Review the Atlas Agent activity completed during the three-day period. 3. Allow time for asynchronous usage records to finish processing. 4. Compare the balance before and after the period, when both values are available. 5. Use the available credit transactions or usage records to match deductions to requests. The total change in balance may also include other metered activity, adjustments, or overage usage. For an accurate Atlas Agent-only total, compare individual transaction records when they are available rather than relying only on the overall balance. ⚠️ Why usage may look different - Credit deductions can appear after the request completes. - Usage information may be temporarily incomplete while records are being processed. - Universal Credits accounts may not show all consumption meters in Billing. - When metering is not enabled for an account, spending may not be recorded or limited as expected. 🛠️ When to contact support Have the approximate request times, the three-day date range, your starting and ending balances, and any visible transaction details ready. This helps the team investigate differences between activity and recorded consumption. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

💡 Understanding LLM Quotas and Top-Ups in Search Atlas

🔍 What Are LLM Quotas? Search Atlas uses large language model (LLM) credits to power AI-driven features across the platform — including content generation, the Prompt Simulator, AI Visibility analysis, and more. Your plan includes a set allocation of LLM credits per billing cycle. Once that allocation is used, you can purchase additional credits through a top-up. 📊 Where to Find Your LLM Quota Information You can check your current LLM usage and remaining quota directly inside the platform. Follow these steps: 1. Log in to your Search Atlas account. 2. Click your account name or avatar in the bottom-left corner of the platform. 3. Navigate to Billing & Usage or Plan Details (depending on your account type). 4. Look for the LLM Credits section — this displays your total allocation, credits used, and credits remaining for the current billing period. If you do not see a dedicated LLM credits section, your quota details may be bundled within your overall plan usage summary on the same page. 🚀 How to Top Up Your LLM Credits If you have used your included LLM credits and need more before your next billing cycle resets, you can purchase a top-up: 1. Go to Billing & Usage from your Avatar Menu (👤). 2. Locate the LLM Credits section and click Top Up or Buy More Credits. 3. Select the top-up package that suits your needs. 4. Confirm your purchase — credits are added to your account instantly. Top-up credits are consumed after your included plan allocation is exhausted. They do not roll over to the next billing cycle, so we recommend purchasing only what you expect to use in the current period. 💡 Which Features Use LLM Credits? LLM credits are consumed whenever the platform performs an AI-powered action. Common examples include: - Prompt Simulator — simulating how AI search engines respond to prompts about your brand or competitors (accessible via Left sidebar → Site Metrics → your domain → AI Visibility → Prompt Simulator). - AI Visibility analysis — generating AI-driven insights under the Summary, Visibility, Sentiment, and Topics & Queries tabs. - Content generation — creating or rewriting content using AI assistance within the platform's content tools. - Other AI-assisted features — any action that triggers an LLM request in the background. Actions that do not use AI processing — such as viewing standard keyword data, site metrics, or saved reports — do not consume LLM credits. ⚙️ Tips for Managing Your LLM Credits Efficiently - Monitor usage regularly — check your quota before running large AI-intensive tasks to avoid unexpected credit exhaustion. - Prioritise high-value prompts — in the Prompt Simulator, focus on your most strategically important queries rather than testing every variation. - Plan ahead for busy periods — if you anticipate a spike in AI usage (for example, during a content campaign), top up in advance. - Review billing cycle reset dates — your included allocation refreshes at the start of each billing cycle, so timing large tasks accordingly can reduce the need for top-ups. ❓ Frequently Asked Questions Do unused included credits roll over? No. Included plan credits reset at the start of each billing cycle and do not carry forward. Do top-up credits roll over? No. Top-up credits are valid for the current billing cycle only and expire at the cycle end. Can I see a breakdown of which features used my credits? A usage summary is available in the Billing & Usage section. For a detailed feature-level breakdown, contact our support team via the chat widget. What happens when I run out of credits? AI-powered features will be temporarily unavailable until you either top up or your billing cycle resets. Standard (non-AI) features remain fully accessible. 🛠️ Need Help? If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

🧠 Atlas Brain Credit Quota and Usage

🧾 How Atlas Brain credits work Atlas Brain converts the cost of the AI work it performs into credits. Usage is based on factors such as the amount of text processed, the model used, the number of steps required, and any connected actions or tools. Credits are tracked through your account quota. Usage may appear shortly after a request finishes because credits are recorded asynchronously. New requests can be restricted when your available balance, including the account’s usage buffer, is no longer sufficient. 💳 Why one task may use 25 credits Yes, using 25 credits while optimizing one client from multiple playbooks can be expected. A playbook may require several AI steps, long inputs and outputs, analysis of existing pages, and actions such as creating recommendations or link-building work. The number of playbooks alone does not determine the cost. Two similar-looking requests can use different amounts depending on the content analyzed and the work Atlas Brain needs to complete. 📊 Understanding your credit balance Your plan may include a limited Atlas Brain allowance, such as 100 credits, along with any applicable purchased or topped-up credits. Credits are separate from other Search Atlas limits and should not be confused with legacy query quotas. Check the billing or quota area in the platform for your available balance and usage. If the displayed balance does not match recent activity, allow time for usage to finish syncing before checking again. ⚙️ Ways to reduce credit usage - Use a focused prompt that names one client, page, issue, and desired outcome. - Run only the playbook steps you need instead of several overlapping playbooks. - Provide concise source material and avoid including unrelated pages or large content sets. - Break broad projects into smaller, targeted requests so you can review results between steps. - Reuse completed recommendations instead of asking Atlas Brain to repeat the same analysis. - Review the expected scope before starting actions that analyze many pages or create multiple deliverables. 🛑 What happens when credits run low Atlas Brain may allow a request to finish while final usage is being recorded. Once the system determines that your available quota is insufficient, new requests may be blocked until credits are added or your allowance renews. Because usage is based on actual AI processing costs, there is no single fixed credit price for every prompt. Shorter, more specific prompts can help, but they do not guarantee a particular credit amount. 💬 When to contact support If your balance appears incorrect, credits are missing after a top-up, or Atlas Brain reports an outdated quota, capture the request details and wait briefly for usage to sync. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.

🤖 AI Agent Credits and Top-Ups

🤖 How AI Agent credits work AI Agent credits are consumed when the agent processes eligible requests. Each request may use a different amount of credits depending on the action and the work required. 📊 Checking your credit balance Open the platform’s billing or AI Agent usage area to view your remaining credits, usage, reset date, and plan details. The information shown there is the current source of truth for your account. 🔄 When credits reset Credits reset at the start of the next billing or subscription period shown in your account. Unused credits generally do not become available earlier unless your plan specifically states otherwise. 🔔 Credit notifications Notifications may be triggered when your balance is low or when credits are exhausted. Availability and recipients can depend on your plan, account settings, and user permissions. Notifications may appear in the platform or be sent through configured account channels, so not every user will receive a separate message. If you did not receive a notification, check the account’s billing settings, notification preferences, and administrator access. A missing notification does not change your credit balance or reset date. 💳 Top-up availability Top-ups are not available for every plan or account. If your account is eligible, a top-up option and its price will appear in the billing or AI Agent credits area. If no top-up option is displayed, your account cannot currently purchase credits through the platform. Top-up eligibility can depend on your subscription, billing configuration, account permissions, region, or temporary product availability. Administrators or billing owners may be the only users who can view or purchase top-ups. ⛔ What happens when credits run out When the balance reaches zero, the AI Agent cannot complete new actions that require AI Agent credits. Requests may be blocked, paused, or return an insufficient-credits message until credits are added or the balance resets. Credit exhaustion does not normally remove access to unrelated platform features. You can still sign in, review existing data, manage projects and settings, view billing information, and use non-credit-based tools available to your plan. Existing results and conversation history remain available when supported by the product. To resume credit-based agent work, purchase an eligible top-up if the option is shown, or wait for the next credit reset. ✅ Recommended next steps 1. Check the remaining balance and reset date in the billing or AI Agent usage area. 2. Confirm whether a top-up option is displayed and whether you have billing-owner permissions. 3. Review notification settings and ask your account administrator whether alerts were received. 4. If the balance, reset date, or top-up eligibility appears incorrect, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team. If you need further assistance, open the chat widget in the bottom-right corner of the platform and type human teammate to be instantly connected with a member of our team.