What are SEO proxies?
SEO proxies, also called search engine proxies, are proxies you use to check search results from a chosen location. Your rank tracker sends each query through an IP in the target country or city, so it sees the results a searcher there would see.
Search results change with the searcher's country, city and language. Checking from your office IP shows your own local results, not your customers'. A proxy in each market gives you the view from there, for every keyword you track.
Follow each search engine's terms, keep query rates reasonable, and use the engine's own tools and reports where they already answer your question.
Which proxy type for rank tracking?
| Static ISP | Datacenter IPv4 | Residential | |
|---|---|---|---|
| IP | Dedicated, the same IP all term | Dedicated, the same IP all term | Shared pool, rotating or sticky |
| Location | Country | Country | Country, region, city or ISP |
| Billing | Per IP, per term | Per IP, per term | Per GB, package valid 30 days |
| From | $0.79 / IP | $0.45 / IP | $1.58 / GB |
| Best for | Steady daily checks from the same IPs | Large keyword sets at a low cost per IP | City-level local results and spot checks |
For scheduled tracking by country, static ISP proxies are a steady choice: the IPs stay the same for the whole term, so every check runs from the same place and your history stays comparable. Datacenter IPv4 works the same way at a lower price per IP.
When the rankings you care about change from city to city, add residential proxies. An access list can target a region or city, so a query for a local service shows the results people in that city see.
Static ISP plans and countries →Datacenter IPv4 plans and countries →Residential packages with city targeting →
City-level local SERP checks
Residential packages cover 220+ locations. Each package holds up to 20 access lists, and each list has its own login, a location (a country, then optionally a region, city or ISP), a rotation setting and 1 to 1,000 ports.
Create one list per city you track, for example one for each of your store locations, and point your rank tracker at each list's login. Every list draws on the same package traffic.
The regions and cities you can pick depend on the residential IPs available in each country, and you see them when you create a list. No single city is guaranteed, so check the list for the cities you need before a large run.
Set up proxies in your rank tracker
- Download your proxy list. Open My proxies and download the order as a .txt file. Each line is one proxy in ip:port:login:password format, which most rank trackers import as it is. Residential access lists export the same way, as host:port:login:password.
- Pick the protocol. Use the HTTP port for HTTP(S), or the SOCKS5 port for SOCKS5; both take the same login. Residential uses one gateway port for both, and IPv6 orders use the one protocol chosen at checkout.
- Set one location per proxy group. Group proxies by country in your tool, or use one residential access list per city, so each query runs from the right place.
- Test before the first run. Paste the list into the free proxy checker to confirm each proxy works and sits in the expected country.
IP:HTTP_PORT:LOGIN:PASSWORD IP:SOCKS5_PORT:LOGIN:PASSWORD HOST:PORT:LIST_LOGIN:PASSWORD
HTTP(S) or SOCKS5: how each plan connects →Check your proxy list →
How many proxies do I need for rank tracking?
Work it out from your own numbers: keywords × locations × checks per day gives the queries you send each day. Then decide how many queries each IP should send a day, at a pace that keeps within the search engine's terms. Daily queries divided by that number is the IP count.
Example: 500 keywords in 3 countries, checked once a day, is 1,500 queries a day. If you choose to send no more than 100 queries a day from each IP, you need 15 IPs, five per country. On static ISP proxies that is from $11.85, depending on the country and term.
On residential proxies you pay for traffic instead. A results page is often a few hundred KB of HTML, so 1,500 queries a day at about 300 KB each is around 450 MB a day, or about 13.5 GB over 30 days. Measure a few pages in your own tool and adjust.
Static ISP and datacenter IPv4 terms are 7, 14 or 30 days. Renew before the end to keep the same IPs, which keeps your ranking history comparable.
Compare prices for every country and term →
What SEO proxies are used for
- SEO and SERP rank tracking by country and city
- Checking local results for each store or service area
- Ad verification on search ads in the markets you advertise in
- QA and localisation testing of hreflang, currencies and local pages
- Market research on who ranks in each market
