# Copilot Search

`POST https://api.serpkite.com/v1/copilot` · Credits: 3 per answer (the same in a batch); failed, refused and empty answers are free

Ask Microsoft Copilot Search on Bing and get its answer with the sources it cited and the sponsored product cards beside it, for any Bing market.

Asks Microsoft Copilot Search (bing.com/copilotsearch, Bing's AI answer) as a logged-out visitor and returns its answer, the sources it cited and, for shopping prompts, the sponsored product cards Bing shows next to it. The Copilot app itself (copilot.microsoft.com) asks every logged-out visitor to sign in, so it is not offered; Copilot Search is the answer Bing gives guests.

**Billing:** 3 credits per answer, 1.5 from the cache with `max_age`. AI answers cost the same in [`POST /v1/batches`](https://serpkite.com/docs/batch): the batch lane does not halve them. A failed, refused or empty answer is refunded (`503`, nothing billed).

**Latency:** answers typically take 15–40 s; requests wait up to 90 s. Set a client timeout of at least 120 s, or queue prompts with [batches](https://serpkite.com/docs/batch) or a [monitor](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/monitors) instead of holding requests open.

**Variance:** assistants answer the same prompt differently from run to run and by country. To measure visibility, ask each prompt several times and compare shares, not single answers. See [AI visibility tracking](https://serpkite.com/docs/guides/ai-visibility-tracking).

## Request body

| Parameter | Type | Default | Description |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `prompt` **required** | string |  | The message to the assistant, up to 4,000 characters. Required. (`q` is not accepted here.) |
| `country` | string |  | Bing's market (ISO 3166-1 alpha-2), with `language`: the answer, sources and products follow it, wherever the visitor is. |
| `language` | string | `en` | Interface language (e.g. `en`, `de`). The answer follows the prompt's language. |
| `track` | string[] |  | Up to 20 brands (`"Acme"`) or domains (`"acme.com"`, subdomains match), 100 characters each, to check the answer for. Each comes back in `mentions`. A term with a dot is a domain: it matches sources and product links on that domain; other terms match whole words, case-insensitively. |
| `include_html` | boolean | `false` | Also return the answer's HTML in `html`. |
| `format` | string | `json` | `markdown` returns the answer, its sources, searches, products and a Mentions section as one Markdown document; `compact` keeps `text`, `sources` (`n`, `title`, `link`), `search_queries`, `products` and `places`. One of: `json`, `markdown`, `compact`. |
| `fields` | string |  | Comma-separated projection, e.g. results.title,results.link,knowledge_graph. Cuts tokens. |
| `max_age` | integer |  | Accept a cached answer up to this many seconds old, at half price. Answers are cached for at most 1 hour, and only a request with `max_age` reads the cache. |

## Example request

cURL:

```bash
curl https://api.serpkite.com/v1/copilot \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer $SERPKITE_API_KEY" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{"prompt":"best mattress for side sleepers","country":"us"}'
```

TypeScript:

```ts
import { SerpKite } from "serpkite";

const sk = new SerpKite(); // reads SERPKITE_API_KEY
const res = await sk.copilot({ prompt: "best mattress for side sleepers", country: "us" });
console.log(res.markdown, res.sources.length);
```

Python:

```python
from serpkite import SerpKite

sk = SerpKite()  # reads SERPKITE_API_KEY
res = sk.copilot(prompt="best mattress for side sleepers", country="us")
print(res.markdown, len(res.sources))
```

## Response fields

| Field | Type | Description |
| --- | --- | --- |
| `request` | object | The normalised request: `endpoint`, `prompt`, `country`, `language` (not chatgpt), `web_search` (chatgpt), `include_html`. |
| `text` | string | The answer as plain text. |
| `markdown` | string | The answer as Markdown. Citations are `[n](link)`, where `n` is the `position` of a source in `sources`. |
| `html` | string | The answer's HTML, only with `include_html: true`. |
| `model` | string | The model the assistant reports to logged-out visitors, when it reports one. |
| `sources[]` | array | `position` (the `n` in the citations), `title`, `link`, `domain`, `snippet`, `date`, `cited` (`true`: cited inline in the answer; `false`: only listed beside it). |
| `search_queries[]` | array | The searches the assistant ran to answer (its fan-out), where it shows them. |
| `products[]` | array | Product cards shown with the answer: `position`, `title`, `brand`, `price` (as shown), `extracted_price`, `currency` (ISO 4217 when unambiguous), `rating`, `reviews`, `merchant`, `link`, `image`, `description`. |
| `places[]` | array | Local businesses the answer showed, same shape as [/v1/maps](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/maps) results. |
| `related_questions[]` | array | Follow-up questions the assistant suggested. |
| `mentions[]` | array | Only with `track`, one per term: `term`, `mentioned` (the answer text names it), `cited` (a cited source matches it), `sources` (positions of matching sources, cited or listed), `products` (positions of matching products), `text_position` (where the text first names it, 0 = start to 1 = end; -1 when it doesn't). See [AI visibility tracking](https://serpkite.com/docs/guides/ai-visibility-tracking). |
| `meta` | object | `request_id`, `credits_used`, `cached`, `cached_at`, `engine` (the assistant), `latency_ms`, `parse_quality`. |

## Example response

```json
{
  "request": {
    "endpoint": "copilot",
    "prompt": "best mattress for side sleepers",
    "country": "us",
    "language": "en"
  },
  "text": "Side sleepers usually do best on a medium-soft to medium mattress that cushions the shoulders and hips…",
  "markdown": "Side sleepers usually do best on a **medium-soft to medium** mattress that cushions the shoulders and hips [1](https://www.example.com/side-sleeper-mattress-guide)…",
  "sources": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "title": "Best mattresses for side sleepers, tested",
      "link": "https://www.example.com/side-sleeper-mattress-guide",
      "domain": "example.com",
      "cited": true
    }
  ],
  "search_queries": [],
  "products": [
    {
      "position": 1,
      "title": "Example Hybrid Mattress, Queen",
      "price": "$899.00",
      "extracted_price": 899,
      "currency": "USD",
      "merchant": "Example Sleep",
      "link": "https://shop.example.com/hybrid-queen",
      "image": "https://shop.example.com/img/hybrid-queen.jpg"
    }
  ],
  "meta": {
    "request_id": "req_01J8ZK4M6Q2V7",
    "credits_used": 3,
    "cached": false,
    "engine": "copilot",
    "latency_ms": 22400,
    "parse_quality": "ok"
  }
}
```

## Errors

| Status | Code | Meaning |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 400 | `invalid_request` | A parameter is missing or invalid. |
| 401 | `unauthorized` | The API key is missing, invalid or revoked. |
| 402 | `insufficient_credits` | Your balance is too low. Buy a pack or wait for the monthly free grant. |
| 429 | `rate_limited` | Too many requests per second for your plan. Retry after the Retry-After header. |
| 503 | `upstream_error` | Google could not be fetched or parsed. Not billed; retry after Retry-After. |
| 503 | `upstream_blocked` | Google is rate limiting the upstream right now, or refused this query (Retry-After 120 s; rephrase it, or use engine=auto where another engine serves the endpoint). Not billed; retry after Retry-After. |
| 503 | `upstream_timeout` | The search took too long. Not billed; retry after Retry-After. |

All errors: https://serpkite.com/docs/errors

## Notes

- `products` are Bing's sponsored product cards for the prompt; `link` is the merchant's page.
- We ask like a logged-out visitor in a standard browser and never sign in. When the assistant refuses the visit or asks the visitor to sign in, the call fails with `503 upstream_blocked` and is free. See [AI assistants](https://serpkite.com/docs/ai-assistants).
- `engine` is not accepted (the path names the assistant), and neither are search options such as `q`, `num` or `location`: they return `400 invalid_request`.
- Monitors take `endpoint: "copilot"` with `prompt` and `track`, and report every run's answer with `new_sources` and `mentions`. See [Monitors](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/monitors).
- The remote MCP server has a `copilot` tool. See [MCP server](https://serpkite.com/docs/mcp).
- The prompt is handled like a search query: never logged, and cached for at most an hour under a hashed key. See [Privacy and data retention](https://serpkite.com/docs/privacy-and-data-retention).

## Related

- [AI assistants overview](https://serpkite.com/docs/ai-assistants)
- [AI visibility tracking guide](https://serpkite.com/docs/guides/ai-visibility-tracking)
- [ChatGPT](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/chatgpt)
- [Gemini](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/gemini)
- [Google AI Mode](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/ai_mode)
- [Brave AI](https://serpkite.com/docs/endpoints/brave_ai)